Marble Cleaning

Can't parise Abbey Floor Care highly enough. We can't believe how they transformed our auful (inherited) stone floors into something so lovely. First rate professionalism and a genuinely lovely man. Highly recommend them. Thank you David (& Christopher)

Karen Holmes

Answered: Your Burning Questions About Marble Floor Polishing

As with many cleaning services, marble floor polishing is a general term that describes a range of marble floor care, from light powder polishing to complete marble floor restoration to restore a shiny, scratch and blemish free finish

The most common question we get is:

"How Much Will It Cost To Clean And Polish My Marble Floor?"

The cost for marble cleaning and restoration depends on the condition of the floor tiles, scratches, damage, soiling, stain removal etc.

Just send us photographs of your floor and the size.

If we need further information from you, we will email you, giving you time to give us the information

Quick Links To Marble Polishing Services

Marble Polising, Marble Restoration, Marble Sealing

Marble Floor Polishing | Tiles In Reasonable Condition


The cost can range from £25.00 to £35.00 per square metre.

This floor was in good condition but had lost its shine.

The client called on our cleaning services to polish marble floors because their marble floor but had lost its shine, particularly in the traffic areas.

The surface of the marble tiles was dulled by small scratches and light etching.

After polishing with marble polishing powder.

A small polishing sample using diamond pads (just above our watermark) shows a new beautiful clean and polished finish.

The picture also shows the effect of removing soil from the grout lines. Using the right cleaning products will help keep the tiles and grout clean for longer

The polishing process using diamond polishing powder with fine diamond abrasives, rather than diamond pads, can remove scuffs and light scratches on light marbles and other calcium-based natural stones, however, if you look closely, you may still see that the polished marble has scratches, but they will be shiny and less visible. See more here:

Marble Cleaning And Sealing Project In Colchester Essex

This lovely marble floor in Colchester had taken a lot of traffic wear, making it dull in the traffic areas. The lippage was not too bad over the floor, so I dod not need to grind the floor before honing. I started by diamond-honed the…

Marble Cleaning And Sealing Project In Exeter Devon

This Tumbled Marble floor in Exeter was showing its age. The tiles were dull and the grout had a lot of ingrained soil. My client wanted the marble cleaned and polished to a nice glossy shine. used a rotary scrubbing machine and Marble cleaners to…

Polishing A Dull Marble Floor In Langstone Newport To A Beautiful Deep Gloss

This marble floor in Langstone, Newport had been installed for around 10 years. It was showing its age as tiles were scratched and dull. The marble was getting more difficult to look clean. Abbey Floor Care was chosen to carry out the polishing work. The…

Polishing Marble Floors In Poor Condition


The cost can range from £25.00 to £35.00 per square metre.

This marble was in poor condition. Our client was searching for a local service to polish marble floors.

The surface of the marble had lost its deep gloss through surface scratches, blemishes and some light etch mark damage.

The polishing started with specialist stain removal and cleaning products and cleaning the grout with a rotary scrubbing machine and 1,200 grit honing powder

Whilst the floor was poor, there was little lippage, so we didn’t need to grind the floor smooth. So the floor was honed using diamond polishing pads.

Stone polishing pads for polishing marble floors range from coarse to fine grit, just like sandpaper for wood finishing.

Honing will remove scuffs and light scratches on the lighter coloured marbles, however, it will not deep scratches, damage or lippage.

This is often the service we use for marble countertops.

The floor was then polished using polishing powder to transform the shiny surface into a deep, lustrous gloss.

Finally, we apply an impregnating marble sealer to help protect the finish and make it easier to keep clean.

After completing the work, we advised on the correct floor cleaners to use to keep the marble stone in tip top condidion.

Marble Restoration - Marble Grinding

The cost can range from £70.00 per square metre and above


Originally I had called this section Marble Restoration – Polishing Floor Tiles In Bad Condition.

However, floors that need grinding are not necessarily in “bad” condition. They can be in good condition, even with a good polish, but these floors can suffer from being poorly laid with “lippage” problems.

Lippage is the term for tiles that are not laid flat, with a height difference between adjacent tiles. The difference in height means that the marble stone floor can not be honed with resin diamond tooling, because resin tooling can not deal with lippage.

Before the marble flooring can be honed and polished, it needs to be made smooth by marble grinding to make the uneven floor smooth, so the tile edges are all the same height.

In general, marble stone floors with lippage above 2mm will need to be ground smooth before the floor can be honed and polished to give a great shiny surface.

A marble flooring will also need to be ground if it has deep scratches and damage that can not be removed by honing.


This London marble was in reasonable condition, with light scratches that could have been polished by honing. But there was a lot of lippage over the floor.

So the marble stone needed to be ground smooth before we could start the polishing stage.

The photo was taken during the marble restoration process after a couple of passes of the grinding machine.

You can still see the edge of a tile that has not been ground, so the floor eventually needed 4 marble grinding passes to make it smooth and ready for honing..

After the marble grinding, the floor was progressively honed and polished to this high shine.

Then sealed the polished marble with a high quality marble sealer, completing this London marble floor restoration project.

This marquina nero marble marble stone floor with a lot of extreme lippage.

In some places, the lippage was over 4mm.

The homeowner had tried to restore the floor using a wood floor slaner.

As you can see, the sander scratched the floor, but did not make the marble smooth.

We used metal marble grinding tooling to grind the marble stone floor smooth.

Then progressively honed and polished the floor to a beautiful deep shine.

To help protect the marble, we finished this marble floor restoration with a high quality impregnating sealer.

What Causes Dirty Marble?


Now you have an idea of the marble floor cleaning and polishing costs, you may be wondering what made your marble floor dull in the first place, especially if you feel that you have looked after your floor.

Many issues can result in you needing a local service to polish marble floors.

  • soil and grit

  • acid spills

  • furniture damage

  • poor installation

  • uneven tiles

  • no sealer

  • the wrong marble sealer

  • cleaning chemicals

  • cleaning equipment

  • not enough cleaning

But you needn’t worry because we will carefully explain how your marble flooring has got into its current condition.

Then we can advise you on the best way to polish marble floors, appropriate marble cleaning and restoration solution. So you can choose the option that fits your budget.

We always try to suggest a solution that is best suited to your situation.

If you have pets and small children, you may consider polishing your floor to an “acceptable” finish, rather than a high perfect finish.

We will also give you comprehensive advice; covering cleaning chemicals, equipment and methods, so your marble and other stone floors keep their looks for a long time.

How To Clean Marble Tiles - A Quick Introduction

Once your floor is restored to its original beauty, you will only keep it looking beautiful and shiny if you clean it properly.

That means you need to dry sweep your floors on a daily basis to remove grit and surface soil.

Ideally, you should also damp mop on a daily basis , using a clean mop and specialist marble floor cleaning chemicals and a microfiber mop.

You can find out more here.

3 Common Marble Problems

Chipped Floor Tiles – Lippage

Chipped tile edges on natural stone and marble floors are usually caused by the marble tiles being uneven. We call this lippage on marble floors. Where the lippge is small, say under 1mm, and then the tiles can be honed flat.

In most cases this will remove small chips from the marble surface. Colour-matched epoxy filler can repair holes and larger chips.

If the lippage is over 1mm, then the floor will need to be ground to make the marble stone smooth. Then the floor can be honed to remove the scratch marks from the grinding.

Again any remaining chips can be filled with an epoxy filler.

Dirty Grout

Sometimes the investigation will show dirty grout on marble flooring. Dirty grout is usually a result of not understanding of marble cleaning; the importance of using a clean mop and using too much water. A wet mop will just move surface soil into the grout lines, causing a buildup that is difficult to remove, so you will need to call on professional cleaning services.

Our cleaning services use a specialist marble cleaning solutions that a homeowner can not get their hands on. We also have specialist equipment to deep clean and rinse the grout. We can then apply a grout sealer. The grout will stay cleaner if you damp mop using a microfiber mop system.

Alternatively, we can grind the marble tiles down to the grout. The floor will be smooth and much easier to keep clean.

Spots and Stains

A marble surface installed in a bathroom, toilet, kitchen or dining room often suffers from ugly etch spots and stains. The majority of food spills contain dyes and have chemicals that can affect a marble surface.

Baking Soda is seen as a common remedy. However we find that while Baking Soda can soak up spills, the Baking soda has difficulty preventing or removing stains.

Check out our guide to stain identification and stain removal.

Cleaning Marble Kitchen Worktops

Keep Your Kitchen Worktop Well Sealed

Kitchen marble stone surfaces need additional protection from spills, moisture, and dust. You don’t need to call on professional marble restoration services to seal a worktop. Just make sure follow the instructions on the container. It is not difficult or time-consuming work.

Clean Spills As Soon As Possible

Unlike a granite or quartz kitchen worktop, a marble stone kitchen worktop will be damaged by acids such as; lemon juice, fruit juice, soda, wine or coffee. So you must make sure to immediately clean any spills on the marble using a clean cloth and a marble cleaner. If you do not do that, it will make a permanent stain on your marble worktop which will ruin the overall look.

Use Soft Cloths and Specific Marble Cleaners

After wiping the marble clean, rinse the marble surface with clean water and then buff dry with a chamois cloth or microfiber cloth

Take advantage of a free consultation and estimate by a trained and experienced Marble Cleaning and Restoration Expert as the first step in cleaning your marble stone floors.

If you’re looking for excellent marble stone flooring restoration service from a trustworthy tradesman then call Abbey, we will take all your headaches away.