What are the white marks on my stone floor? It looks like salt...

Efflorescence is caused when soluble salts and other water dispersive materials come to the surface of a stone floor. We see a lot of effervescence when there is no dam sheet under the floor so you will find that in old houses.

Low temperatures, condensation, moist conditions, rain, dew and water can cause effervescence. It can occur very soon after exposure to moist or cool conditions. This is quite difficult to remove it and if you don't allow the floor to breath after applying the sealant, you will have some problem in the future.

Art of Clean is a specialist cleaning firm in: 

Wood Floor Sanding,

Stone floor Cleaning,

Carpet Cleaning,

Rug Cleaning,

Upholstery Cleaning 

Leather Furniture Cleaning, 

Working for domestic or commercial clients throughout Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk and Hertfordshire.

For more information on our services contact our friendly team on 01223 863632 or email us at info@artofclean.co.uk

Slate floor cleaning in Ely

Cleaning a slate floor can sometime be a challenge. See below our slate floor cleaning process.  Have a look at our video and if you need help with your floor, don't hesitate to contact us on 01223 863 632 we will be happy to help.

Our slate floor cleaning process:

1- We inspect your floor: This is to identify any limitations like stain removal, loss of loose grout surrounding surfaces sensitive to cleaning solutions and any other areas that needs consideration before the cleaning starts

2- We protect your walls and furniture: This is to limit overspray on to sensitive areas during the cleaning process. Please note no guarantee can be made that materials that is extremely sensitive to moisture might not show some form of exposure to our cleaning solutions.

3- Dry soil removal: we will remove any dry soil and dirt before any water based cleaning takes place Apply cleaning solution to the floor/wall: This can be by means of sprayer or directly from a container with pre-mixed cleaning solution.

4- Agitation: This is done by means of a rotary cleaning machine or by hand depending on the areas to be cleaned.

5- Rinse: Slurry (Dirt from the floor and cleaning solution mixed together) with our pressurised cleaning equipment. This step allows us to clean areas of your wall or floor that is not reachable with any other form of cleaning (scrubbing)

Sometimes we have to repeat the cleaning process as described above to ensure optimum results.

6- Drying: After the cleaning process has been completed, we will clean up and dry any areas. In cases where stone or tile has a high porosity, drying can take up to 12 hours

7- Sealer: Colour Enhancing Impregnator: it will seal your slate floor and also bring out the natural colours in the slate. Application of a top quality impregnator to the floor is crucial as it greatly reduce the porosity of the tile. The impregnator penetrates below the surface of the tile and grout and act as a repellent for any liquid based spills. This allows the tile to breath.

Art of Clean is a specialist cleaning firm in: 

Wood Floor Sanding,

Stone floor Cleaning,

Carpet Cleaning,

Rug Cleaning,

Upholstery Cleaning 

Leather Furniture Cleaning, 

Working for domestic or commercial clients throughout Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk and Hertfordshire.

For more information on our services contact our friendly team on 01223 863632 or email us at info@artofclean.co.uk

  

Vilida spray mop makes cleaning floors so easy

Sandstone floor cleaning and sealing

We had great pleasure to help a great client of ours with a challenge on her sandstone floor. The sandstone was laid 3 years ago and did not look very dirty. She started to notice the sandstone grabbed on to dirt more and more. This was an indication that the sealer started to wear away. The sealer that was applied appeared to be an impregnator.

We started by rinsing the stone floor with clean water and vacuumed it up. (Our Van mounted or also known as a truck mount came in very handy here) We then applied a Wax and Residue remover to break down the greasy soils - As it is in a kitchen there will always be oil present. They also have a lovely black Labrador and this can add to dirt build up.

Once applied the cleaning solution is agitated into the floor with a rotary machine and hand brushes for the corners. Time on the floor helps the cleaner work and do its magic. 20 - 30 minutes later the stone floor gets a final scrub before the slurry (dirty water) gets rinsed off at high pressure.

The floor was cleaned several times to get the desired result.

Sandstone can be very porous so it was left over night to dry off.

Sandstone is a textured stone thus dirt grabbing on to it really easy and it is famous for shredding mops easily. To reduce this sandstone floor was sealed with a good quality topical sealer. This helped to enhance the colour of the stone and gave it a silky smooth finish.

Our client was so happy she asked us to clean the sandstone in the rest of the house as well.

What is effervescence or efflorescence on stone floor?

Efflorescence is caused when soluble salts and other water dispersive materials come to the surface of a stone floor. We see a lot of effervescence when there is no dam sheet under the floor so you will find that in old houses.


Low temperatures, condensation, moist conditions, rain, dew and water can cause effervescence. It can occur very soon after exposure to moist or cool conditions. This is quite difficult to remove it and if you don't allow the floor to breath after applying the sealant, you will have some problem in the future.