Marble is a natural material which although hard wearing can easily be ruined by a strong chemical such as acid. In this case my client’s kitchen floor which was laid with black Marble square tiles was etched due to the accidental spill of a corrosive agent and the subsequent attempt to clean it up.
After surveying the floor, I recommended resurfacing the stone with a set of diamond encrusted floor burnishing pads which would remove the etching and hone the stone back to its original appearance.
Honing Acid Etched Marble Floor Tiles
Our first task was to remove the kickboards from underneath the kitchen units, this ensures they are not scratched during the cleaning process and it also allows our buffer machine to get right to the edge of the floor.
I then started the burnishing process by applying a 400-grit coarse burnishing pad lubricated with a little water to the floor. This coarse pad will remove the etching and dirt from the Marble. It does generate a fine slurry on the floor so after each pad it’s best to rinse the slurry away with water and then extract it off the floor using a wet vacuum.
Following this, I worked my way through the remaining burnishing pads repeating the process with 800-grit medium and 1500-grit fine grit burnishing pads. I also used some small hand-held burnishing blocks in the difficult to reach corners and edges.
The floor pads struggle to reach into the recesses of the grout lines so halfway through the burnishing process I stopped to apply a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean along the grout lines and give them a scrub with stiff hand brushes repeating the process in stubborn areas.
After a final rinse the floor was left to dry off overnight.
Sealing Black Marble Floor Tiles
The next day I finished the polishing process by applying the last of the four pads in the set which is a very fine 3000-grit pad which refines the polish even further. This last pad is applied dry with only a little water sprayed onto the floor using a technique we call a ‘Spray Burnish”. The one of the advantages of this method is it leaves the floor dry so is ready for sealing.
Now that the appearance of the Marble had been restored it was time to protect the stone against future dirt, stains and damage by applying a sealer. On this occasion I chose Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing product that really improves the depth of the black Marble tiles and increases the contrast with the white veins in the stone. Two coats of Colour Grow were applied allowing time for each coat to dry in-between coats. Once the sealant had hardened, I ran over the floor with a white buffing pad to further enhance the look of the Marble floor.
For the regular cleaning of polished stone tiles we recommend using a specialist cleaning product such as Tile Doctor Stone Soap which helps maintain the patina. Avoid the use of steam cleaners and if you wish to use another product please read the label in detail first, most supermarket tile cleaners are acidic which can prematurely erode the sealer.