How to Care for Stone, Tile, and Hardwood in San Diego Homes
The single biggest reason floors and counters need premature restoration isn't age — it's wrong cleaners and wrong methods. Here's a no-nonsense guide to keeping your surfaces looking their best between professional cleanings, written by a team that's seen every mistake at least a hundred times.
Quick rules — the things almost everyone gets wrong
- ❌ Never use vinegar, lemon juice, or any acidic cleaner on natural stone. Even diluted. It etches travertine, marble, limestone, and onyx instantly.
- ❌ Don't use bleach on grout that's been color-sealed — it'll strip the seal.
- ❌ Skip the ammonia-based glass cleaners anywhere near granite, marble, or sealed hardwood.
- ❌ Avoid steam mops on natural stone and hardwood — heat plus moisture pulls finishes apart.
- ✅ Stone- and tile-safe pH-neutral cleaner is all you need for 95% of routine cleaning. Brand doesn't matter much; pH-neutral does.
Travertine care
Daily/weekly: Sweep or dry-mop to pick up grit before it scratches the stone. Damp-mop with warm water and a stone-safe pH-neutral cleaner. Wring well — don't flood.
Watch for: Etching from spills (orange juice, tomato sauce, wine). Wipe immediately. Pits opening up — natural over time, we can re-fill these. Dull patches in traffic areas — usually a sign the seal is wearing.
When to call us: When water no longer beads on the surface, or when you see visible dull patterns.
Marble care
Daily/weekly: Same routine as travertine — pH-neutral cleaner, no acids, no abrasives. Use cutting boards, coasters, and trivets religiously.
Watch for: Etching (cloudy spots) — almost always restorable with diamond honing. Loss of shine — the polish wears thinner in traffic areas.
Granite countertop care
Daily: Wipe with warm water and a granite-safe spray. Mop up spills (especially oil, wine, citrus) within minutes.
Sealing test: Drop a small puddle of water on your counter and wait 5 minutes. If it absorbs and leaves a dark spot, your sealer is gone — time to re-seal. Most homeowners need re-sealing every 1–3 years.
Tile & grout care
Sweep or vacuum first, mop second. Grit is the enemy of grout lines. Use stone-and-tile cleaner, not all-purpose cleaner. A soft-bristle brush in shower corners weekly prevents mildew buildup.
Color-sealed grout: Just standard cleaning. The color seal does almost all the work. Avoid bleach and harsh strippers.
Hardwood floor care
Daily: Microfiber dust mop or vacuum with a hardwood attachment. No beater bars.
Weekly: Damp microfiber mop with a hardwood-floor cleaner. Never wet-mop.
Avoid: Steam mops, vinegar, ammonia, and "all-purpose" cleaners. Walking in heels or with grit on shoes — main causes of finish wear.
When to recoat: When the finish looks dull or you see fine scratches across traffic patterns. A buff-and-recoat is much cheaper than a full sand-and-refinish.
The pro tip most people don't know
Get your stone deep-cleaned and re-sealed every 18–36 months, even if it "looks fine." Sealers wear off invisibly. By the time you can see staining or dullness, you're often looking at restoration costs instead of a routine maintenance visit. Routine is cheap. Restoration is not.
Questions about your stone? Call (760) 585-5406 or request a free in-home estimate — we're happy to take a look.