Country CleansAll recipes
Home › Cleaning recipes
Recipe 67 of 100 · The Country Cleans Mix Book

How to Clean Marble and Natural Stone Floors

No Vinegar, pH Neutral

Marble, granite, travertine, limestone or slate floor? Fill a bucket with 1 gallon warm water, 1 tablespoon clear unscented dish soap and 1/4 cup 70% rubbing alcohol, and keep a second gallon of plain water to rinse. Dust mop first, clean in sections with a well wrung microfiber mop, rinse each section right away and dry buff polished stone. Never vinegar, lemon or citrus: acid etches stone for good.

Natural Stone Floor Cleaner, pH Neutral recipe card: 1 gallon warm water, 1 tbsp clear unscented dish soap, 1/4 cup 70% rubbing alcohol, 1 gallon plain water to rinse
What it fixesMarble, granite, travertine, limestone, and slate floors that need cleaning without etching or dulling the polish.

You need

Mix it

  1. Fill bucket one with the warm water.
  2. Add the dish soap and stir gently with the mop handle.
  3. Add the alcohol and stir once more. Alcohol is pH neutral and just speeds drying on polished stone so you do not get water marks.
  4. Bucket two stays plain water.

Use it

  1. Dust mop or vacuum first. Stone shows every scratch and grit is what makes them.
  2. Wring the mop out well and clean in sections, overlapping your strokes.
  3. Rinse pass with the plain water bucket immediately after each section. Any soap left on polished stone builds a dull film fast.
  4. Dry buff with a clean dry microfiber on polished marble and granite. On honed travertine or slate you can let it air dry.
  5. If a spill happens between cleanings, blot it, do not wipe it, and rinse the spot with plain water.
Dale's noteDo a seal check twice a year. Put a few drops of water on the stone, wait 5 minutes, and if it leaves a dark spot the sealer is gone and it is time to reseal. An unsealed stone floor stains from a dropped coffee in about a minute.
Don'tDo not put vinegar, lemon juice, citrus cleaner, bathroom scale remover, or any acidic product on natural stone, not even diluted. Acid dissolves the calcium in marble, travertine, and limestone on contact, and the resulting dull white etch is physical damage to the stone itself, not a stain, so no cleaner on earth will fix it. Skip baking soda scrubs on polished stone too, they micro- scratch the shine.
The Country Cleans Mix Book

This is 1 of 100 mixes in the Mix Book

Glass, wood, bathrooms, mold, kitchens, carpet, couches, laundry, floors, metal, odors and more. Every one with the same exact amounts, steps and warnings. A PDF in your email within a minute.

GET THE MIX BOOK · $12.99
Free: Dale's Fall Deep-Clean Checklist

Free: Dale's Fall Deep-Clean Checklist

19 jobs to do before the house closes up for winter, room by room, plus 3 recipes printed in full. Print it and stick it on the fridge.

SEND ME THE FREE CHECKLIST

More homemade cleaning recipes

How to Clean and Deodorize Your Fridge Before ThanksgivingHow to Clean Outside Windows and Screens Without StreaksHow to Clean Tarnished Brass and CopperHomemade Bathroom Floor Cleaner for Sticky Floors and Dusty Baseboards