Steam Cleaner On Stone Floor

Andrew Blades

Cleantalk Member
I know you are not supposed to use a steam cleaner on stone floors as it can get into the stone and break down sealers but ive been looking at a sx 15 (anyone know water temp used on sx 15?) and the psi on these is 3 to 4 more times powerful than a steam cleaner. I really just wanted something for cleaning out the deep holes in travertine ive got equipment to clean surface of the tiles. Holes would only be steamed every 5 ish years do you think this would be a issue?
 

Mair Hunt

Cleantalk Member
What machine have you got Andrew?

On unfilled trav floors with lots of soiling, we tend to use Tilemaster No 3 scrubbed in with a rotary brush, then rinse of with sx spinner or a gekko wand at 800 - 1000 psi at full heat, and we always come back the next day to seal with impregnator
 

John Bolton

Cleantalker Veteran
Andrew,

Liquid water is a far better transportation medium for soils than steam - or more accurately water vapour, so will remove more soil.
 

Andrew Blades

Cleantalk Member
Ok thanks Ive done a few tests with travertine holes which have ingrained dirt and used a steam cleaner nozzle and extract and cleaned them well, what im more interested in will it really cause damage to the make up of the stone as its alot less aggressive than the sx 15?
 

Andrew Blades

Cleantalk Member
Ive not got a machine to connect to it so I would have to buy one and are expensive thats why Im seeing if can just use a steam cleaner for the holes nothing else?
 

Andrew Blades

Cleantalk Member
Ok thanks it's just the mess with rotary as no guard and gettting corners.

Mair do you any get any issues with using 1000 psi on stone as a steam cleaner is about 60 psi and I've been told can damage the stone?
 

Graeme H Smith

Cleantalk Member
If you had a truck mount use a spinner tool and seal it after. Probs easiest thing to do with unfilled trav. Or buy a small pressure washer + spinner tool, use wet vac to pickup. If you have neither and cost is an issue relating to buying equipment just use a rotary and wet vac. A splash skirt is 20 quid for a solid one which are a pain or buy a rubber klindex one for 60 quid - worth its weight in gold. The corners are not an issue unless the operator is inept - if so natural selection would have meant you would have been mowed down crossing the road by now. It's not worth buying expensive kit for unfilled floors as you won't do that many - if you had a truck mount you would be laughing. That's the issue with making a living you have to do things less efficiently sometimes as the efficient way costs far too much for the odd job. I have found that most people who have truly unfilled trav on there floor did it themselves and are crap customers as they do not want to pay. If they employed a tiler a decent one would have talked them out of it.
 

Russ Kirk

Cleantalk Member
Hi
There are so many pressure washers on the market and many of the websites saying things like "top 10 pressure washers" etc seem to be written for financial gain. So I thought I would ask the question here!
What is the best hot water pressure washer that the pros are using?
 

Andrew Blades

Cleantalk Member
Ok thanks, I was trying to find out if high pressure say 1000 psi damages the stone but must be ok as no one has said otherwise, so I will just stick with steam just for the holes as it's only 60psi and does a good job of removing dirt and not making a mess. I've been tiling 13 years and yes unfilled trav can look a mess when dirty and have weak points but plenty of people want it plus it's more repeat work when cleaning.
 

Graeme H Smith

Cleantalk Member
Unfilled trav is the devils own. Using high pressure on an unfilled trav is probably ok but some will tell you not. Either way it should be resealed after if you have done something invasive. Debatable whether sealing something that looks like the surface of the moon does much good. It's probably a bit like having a private pension, you do not know what it's really worth but better having one than not
 

Andrew Blades

Cleantalk Member
I spoke with Bal who manufacture tile adhesive and grout and said it's a massive no no for grout with a 800 psi it will basically breakdown grout and as grouts porous get through the grout and under the tile which will lead to more problems, also likely to breakdown some natural stones, I think I will just stay clear of un filled trav or just offer to clean the face and I won't bother getting a high pressure spinner.
 
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