How to Look after Natural Stone
- Louise Booyens
- Oct 4
- 7 min read
Updated: Oct 8
by Becca Cranfield - Athena Stonecare
Becca Cranfield is a director at Athena Stonecare with a deep appreciation for natural stone and its preservation. In this blog post, she shares expert advice on how to properly care for natural stone - offering practical tips that respect the character of historic properties while ensuring their longevity. Drawing on both personal experience and industry know-how, Athena Stonecare helps homeowners maintain the beauty and integrity of original stonework with confidence and care.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It is a cliché that we all know well. When it comes to natural stone it is hard for any beholder to deny its beauty. Marble, limestone and granite have been formed over thousands of years. Even the most premium man-made versions cannot match the intricacies that nature produces.
There is a lot of misconception that it’s not practical to have natural stone in your home. However, having been used in buildings for centuries, there is no denying that natural stone is built to last. With the right care and attention, it can also look beautiful for years to come. Being able to restore, repair and recycle stone also means that it is a great choice for anyone looking to build with sustainability and longevity in mind. After all, natural stone will never go out of fashion, so your limestone floor will always be on trend no matter how many times you change your furniture style, redecorate or renovate.
Athena Aftercare
The question we are most frequently asked after we restore someone’s natural stone is: how do I keep it looking like this?
It is this that led us to develop Athena Aftercare.
It's a simple step-by-step guide to how to care for natural stone anywhere in your home.
If we could expand the guide to include the 13 years of conversations, experience, questions, anecdotes and research, it would be volumes! However, we are also firm in our belief that looking after your stone shouldn’t be hard, expensive or time-consuming.
Floor Facts
With each client that we see, we will spend around half an hour discussing the exact cleaning regime that we would recommend for their specific natural stone floor. The advice that we would give to someone with 150sqm of tumbled limestone who lives in the countryside with 3 dogs and a smallholding is slightly different to someone with a polished marble hallway in Central London. However, the basic principles are the same, and we have simplified this into wet and dry cleaning recommendations.
Preventative Maintenance
Marble and limestone are both soft stones. The measurement on the MOHs hardness scale is usually between 2-3. To put this into context, diamond is a 10 on the scale and talc is measured at 0. For this reason, it is essential that you keep your marble floor free from scratch hazards. Good quality matting at each entrance to your home will pick up a lot of the dirt, sand and small stones which can scratch your floors. We recommend cleaning these mats regularly, especially the outdoor ones. When they become saturated in dirt, they will cease to do the job.
Having a ‘shoes off policy’ in the house will also help to reduce the amount of abrasion to a stone surface from foot traffic. Felt or silicone pads on the bottom of furniture and chair legs will further help to minimise the likelihood of scratch damage.
Dry Cleaning
Stone flooring does not need to be wet-cleaned every day in fact, we would advise against it. It is really important, though, to sweep the floor regularly to remove dirt, dust and debris that could easily scratch the stone surface. We advise against using a vacuum and recommend instead sweeping the floor. This is much quicker and efficient compared to vacuuming and doesn’t run the risk of scratching the floor. Specifically, we advise clients to use a Swiffer mop which will attract the dirt and debris whilst being gentle on their stone.
Wet Cleaning
Despite your best efforts to keep everyday dirt at bay using the method above, your stone floor will require the occasional wash with a traditional mop and bucket.
We recommend investing in a heavy-duty Kentucky mop and ladybug bucket system for both the quality and ease of use. You should fill your mop bucket with cold fresh water and dilute your detergent accordingly. It is important when mopping to ring out any excess water using the ringer on the ladybug bucket. This helps to make sure you do not leave excess mop water to dry on the tiles and penetrate the porous stone.
The most important thing to remember when cleaning a natural stone floor is to use the right cleaning detergent. Many household cleaners are not stone safe as they contain acidic ingredients. Others will contain highly alkaline ingredients, which can damage the sealant. PH neutral cleaning products will emulsify the dirt without risking damage to the sealant or the stone surface. For our clients, we recommend the range by Fila which is also eco-friendly and VOC free.
Bathroom basics
Having natural stone in a bathroom is one way to add a touch of luxury to your home. The earthy tones of limestone can recreate a spa-like experience, or the bold colours of marble elevate a space with a hint of grandeur.
Everyday
No matter what materials you use in a wet environment, regular maintenance will always be necessary. The grout of a porcelain tile, for example, will become discoloured easily if you don’t keep on top of the cleaning. Whereas a little more time investment might be needed to care for your natural stone, having to do so means that you’ll not neglect the tiles as is so easily done with a ‘low maintenance’ surface.
We recommend that you clean your stone shower and bath area daily. The easiest and most effective way is to spray the walls and floor of the stall with a stone safe cleaner, then squeegee down after everybody in the home has taken a shower for the day. This will stop hard water build ups to the surface of the stone.
This is particularly important when it comes to Marble which is acid sensitive. With strong acids, you will see the effects of this instantly with a white or dull burn mark showing almost instantly. Known as etching, this is not something that can be wiped or cleaned off and will require professional restoration.
Tap water is not always PH neutral, so over time, this can have a similar effect on your stone. In a marble bathroom, this means that it is important to keep the surfaces as dry as possible. In hard water areas (like London and the South East), sitting water will also lead to a build-up of limescale and mineral deposits which can be tricky to remove without risking damage to the stone surface.
When it comes to cleaning the stone in your bathroom, it is essential to use a PH neutral stone cleaner. If in doubt, look out for ‘stone-safe’ on the label.
Everywhere
We also recommend keeping this in mind when cleaning other areas of your bathroom. Try using alcohol to clean your windows and mirrors rather than harsher acidic-based cleaning chemicals. If using bleach for your toilet, then it is worth taking a little more time to protect any surrounding stone too.
It is also very important to keep an eye on grout and particularly silicone throughout the bathroom. Not only will worn grout look unsightly, but water that gets behind the stone can cause damage beyond repair.
Don’t let metal bathroom accessories (toilet brush holder, toilet paper stand etc) sit directly on the stone floor. Moisture, even from steam condensation will pool around the bases and can cause unsightly and difficult-to-remove rust marks in the stone.
Worktop Wisdom
As with bathrooms and floors, it is essential to regularly clean your marble worktop but to do so only using a stone-specific pH neutral cleaner, such as Fila Brio. Regularly treating the surface with Fila Refresh will also clean and enhance the stone, and leave a trace film to protect from chemical spills. As marble is acid sensitive, the key is to try and keep the exposure to acid as minimal as possible. Vinegars, wine, lemon and anything that you might cook with that is acidic needs to be kept on a tray or plate or just away from the worktop altogether. If an acidic spill does occur, then we would advise to blot this rather than wiping it as this will just spread the damage. The chemical etching caused by acid on marble is almost instant and so the damage is done at this point. There will be little that you can do yourself to rectify this, but it can usually be restored to look like new.
Final Thoughts
Choosing natural stone over a man-made surface is an investment. If you bought a designer pair of shoes you would take the time to put them back in the box after each wear and if you bought a sports car you probably wouldn’t take it through the car wash. For those who want their stone to continue to age elegantly, just a few steps can keep it looking stunning.
Whether you're thinking about installing a natural stone worktop, floor, or bathroom, or simply looking for guidance on how to care for existing stone features, be sure to take a look at their journal. It's a must-read resource for anyone seeking expert advice on natural stone.
Helpful links to all of the products that they recommend can be found here:
Let me know about your experiences with natural stone. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!
And as always, if you have any questions, please get in touch with me.
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