Be gentle when cleaning marble floors

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This article was published 21/02/2015 (4115 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

QUESTION — I have a problem with stains on marble flooring. Most stains are water and the tiles are also dulling with no shine. Is there a cure? Many thanks in advance. Glenda (Niverville)

ANSWER — Regardless of anything else you may have heard, don’t ever allow yourself to be tempted into using normal household cleansers on your marble floor. Not even in a pinch. If visitors are coming just when you happen to be out of marble-and-stone cleaner, mop with warm, clean water only.

Marble is a soft material made from calcium carbonate that is very sensitive to any acid or high alkaline chemicals. Do not use any tile cleaners, vinegar, ammonia, alcohol (Windex), Ajax, etc. on your marble floor. Use only liquid stone soap or neutral cleaners that have pH 7.00 and were made specifically for cleaning stone. In this way, you prolong the stone life. Skilled natural stone-floor experts can turn your dull and stained marble floor into a new one. Their work is very specialized, and with the explosion in stone-floor installations that are being done in new construction, the number of restoration contractors to choose from is growing fast. You should be able to get several quotes and evaluations.

Keep a spray bottle of marble-and-stone cleaner handy to clean spills and marks as they happen. If you make a practice of doing this, stains will be kept to a minimum, and all you’ll need to do on floor-washing days is pass a cotton mop dampened with warm water over the floor. With the stains and dullness you are encountering, pour some of your marble-and-stone cleaner from your spray bottle into the warm wash water and mop as usual.

If you do not want to consult a professional, and you do not want to use commercial cleaners, you can wipe the marble with three per cent hydrogen peroxide and buff with a soft cloth. Some people advise using acetone on marble, but this sounds too risky to me. Another option to give marble a quick shine is to crush a child’s stick of common white chalk (made of limestone) into a fine powder. Dampen a clean white wash rag and dip it into the chalk powder. Rub it on the marble with smooth, overlapping back and forth strokes. Allow to dry for a moment, then rinse with fresh water on a damp rag, and dry thoroughly.

Lastly, after your floor is professionally cleaned, you may want to consider sealing the floor so its beauty lasts for a long time.

QUESTION — Do you have suggestions to remove stains of black shoe polish off clothing? Nicho (Winnipeg)

ANSWER – Apply glycerin to the area and leave for one hour. Wash clothing with heavy-duty laundry detergent. Do not toss clothing into the washing machine until the stain is gone. Or blot the stain with one cup warm water, one teaspoon dish soap and one tablespoon. household ammonia. Next, blot the stain with water and a clean cloth. Extra Tip: White shoe polish will not smear if hairspray is applied to the shoe after it has dried. Also, white shoe polish will have a more even appearance if shoes are wiped with rubbing alcohol before polishing.

QUESTION — Do you have any solutions to reduce the pain of eyebrow tweezing? Mia (Selkirk)

ANSWER — Apply Vitamin E onto the eyebrows before tweezing and pull your eyebrow up with your fingers while tweezing to reduce pain. Extra Tip: When matching makeup foundation to skin, don’t test it on the back of your hand. Test the colour on your jawline, and stand near a window. If you can’t tell you are wearing foundation, you have found the perfect match.

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