Cleaning Travertine - Advice needed.

[Barry-QDCC]

I added tile cleaning a couple years back to my carpet cleaning. I've only been cleaning porcelain or ceramic tiles, using either Shorebest 2790 or Grease Hog. I scrub with the 175 and a brush and/or a tile brush. I use a 500psi portable with a Gecko 14" vac/squeegee head to flush/extract.

I've stayed away from doing travertine just because, well, just because. But I have a lot of requests to clean it. Can I just clean it like the porcelain/ceramic tile? As I said, I'm not using an acid.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ray Burnfield]

Just don't use any type of acid and you'll do great as long as there is no floor finish on it.

 

[Mikey P]

Travertine often times takes on a false shine as it ages and absorbs foot oil, mop residue and what not.

Your cleaning will remove that shine and some customers with think you bleached or etched the floor.

Check under rugs or in closets for the original level of polish/ hone and explain what will happen.

Its very easy to put a mild 400 or 800 level finish back on with just Monkey Pads

Its also easy to remove mild etch marks on Travertine with cream polishes or monkeys as well.

We'll do a class here with Cameron soon.

 

[clean image]

It also depend on what type of travertine we are talking about:

Sq edge, factory filled - straight forward
Castle install( ashlar) chiseled edge, installed unfilled , post filled helps to have turbo to really get cleaned

Just need to be able to identify if it has topical... and what the end goals of customer are

 

[GeneMiller]

Shore best 2790 is really designed to be used outside. I can image what it's doing to your lungs. Super high ph will damage surfaces it's not designed for. I would find something safer. Just my opinion. Can't help with the other.

Gene

 

[Mikey P]

Enzall and Flex both work killer on Travertine..

Neither have 02 in them which can cause etching on calcium based stone.

 

[Jim Nazarian]

Shorebest 2790 should not be used on natural stone.

(edit, meant to say)

Shorebest 2790 should not be used on natural stone by novices.

 

[GeneMiller]

What's that stuff smell like.

Gene

 

[Bee Busy]

Travertine is such a versatile stone, with so many sizes, shapes, different edges, different grout, etc. My advice would be to do as much research as possible and then go to a hands on stone restoration/cleaning class and learn how to do it the right way, starting with learning how to inspect the potential jobs, I still see stuff to this day where I just shake my head. I see you are in So Cal so the Easystonecare class is a good start, the MB Stone class back east is very good, I've heard, as well.

 

[Bee Busy]

You can use Shorebest 2790 on stones like Slate, Saltillo, Flagstone, etc. Just not high polished calcium stones. Last week I cleaned a travertine floor with 2790

that was polished with a granite polishing compound making it look fake and plastic, the new homeowner wanted a natural flat look, instead of honing it, I cleaned/scrubbed/rinsed with 2790 and all was well

 

[ted mcfadden]

2790 can affect the shine of travertine but it cleans it well. I tend to like higher pressure than 500. I am usually in the 1200-1500 range.

Be prepared to fill holes and seal. Customers always have holes to fill.

 

[Jim Nazarian]

I used 2790 for a 1 step clean & hone travertine job & it came out great but was nervous the whole time thinking it wouldn't come out even or edges would be a problem.

 

[Cameron DeMille]

Generally a high alkaline cleaner or degreaser is what you want to use. anything above 12pH should be diluted accordingly as thy can affect the stone.