Hard floors: Know your stones
Hard floor care — especially stone care — is a specialized division of many cleaning companies and facilities.
But before you jump right into cleaning stone floors, it’s necessary to know the many different types of stones that you will be servicing.
If you know the characteristics, this will help you determine the cleaning procedure that is best and most effective.
Learn your surfaces
There are a variety of hard surfaces, but some of the most common include:
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Natural stones, such as marble, granite, terrazzo and natural clay stones · Man-made tiles, such as fire-hardened ceramic, porcelain and Italian quarry The three main categories of natural stones are:
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Sedimentary · Metamorphic
· Igneous Sedimentary stones come from such organic elements as glaciers, rivers, wind, oceans and plants.
Metamorphic stones come from natural change from one type of stone to another through the mixture of heat, pressure and minerals.
The change can be a development of crystalline formation, a texture change or even a color change.
Marble and slate are metamorphic stones.
Marble is porous, which is important to know when cleaning.
To visually distinguish marble from other stones, marble has "veins", while granite has "grains" and travertine has "holes," which may be filled at the factory.
Hot rocks
Igneous stones come from volcanic material such as magma. Liquid magma cools and solidifies underneath the earth’s surface, and then mineral gases and liquids penetrate the stone and create new crystalline formations and various colors.
Granite is an example of igneous stone. Granite is also porous, and standing water will go through it more slowly than through marble.
Man-made stones
The most popular man-made tiles are ceramic, porcelain and Italian quarry. They are also the easiest to clean.
Ceramic tiles are made from clay that has been
hardened by heat. They can be glazed or unglazed, slick or rough. They are not porous.
Porcelain tiles are denser and tougher. They are mostly found in commercial settings.
Italian quarry tile is common in slippery areas like kitchens and bathrooms. It is unglazed, to increase slip resistance.
Mosaic tiles is a term used for tiles that are smaller than four inches. They are used where the surface is uneven, like around a drain.
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