Easy Tile Care Guide for Your Natural Slate Floor Tiles

Keep Your Floors Looking as Good as New Forever

The natural beauty of slate makes hundreds of homeowners fall in love with this versatile natural stone. It’s incredibly durable (lasts for years to come) and is aesthetically stunning (amazing good looks wherever you use it in your home).

With that said, like all natural stones, your slate floor tiles require some TLC from time to time. With the right maintenance, you can keep it looking as good as new forever. Here, in this post, our in-house stone care experts at Décor Luxury Stones, top Natural Flooring Suppliers in India share with you all that you need to know about maintaining your slate floors.

Daily Care for Slate Floor Tiles

Just like all other floors, slate floors should be swept daily. In the first few months of installation, make sure to sweep your brand new floors at least twice daily. This is because, all natural stone floors including slate undergo a process called, “spalling,” where small pieces of the stone flake off initially. With use, spalling stops automatically. Once your slate floors have settled, you can go back to sweeping the floors once daily.

Apart from sweeping the floors to make it free from dirt and dust, you must also mop your slate floors. Use gentle floor cleaners. Alternatively, you can use special cleaning products made exclusively for natural stone floors. While choosing floor cleaners, look for pH neutral solutions. Don’t use any form of acids – even lemon and vinegar.

After mopping with a diluted solution of floor cleaner and water, you can let your floors air-dry or wipe it with a soft cloth.

Sealing Slate Floor Tiles

Like other natural stone floors, you can extend the lifespan of slate floors by using professional sealants. Sealants prevent your floors from stains, scratches, and chipping. Most sealers last for around 1-2 years, after which you have to reapply them.

Wondering if it’s time for resealing your slate floors? How do you find out? Here’s a trick: pour some water on your floors. If the water leaves a dark smudge on your floor that lasts for more than 10 minutes, then it means it’s time for resealing your floors. It all depends on the type of slate you use. Some styles of slate require frequent sealing compared to others.

If you are not sure which is the right style of slate for your home, get in touch with our stone experts here at Décor Cera, one of the top natural stone manufacturers in India ?

Deep Cleaning and Special Care Guide for Slate Stone Floors:

One minor drawback of slate floors is that they are prone to scratches. However, if you notice minor scratches in your slate floors, you can easily cover them up using small amounts of mineral oil. Properly sealed slate floors are stain-resistant. However, sometimes stains may occur accidentally. In such cases, you can use a stain-removal poultice to absorb the stains out of the floor.

Here’s a tutorial to make a DIY stain-removal poultice at home: Make a paste of hydrogen peroxide and flour. Apply it over the stain. Leave it undisturbed for six hours or overnight. You can cover the area with plastic wrap. Next morning, scrub out the dried poultice using a wet cloth.

Repeat this process, until the stain is removed completely.

Do’s and Don’ts for Natural Slate Floors:

Do’s

• Use mats or rugs to protect your floors in areas of heavy foot traffic.
• Reapply floor sealers once in two years.
• Wipe spills quickly, before it dries.
• Mop the floor with a mild floor cleaner.
• When moving furniture, don’t slide them across the floor instead, lift and reposition.

Don’ts

• Don’t use harsh, abrasive or acidic floor cleaners.
• Don’t push furniture without using protectors below.

Maintaining Your Natural Slate Floors are Easy Peasy

Most of the guidelines mentioned above are similar to what you practice at home regularly. So, it won’t be too much trouble.

Add warmth and personality to your floors, by ordering slate floor tiles from Décor Luxury Stones, leading slate stone suppliers in India .