Travertine flooring

[twinboysmom]

We have travertine floors through much of our lower level on our home. Anybody have any tips of what to clean them with? The company says only water and that traditional cleaners could damage the floors. Our house is occupied by messy kids, cats, and dogs and water isn't cutting it. Anybody have anything that they use? The floors are not glazed but we did put a sealer on when they were installed.

 

[Straitlover]

Everything I found on Google said w/ a non-polished floor, go to a tile store and get a cleaner made specifically for stone. Anythign else will mess them up. The sealer only protects form staining, not etching.

 

[michelleh1]

Can you use a steam mop on them? Costco has the Shark on coupon right now.

 

[minnie mum]

Recommendations for proper cleaning of travertine floors are easily found on Google. But they all pretty much say the same thing: frequent dust mopping (not vacuuming), and regular cleaning ONLY with hot water and a cleaner formulated for stone. Immediately wipe up any spills that occur. DO. NOT. use regular household cleaners, which will damage the sealer or etch the stone. I would be concerned with a steam cleaner damaging the sealer. The stone cleaner should be available from your flooring store.

 

[twinboysmom]

I have read what Google says. I was hoping that somebody had some actual experience with them. And the steam cleaner is actually fine but I am not overly impressed with the results. No matter what I do they just don't seem clean to me.

 

[mom2grace]

We use a cleaner that we buy at the tile store. We use The Tile Shop, I think it's a chain. To me, travertine isn't really shiny, but it's clean. Mine are only in my bathroom though.

 

[mnrose]

We had non-shiny, natural limestone tiles in one of our houses. And, you are correct that water alone doesn't seem to do the trick. Just before we sold the house, my husband sanded them down by hand, and that made them look brand new. He used very fine grit paper. Some people think that the natural aging and patina is part of the charm of natural stone floors. Not me. Hated those floors....although when I first toured the house, I thought they looked wonderful. Not so much after living with them. LOL!

 

[twinboysmom]

Thanks ladies. I guess I need to try a higher end flooring place. Home Depot and lowes in my area haven't had anything and I would really like to try something besides water.

 

[TinkTock]

I use the DuPont stone cleaners, which I buy on Amazon. I tried many cleaners over the years, but those have worked the best for me.