London Builders: How to Care for Natural Stone Products
Natural stone is a natural material which has been used in construction, finishing, exterior and interior decoration for a long time and up to the present. Quality of the initial material, modern equipment and high qualified stone masons allow creating real masterpieces from plain at the first glance slabs. Products of every imaginable applications: bathroom suites, kitchens countertops, windowsills, tiles and columns, vases and chandeliers demonstrate both delicacy of form and natural beauty of stone.
This material is solid, reliable and durable and can serve for more than one decade. However, not many people know that stone also requires regular cautious care, because it is the care that the appearance of your renovated house or garden will depend on after some time passes.
Natural stone tiles care.
After tiling, the tile made of natural stone often bears traces of cement which is used to fix the tiles to the walls or floor. Do not scratch the polished surface with the knife, you should use a specific cement remover. Besides, this substance will also help you to take away the lime masses and mold, and other persistent formations on marble or granite surfaces.
You can also use "Stone soap" for further care of stone products. It is not, of course, a common bar of soap, it is actually a special cleaner that not only cleans the stone as well as helps to maintain its colour and protect from dirt, forming a thin protective film. Common stone cleaners remove spilt oil, fat, paint as well as stains of natural wax. You can easily treat granite, marble, terrazzo and travertine with these agents.
Rust marks may occur when stone is in contact with metal, as it is the case while tiling bathroom walls or floor with natural stone. Rust removers not only transform the rust, as well as form long-term protective coating that protects products from further contamination.
Stone sealers can also serve as additional protection of porous finishing materials. Transparent acrylic coating does not only block pores, thus increasing the resistance of products to water and dirt, but also enhances colour and emphasizes stone structure. The stone sealer facilitates care for walls and floor tiles, fireplace finishing details and other ornaments.
Besides, such porous stone as limestone can be treated with stone enhancer that hardens surfaces and prolongs service life of products.
Floor care.
Marble or granite floors make newly refurbished houses look really luxurious and highlight the interior elegance. It’s not that difficult to care for them, just you should know useful tips, so that the stone that is daily exposed to regular pressure can serve longer and maintain its initial natural elegance.
To avoid scratches you should sweep away the sand before cleaning stone tiles. If you ignore it, abrasive particles will scuff the floor during wet cleaning and after a while the floor will look eroded and unattractive.
The stone floor should be cleaned with a mop, preferably without metallic particles that may scratch the floor. If the floor is too dirty, you should apply special liquids for cleaning the stone tiles. These liquids differ from common cleaners used, for example, for ceramics or linoleum, with their composition and particularly with neutral ?? level. Moreover, they form a protective layer that facilitates further cleaning.
Natural stone worktops care.
Care for worktops is not only about protection of material they are made of from exposure to water, fat, citrus juice effects, etc. You should also bear in mind that kitchen natural stone worktops contact with food oftener than other products that is why the selected cleaners should be absolutely safe for health. The cleaner "Dust protection" is developed just for this purpose, it forms fast-hardening protective layer that gives waterproof effect to the product. This protection makes cleaning easier and spilt coffee, tea or juice do not leave stains. Special cream paste is used for removal of oil and fat stains from the surface of table tops.
Natural stone windowsill care.
Traditionally windows are decorated with flower pots which are usually placed on the windowsill. Plants require regular watering and during tillage soil sometimes spills out of the pot. So, natural stone windowsills also must be protected from water and dirt. An efficient method to cope with this task is the already mentioned cleaner "Dust protection" for natural stone worktops.
Care for ornaments and landscape products.
Marble statues, decorative fences, alcoves look very spectacular and are widely used in landscape design. Though, unfortunately they require rain and dirt protection. Stone impregnation, that contains Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) the most widely used silicon-based organic polymer, penetrates deeply into the stone thus making the surface water-resistant.
Besides, you should also have special impregnation that protects from dirt, oil and fats for stone products which are located outside. It is especially actual for alcove floors and natural stone pavements.
Stone products polishing.
To make glazed surfaces look beautiful and spectacular for as long as possible, natural stone requires regular polishing. Polishing liquid that contains natural and synthetic waxes adds luster to the stone and gives them anti-skid effect. Silicone based polishing agent will allow both stone cleaning and polishing. It can be used for all kinds of stone products - worktops, windowsills, floor and wall tiles.
Regular care for natural stone products can help to prolong their service and preserve the same attractive looks like on the day when you selected and decided to buy them.
