Please help me! Nightmare polishing my Travertine floor.

[Alfster]

Hi guys,

Please help me. Really having a nightmare here. Just moved into a new house and the kitchen has a lovely travertine floor but its dirty and neglected. I have a really nice dewalt rotary car polisher and read up about travertine polishing and people say to get diamond polishing pads. Started off on 800 grit then worked up to 3000. Tiles come up really clean and look good. Major issue is that the polishing leaves white chalky dust behind. I have mopped, dusted, scrubbed etc but the white chalky dust just comes back as soon as the tile is dry. I go to a tile and agitate the surface with some warm soapy water (this is after I have polished it). I then mop it and let it dry. Then I dust it. This removes all the chalky dusty stuff and it goes back to its normal colour. Within 5 minutes its all back again???? Any ideas? These are the pads I have:

View: https://www.amazon.co.uk/inch-wet-diamond-polishing-pads/dp/B00MY8K1DM


and this is the polisher:

View: https://www.amazon.co.uk/DeWalt-DWP849X-GB-Premium-Variable-Polisher/dp/B005VOGC66/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=dewalt+car+polisher&qid=1633476410&qsid=258-2168088-3703648&s=diy&sr=1-3&sres=B005VOGC66%2CB0814NGXML%2CB0052RXM10%2CB0814NJ64B%2CB07XSKKTS9%2CB01711CNNM%2CB00VXN7TUW%2CB00HPXU9S8%2CB07FCLLLXK%2CB01JGHLTRK%2CB00HER8E5A%2CB00FRJJFHI%2CB08BP77ZCK%2CB07JQM7C28%2CB07NQS465R%2CB07QX92YBQ


I use it on a low setting then work up to a medium speed.

I mean there are black in-grained dirt marks on some tiles that I couldn't get off so it can't be a case that I'm polishing too hard or anything. My tiles are filled and honed (not polished/glazed as far as I can tell). **I used no grout or filler or any chemical product just literally the polishing pads and a jug of water to ensure diamond polisher stays wet.

Now managed to attach some photos. Pic one shows the tiles dusty. Pic 3 shows what comes off if I wipe my palm over it and pic 4 are a set of tiles that have not been cleaned or polished for colour comparison. When I mop and dust the tiles after polishing they do look like the unpolished ones in terms of darker colours but the white chalky dust return in minutes

Thanks for any help offered!

 

[Dave]

Morning, first off it really didn’t need honing/polishing. A simple clean with a suitable none acidic stone cleaner would have sufficed and then re-sealed.
Don’t wet the floor anymore as your bringing up salts from within the stone. Keep buffing with a dry cloth until the salts stop , this could take a few days after the soaking it’s had and then re-seal with a breathable stone sealer. There are a few sealers out there so check with your local suppliers as to what they stock.
Lithofin, fila etc are all good brands.

 

[Alfster]

Y

Morning, first off it really didn’t need honing/polishing. A simple clean with a suitable none acidic stone cleaner would have sufficed and then re-sealed.
Don’t wet the floor anymore as your bringing up salts from within the stone. Keep buffing with a dry cloth until the salts stop , this could take a few days after the soaking it’s had and then re-seal with a breathable stone sealer. There are a few sealers out there so check with your local suppliers as to what they stock.
Lithofin, fila etc are all good brands.

Great, thank you for the advice! So when should I hone/polish as you said it didn’t need it? Do you know of a good product that doesn’t have a significant health warning? Lithofin looks great but on Amazon it says ‘can be fatal if ingested or breathed in’. I know I’m not going to go drinking it and sniffing it but I’m not too keen on highly toxic, high VOC products. Wondered if you knew (or anyone else) of a sealer that isn’t as potentially hazardous? Thanks again!!

 

[Dave]

Y

Great, thank you for the advice! So when should I hone/polish as you said it didn’t need it? Do you know of a good product that doesn’t have a significant health warning? Lithofin looks great but on Amazon it says ‘can be fatal if ingested or breathed in’. I know I’m not going to go drinking it and sniffing it but I’m not too keen on highly toxic, high VOC products. Wondered if you knew (or anyone else) of a sealer that isn’t as potentially hazardous? Thanks again!!

Most manufacturers now do water based sealers , so no noxious solvent smells.

 

[Dave]

As for honing etc. You shouldn’t ever need to if maintained properly and the process if done isn’t really by a small handheld machine. You can’t w get the consistent finish required with such a small pad.

 

[CJ]

Just use the sealer, with your doors and windows open, as the spirit based stuff stinks. (I quite like it actually) don’t go too mad, couple of thin coats……don’t let it puddle.

job done 👍

 

[Alfster]

As for honing etc. You shouldn’t ever need to if maintained properly and the process if done isn’t really by a small handheld machine. You can’t w get the consistent finish required with such a small pad.

Thanks! A few more questions I have now I am deeper into the job if you (or someone else) would be so kind. Firstly, a small number of the travertine tiles have black dirt engrained deep into the tile (see attached picture). Even honing these specific ones didn't really work in removing this nor a deep clean. Any suggestions? Secondly, some have hair line cracks all the way across. I have some travertine filler but was wanting some confirmation on the best technique for cracks this fine? On YouTube they seem to suggest raking it out with a razor blade/stanley knife then filling once deeper?

Thanks for any help offered!