cleaning stone floors

[Renate]

We have an old farmhouse with a beautiful stone floor in the kitchen. Can anyone tell me the best way to clean the stone? so far I have only vacuumed and lightly mopped with water and a little washing up liquid. I want to keep the lovely shine on most of the stones.

[Pucette<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Pucette<FONT><P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">"Qui ne connaît pas la campagne lhiver, ne connaît pas la campagne et ne connaît pas]

Savon noir is the traditional product.

[Ewa]

Go onto the Fired Earth Interiors website (www.firedearth.com) and look for the technical guides which can be downloaded as PDFs. The one you want is the floor tiling one which gives info not only for laying new stone floors, but how to clean and maintain them. Washing up liquid is great for general daily cleaning as the pH is good (if it's good for your hands, its good for your floor) but once clean, you need to add a 'finish' layer of wax (which needs buffing, but gives a lovely patina) or a proprietary finish which would be a wipe on clear fluid which gives a satin sheen.