Select the image that best matches your cleaning frustration situation.
Shower
Before and After
Mold and Mildew Remover
Mold spores are ever present, however they need a damp and preferably dark area with access to organic material to settle and grow. The stain observed is not the fungi itself but its waste product, still can be difficult to remove. Good News - there is a specialty product solution that can take care of this for you.
CLEANERS:
Power through mold and mildew stains to restore a blemish free surface without damaging tile, grout or grout seal.
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Power up the effort with the strongest cleaner on the market. Dilute it back as a concentrate or use as is to power through mold and mildew. Excellent for use in showers, driveway and patios.
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Tile Floor
Before and After
Professional MARBLELIFE Service
Dirty Grout can be Frustrating. Appears darkened and dirty. If you are struggling to get it clean – review Stained-Grout – as what appears dirty may be fighting you because it is actually stained. MARBLELIFE Tile & Grout Cleaner for daily use and MARBLELIFE MAXOUT Grout Cleaner to tackle particularly stubborn dirty grout.
Powerwashing can help as we utilize the force of the water to enter and flush the grout pore, but this is temporary, as the root cause has not been addressed. Great for the cleaning service who get re-occurring income, but not for the grout owner.
A permanent fix is available but requires a restoration service provider knowledgeable in what is happening here, how to clean and prepare the surface, how to reseal the surface to keep future dirt on the surface when you can easily remove it, and then doing so in a manner that will restore the uniform cleanable surface you are trully seeking.
- DIRT – Dirt is generally an oil on the surface to which dust and dirt are clinging. We can address this with a daily cleaner that can attack and emulsify oils while also lifting and solubilizing dirt.
- STAINING – will present as a “Dirty” appearance but tends to be very difficult to remove. Staining implies it has penetrated the surface. In the case of grout this is due to a failure of the GROUT’s SEAL. Most grout seals employ an acid sensitive sealer which when cleaned over time with vinegar or an acidic cleaner is broken down and removed, leaving the grout to absorb dirt solubilized by the cleaner and during the tile-and-grout cleaning process. This collects in the lower grout line, where it can enter the pores. The water then evaporates leaving behind a layer of dirt until the pore is filled. Very difficult to remove with standard cleaning as one cannot get into the pore to agitate with a mop or brush. Powerwashing can direct energy into the pore to agitate and lift out much of the dirt, but does nothing to correct the problem – an unsealed grout surface.
MARBLELIFE PRODUCTS
MARBLELIFE MAXOUT – Formulated not just to clean, but to break the water tension that often prevents water from entering and flushing pores. MAXOUT is designed specifically for that first clean on a dirty floor. You will be amazed how the product color changes to dirty grey as it works. On sanded grout, when done you will be able to see individual sand quartz glinting back. If you still see darkening, then you likely have unsealed grout and may need an additional service to flush deep into the pores, and then reseal to prevent dirt penetrating again.
MARBLELIFE FLOOR CLEANER CONCENTRATE or MARBLELIFE FLOOR CLEANER READY-TO-USE – Daily cleaning of tile and grout with MARBLELIFE FLOOR CLEANER CONCENTRATE will quickly emulsify oil and dirt making it easy to remove to your bucket with a damp mop. This product will also work to keep your mop water clean as it is engineered to drop the dirt to the bucket bottom so the mop water stays cleaner longer resulting in fewer mop bucket changes and a cleaner floor.
If you are frustrated because you cannot get your dirty grout clean OR you have cleaned it but it comes back routinely, OR you have tried numerous products without success, then you are probably dealing with unsealed grout, or grout that has been treated or cleaned with vinegar or an acidic cleaner that has destroyed the existing seal. In effect, the issue may be that you CANNOT get it clean until the root cause damage has been addressed. Have no fear we have solutions for this as well. Once addressed, you can have a CLEAN appearance and will find maintaining it is MUCH easier.
This can be addressed as follows:
MARBLELIFE SERVICE
STEP 1 - Powerwash with an oil emulsifying cleaner like MARBLELIFE FLOOR CLEANER CONCENTRATE to remove surface dirt and as much as possible from grout pores.
STEP 2 - Reseal pore. A clear seal will freeze the appearance which may not be perfect, so one wants a colorized sealer colored to match the original grout. This will restore a uniform appearance as it fills in and seals the grout line. This sealer needs to be acid resistant. MARBLELIFE COLORSEAL was expressly formulated to be acid resistant while also allowing us to color it to match existing grout or change its color.
STEP 3 - Reglaze the tile – if the tile is worn or matte MARBLELIFE can reglaze the tile surface to restore a new appearance, and do so with several benefits including anti-slip performance, anti-graffiti and mold resistance. You may not need these features but they are built into the MARBLELIFE TILELOK glazing system.
POST MARBLELIFE RESTORATIVE SERVICE CARE PRODUCTS – we guarantee you will have a clean uniform appearance, and will have a MUCH easier time maintaining a clean appearance as follows:
Clean with non-acidic, non-wax containing, non-oil containing degreaser and emulsying cleaners such as MARBLELIFE FLOOR CONCENTRATE CLEANER.
- Once restored, maintaining a clean appearance IS EASY.
- Stay away from cleaners that offer additional benefits such as
- Scented = deposits oils to the surface which trap dirt
- Shine = often means they have incorporated waxes to enhance reflectivity. Problem is that wax is deposited before the surface is cleaned trapping dirt over time, and requiring a professional service to remove.
- Acid = Your tile or granite may be acid safe, but unless your grout has been sealed with MARBLELIFE COLORSEAL it is likely not acid resistant. Penetrating sealers, silicone sealers, siloxane sealers are all acid sensitive.
- Once restored, maintaining a clean appearance IS EASY.
- Stay away from cleaners that offer additional benefits such as
- Scented = deposits oils to the surface which trap dirt
- Shine = often means they have incorporated waxes to enhance reflectivity. Problem is that wax is deposited before the surface is cleaned trapping dirt over time, and requiring a professional service to remove.
- Acid = Your tile or granite may be acid safe, but unless your grout has been sealed with MARBLELIFE COLORSEAL it is likely not acid resistant. Penetrating sealers, silicone sealers, siloxane sealers are all acid sensitive.
MARBLELIFE recommends using MARBLELIFE FLOOR CONCENTRATE CLEANER for your daily cleaning. It is wax free, oil free and acid free. Formulated as an exceptional degreasing and emulsifying cleaner to quickly and easily lift dirt and debris from the surface. Also formulated to move dirt out of your way when working with a mop bucket as it will drop dirt and emulsified oil out of solution to the bottom of the bucket to maintain your water as clean as possible. Glue a quarter to the bottom of the mop bucket and change the water as soon as you cannot see the quarter.
CLEANERS:
Marblelife Tile & Grout Cleaner – Countertop & Floor Cleaners
Cleans Beautifully While Saving You 80% Over Ready-To-Use
- Most Effective & Ecconomical
- Supported by World’s Leading Stone Service Company
- 100% Satisfaction Guarantee Plus
- Eco-Friendly & Made in America
- Safe & Effective, No Harsh Chemicals or Odors and 100% Grout Safe
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Is formulated reduce water’s natural water tension to enable it to more easily enter grout pores and float out the dirt and oils that have penetrated. So effective that one can see the cleaner turn dark as it pulls up oils and dirt. Once done one can actually see sand crystals in sanded grout glint back. This is an effective pre-treatment prior to applying MARBLELIFE COLORSEAL.
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Once properly sealed any dirt or oil is forced to remain on the surface where it can easily be removed with MARBLELIFE TILE & GROUT CLEANER which is formulate to emulsify oils, greases, and fats that serve to help stick dirt to your floor and surfaces. This is a superior cleaner formulated to clean without acids and without depositing any oils or waxes which can result in grout damage and staining.
Once MARBLELIFE COLORSEALED your floor is not just CLEANABLE again, but easily cleaned with MARBLELIFE TILE & GROUT CLEANER.
For larger areas consider MARBLELIFE FLOOR CLEANER which comes in a concentrate gallon capable of making 32 gallons of cleaner.
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Speak to an expert (216) 930-6333
Tile Floor
Before and After
Maxout
Stained and dirty grout is a common problem. Virtually every grouted floor will eventually run into this problem, until they have been MARBLELIFE Colorsealed. This is characterized by a darkening of grout lines in high traffic areas, and can be observed as a difference between grout along walls, baseboards and walls versus high traffic floor areas. Good News - there is a specialty product solution that can take care of this for you.
Once sealed, one must be careful not to introduce acidic cleaners which are capable or reversing the seal chemistry and allowing the seal to be washed away with each cleaning.
As a result, most grout seals have or will fail. Once can either re-seal or shift to a non-acid sensitive solution such as MARBLELIFE-Colorseal.
Once removed the grout may be clean, but is still open. As such one must re-seal in some fashion to prevent a re-occurrence. Today, powerwashing grout is a good repeat maintenance business but does the customer a dis-service as it fails to remedy the root cause – unsealed grout.
MARBLELIFE then went a step further enabling the product to be colored to match the existing grout color OR to a preferred new color. (Yes, we can change white to black and black to white or any other color you may desire). This allows the installer to ensure that all grout surfaces have been fully sealed, as the color will shadow in areas of high porosity enabling our installers to ascertain which areas need additional material. When complete, a MARBLELIFE COLORSEAL floor will be better-than-new, with superior color uniformity, and an acid resistant seal that can stand-up to future cleaning – even it is with an acidic cleaner.
CLEANERS:
Is formulated reduce water’s natural water tension to enable it to more easily enter grout pores and float out the dirt and oils that have penetrated. So effective that one can see the cleaner turn dark as it pulls up oils and dirt. Once done one can actually see sand crystals in sanded grout glint back. This is an effective pre-treatment prior to applying MARBLELIFE COLORSEAL.
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Once properly sealed any dirt or oil is forced to remain on the surface where it can easily be removed with MARBLELIFE TILE & GROUT CLEANER which is formulate to emulsify oils, greases, and fats that serve to help stick dirt to your floor and surfaces. This is a superior cleaner formulated to clean without acids and without depositing any oils or waxes which can result in grout damage and staining.
Once MARBLELIFE COLORSEALED your floor is not just CLEANABLE again, but easily cleaned with MARBLELIFE TILE & GROUT CLEANER.
For larger areas consider MARBLELIFE FLOOR CLEANER which comes in a concentrate gallon capable of making 32 gallons of cleaner.
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Glass Shower Door
Before and After
Soap Scum Remover
The chemicals that hold your soap together also help it to stick to your shower and tub walls and floor. White and soft in color. VERY difficult to remove by hand. Good News - there is a specialty product solution that can take care of this for you.
CLEANERS:
If you have a soap dish, you likely have soap scum. Soap Scum Remover is engineered to cut through soap without damaging tile to rapidly remove soap scum problems and restore a soap free surface. Actually fun to use. You can feel and hear when you are once again soap-free.
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Select the image that best matches your cleaning frustration situation.
Special service required to restore a "cleanable" surface
Floor
Before and After
Professional MARBLELIFE Service
Generally when you see a white smudge, ring, spill mark, spot or dirt on marble, limestone, travertine, concrete or terrazzo it is either hard water or an etch. If it is smooth it is an etch. If it is crusty and above the surface it is hard water, but if it is crusty and below the surface it is a bad etch. These are very different issues, neither of which can be addressed with a cleaner, and both require professional service. No cleaner is going to restore a smooth, appropriate colored, mark-free surface – the GOOD NEWS is MARBLELIFE can restore your surface to like new
Marble, limestone, travertine, the marble chips in terrazzo are all made of Calcium Carbonate. Calcium Carbonate is acid sensitive. Acids will react with CaCO3 to form a salt and CO2, and that salt is water soluble, meaning that this by-product to acid attack is washed away by water or a cleaner.
Generally, acid is introduced in one of the following manners:
- Cleaning with vinegar
- Spritzing lemon or lime making a drink
- Cutting lemon, lime or tomatoes directly on this surface
- Spilling salad dressing or spaghetti sauce on this surface
- Spilling pickle juice on this surface
- Or CLEANING WITH A CLEANER THAT CONTAINS ACID/
- Mistaking an etch for a hard water deposit and using a hard water deposit remover (strong acidic) to remove it, making it substantially whiter (worse).
This is NOT something you want to do yourself, as additional damage can be done during the honing and during the polishing stage if not done correctly, if one does not understand that processes and the reason they are being used.
If you have ever cleaned this surface, only to see the marks come back later, this is another symptom of an etch. This is the result of the fact that etch is no a low spot in your surface that collects and pools cleaner. When the surface begins to evaporate the shallower depth of cleaner on the unmarred surface evaporates away before the deeper portion filling in your etch. Light can bounce true off the surface of the liquid in the etch giving it the appearance of having disappeared, but once the evaporation process is complete the etch returns as the light can no long bounce true.
You will need a professional craftsman to restore this damage. CALL MARBLELIFE, to discuss your situation, secure an estimate, restore your finish, and learn how to avoid and care for this surface without creating additional damage/
Products
No cleaner will resolve this problem, BUT once restored you will want to be sure to utilize a product that contains no waxes, oils or acids, else you will risk re-creating the problem.
MARBLELIFE’s cleaners are formulated with our restoration root cause knowledge in mind. MARBLELIFE MARBLE & TRAVERTINE cleaner will provide an exceptional acid-free cleaner capable of quickly providing a clean, streak-free, oil-grease and fat-free surface.
Speak to an expert (216) 930-6333
Water Fountain
Before and After
Professional MARBLELIFE Service
White in color these are often shaped like water droplets on glass, however if allowed to go unaddressed will expand to form a crusty mass on the surface as seen in this example where the calcium has formed a blanket of white chalky build-up. Good news, this can be addressed.
Speak to an expert (216) 930-6333
Shower Floor
Before and After
Professional MARBLELIFE Service
Red in color, deposited from iron rich water as it evaporates
Speak to an expert (216) 930-6333
Granite Floor
Before and After
Professional MARBLELIFE Service
Lack of gloss or shine in the traffic areas where people normally walk. GOOD NEWS! We can restore a consistent new appearance to your tile.
What is needed is to grind the surface to remove the micro scratches and restore a smooth finish free of scratches and damage. A professional stone craftsman will be required to perform this operation. Once done the surface will once again be cleanable having been restored to like-new.
MARBLELIFE will hone the surface to remove damage, and then re-polish to restore color and desired gloss.
Speak to an expert (216) 930-6333
Granite Floor
Before and After
Professional MARBLELIFE Service
Floor is slippery when walking across it.
Similarly, one can slip on what is considered a rough surface – A car traveling at speed can hydroplane on a road when the surface is wet. The water is the moveable media in this case.
As such, one can reducing slip by maintaining a dry, dust free-surface, by removing waxes, and resisting the use of oils to enhance appearance in preference to managing the surface characteristics directly.
Change in floor finish, topical coatings or the introduction of non-skid media in the form of a coating or tape may all contribute to reduction, but are not suitable in all conditions.
It is recommended that you have a professional craftsman review the particulars of your situation to ascertain specific recommendations.
Products
When it comes to cleaning floors in a manner to reduce the incidence of slip it is generally safe to say that the most important consideration is establishing a frequency based on the expected introduction of dust and water to the surface. The frequency needed can be modified through the use of appropriate matting, selecting mats based on what is needed most and may require use of multiple types to address debris versus water.
Surface modifications should avoid the use of waxes which can modify coefficient of slip to be too high as well as too low.
Surface finishes can be a factor by increasing roughness of the surface.
There are no universal recommendations here as one needs to formulate a strategy consistent with one’s use and surroundings.
Speak to an expert (216) 930-6333
If you are struggling to get back to clean, it is possible what looks like dirt may be damage and may require some special attention in the form of a specialty cleaner or a service. Mold, Soap Scum, and Cleaner-deposited-Waxes will generally require more attention than a daily cleaner will be able to provide. If you found your situation in the images above, you already know what is needed to restore a “cleanable” surface.
If you are already aware of the importance of using a non-damaging cleaner designed to clean without creating these common avoidable situations then you are looking for MARBLELIFE’s Tile & Grout Cleaner and Concentrates.
If neither applies – call MARBLELIFE – our trained professionals – have encountered it all before as the only company that provides specialty clean-and-restore services and has been formulating and deploying non-damaging cleaners for more than 30 years, we are uniquely qualified to address your “frustrations,” and to assist in returning you to a cleanable surface, and then helping you keep it there with the right cleaning solutions.
KNOW YOUR TERMS – this can facilitate selection of the correct tool or product.
Know you terms – this can facilitate selection of the correct tool or product.
- Cleaners are designed to remove everything from the surface without depositing waxes or oils.
- Polishes are designed to smooth the surface in order to better reflect light. These are not coatings designed to lay on the surface but being softer than stone wear and fail, but rather a polish seeks to smooth the hard stone surface for maximum longevity.
- Sealers (penetrating) are designed to fill in grout pores to prevent dirt and stain from penetrating, but not to lay on the surface (topical).
- Specialty Cleaners are designed to address special situations which exist once, until we address it, so you can return to a cleanable surface. So Maxout is designed to lift dirt and oils out of pores. Soap Scum is engineered specifically to cut through soap or burnt on grime to restore a soap and grime free surface to a cleanable one.
MARBLELIFE products therefore use no acids, no waxes or oil deposits.
ONCE YOU HAVE RESTORED A CLEANABLE SURFACE, HERE ARE THE SURFACE-SAFE PRODUCTS YOU WILL NEED TO MAINTAIN YOUR CLEANABLE SURFACE WITHOUT RE-DAMAGING IT (Yes – the most common reason that a surface cannot be cleaned is that it has been damaged by either the cleaner or another cause. 20% of our restoration work is do to use of an inappropriate cleaner.) Note, No cleaner will restore a clean appearance until the above issues are addressed. MARBLELIFE can do that, and can provide you the surface safe products you need.
Protect against grout staining
Once restored back to new we now have to take steps to prevent any new damage or staining with the following recommendations for your surface.
These elements need to be applied to protect surface from future damage
Protect against staining stone
Once restored back to new we now have to take steps to prevent any new damage or staining with the following recommendations for your surface.
These elements need to be applied to protect surface from future damage
Non-Damaging Cleaners
These products have been formulated to avoid damaging ingredients that can destroy or hide your CLEANABLE surface.
Marble & Stone Safe Streak-free Ready -To-Use Cleaner
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Non-Acidic Surfactant based tile cleaner emulsifies dirt and oil without damaging grout seals for a quick easy pure clean free of waxes and oils.
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Stunning Results Guaranteed – Safer, Quicker & Easier, Healthier, Odor-free, Eco-Friendly and Made in America. The most effective and gentle cleaner developed for Granite & Quartz Countertops. Easily remove years of residue left by other cleaning methods.
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Marblelife Tile & Grout Cleaner – Countertop & Floor Cleaners
Cleans Beautifully While Saving You 80% Over Ready-To-Use
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