Welcome To Quality Tile Care

Travertine Tiles Cleaning, Restoration and Sealing Experts

There are many methods to clean Travertine Tiles, we have tried all of them and combined them all together to get the best possible results in every situation possible! Remember never used acidic cleaners on Travertine Floors!

First to deep clean, remove acid stains and polish travertine tiles you will need:

1. Rotary machine 
2. Wet vacuum 
3. Diamond burnishing pads 400, 800, 1500 and 3000 grits

Our travertine tile cleaners recommend a slower speed rotary machine as it makes much less mess than the high speed one and is easier to work with in general. It's a bit trickier with the walls as the machines are normally high speed but the process remains the same.

To restore the polished even finish by burnishing the floor using the diamond pads system,  we start off with a 400 grit burnishing pad to take off the old sealer and any ingrained dirt. Water is needed as a lubricant to use the pads so we add some water to the area and then go over each tile with the pad 3 or 4 times, this will be followed by removing the dirty water using a wet vacuum and then the floor needs to be rinsed. There are of course exeptions where some resin based topical sealers are used or if  there is deep ingrained dirt, then it's recommended to go down to 200 grit and then follow it up with 400 grit.

Next the coarse 400 grit pad gets removed and a medium 800 grit pad gets applied, then the burnishing and rinsing process gets repeated, followed by the fine 1500 grit. Again we remove the water with a Wet Vax machine. After the third pad grout lines get cleaned. We use a non acidic stone/grout cleaner to get the dirt softened and then scrub the grout joints with a grout brush, followed by removing the soiled water again.  

After grout cleaning we leave the Travertine floor to fully dry and then complete by applying a Very Fine 3000 grit pad and polish with a squirt of water. It's important to polish thoroughly and not leave any water marks on the floor. When fully polished protect the floor by applying a sealer as per instructions below. 

For more unusual Textured Travertine Tiles  we use the best high-alkaline cleaners and sealer strippers on the market to remove the old sealer and clean heavily soiled texture areas and grout. Products will be left to dwell in and then scrubbed with a strong scrubbing pad or a brush fitted to the machine. After scrubbing all soiled chemical water will be removed with a wet vacuum and then rinsed many times with clean water. 

To straighten uneven travertine floor tiles, we use the same diamond burnishing pads system, the only difference is that we go down to 50 grit and then work through 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500 and 3000 grits. 

Lippage removal is harder, more precise and messier work then normal burnishing as we are cutting down stone corners while the floor needs to stay even and without scratches.

After burnishing the floor with each pad, all soiled water get removed with a wet vacuum and then the tiles have to be checked for scratches. Every tile needs to be burnished evenly and all last lower grit pad scratches need to be polished out with the very next finer grit. If these scratches are not burnished out with next pad then they will stay in the stone and later the whole process needs to be repeated again.

As we mentioned lippage removal is harder then normal travertine burnishing but it's deffinitely worth doing.

To keep the shine, you need to buff the floor with the last 3000 grit pad after every 3-6 months, depending on a wear. 

This process will improve surface tension (which is not to be confused with the amount of sealer residing in the stone), thereby tightening the pores in the stone to improve the overall appearance and finish of the floor. If you are not able to do the maintenance then our travertine cleaners offer maintenance plans to keep your floor in a pristine condition.

For everyday cleaning of Travertine or any other Natural Stone tiles, a pH Neutral cleaners are recommended. The pH scale ranges from 1 to 14 and is a measure of a solution’s acidity or alkalinity. A pH of 7 is neutral; a pH less than 7 is acidic; and a pH greater than 7 is alkaline. By using pH neutral cleaners you won't be damaging the sealer as pH neutral cleaners are much weaker and safer enviromentally.

DO NOT USE ANY ACIDIC CLEANERS ON TRAVERTINE TILES!

If you have any questions about the maintenance of your travertine tiles then let us know and we will be happy to help.