Marble surfaces remain a favorite for homeowners. However, marble is challenging to clean and polish. Maintain marble surfaces with care, remembering that strong friction and acidic substances can damage marble surfaces permanently. Marble’s porous surface means than harmful substances can seep through the finish and inside the material.
Step 1
Maintain marble floors on a daily basis. Instead of using a scratchy broom or a gouging vacuum cleaner, stick to a dust mop, microfiber moth or soft rags. Attack stains and marks immediately with a soft cloth and hot water.
Step 2
Prepare your marble floor for polishing. Wash the surface with a mixture of one quart warm water and 3 tbsp. baking soda. Stir or shake the mixture to ensure the baking soda dissolves completely. Apply the solution with a cotton mop or soft rags, wringing out excess moisture so that you dampen, not wet, the marble surface. Let the marble floor air dry, and then rinse it with warm water.
Step 3
Use a soft rag or a chamois to thoroughly dry the floor, which polishes the marble floor while drying it.
Step 4
Amp up the shine by polishing marble with a commercial polish, then drying with the chamois. You can make your own polish by cleaning your marble floors and, after air drying but before rinsing, moistening a soft, clean rag, dipping it in crushed chalk and wiping your marble. Apply the chalk evenly, covering the entire marble floor. Allow this mixture to sit on the marble surface for a couple hours.
Step 5
Rinse the polish with warm water and a clean, soft mop or rag. Dry the marble floor with fresh rags.
Warnings
- Avoid scratching marble floors with furniture. Place small rugs under furnishings, or add felt pads to the bottoms of chair legs, table legs and couches.
- Take care not to slip on a freshly-polished marble floor.
