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Natural stone such as tumbled Marble or Travertine is a becoming a very popular Shower and Bathtub wall covering here inLincoln.  This is somewhat surprising when you consider that it can be one of the most difficult materials to take care of in a Bathroom.  Most natural stone of these types is quite porous and will absorb soap scum and minerals from the water, leaving them discolored and unsightly.  Once the stone absorbs the discoloring substance, it is difficult or impossible to restore the stone to its original beauty.  Sealers are available for natural stone but they do not last long (approx. 6 months) and they can be extremely messy to reapply. Not something the average home owner is prepared for and let alone has the time to do that often.

Although Mother Nature has made natural stone beautiful, she has also made it somewhat fragile.  Many types of marble are fairly brittle and are subject to cracking along fissure lines in the stone.  Costs for good quality natural stone tiles are usually near the high end of all the bathtub and shower wall covering materials.

Currently, some general Contractors are trying to decrease costs by importing low quality natural stone tiles from overseas.  Of course, the lower quality stones will tend to have even more problems than the better quality ones.  Although I like the look of natural stone, I do not recommend a marble shower for a long lasting, easy care shower or bathtub.  The tile stores in Lincoln all have an excellent selection of beautiful man-made tiles which look just like natural stone but do not have all of the maintenance headaches.

Perfect example…

Soft Scrub should never be used on any stone surface!

In the above picture, a “Professional” cleaning company used Soft Scrub on this home owner’s Polished Marble shower. The company’s owner was unable to fix the problem but if you look at the top left hand corner you can see where we were able to polish the residue away for good.

Now if you just have to have (or keep) your natural stone shower, please follow these helpful tips to keep them looking new and beautiful.

• Never ever use an acidic cleaning agent on any stone but Granite. if you don’t know what kind of stone it is give us a call and we’ll help you figure it out. Realize that just about every tub and tile cleaner found at local stores will be acidic. You’ll need to visit a tile store or hardware store to find a Neutral pH Cleaner that will be safe for the stone and will not deplete the sealer.
• Squeegee or wipe down the walls and floor after every use.  Now I know no one will do this but it is great advice non the less.  Doing so will help eliminate the build up of hard water deposits and soap scum.
• Keep the stone and grout well sealed. Sealing keeps the soil, mold and mineral build up on the very surface of the stone so it can be easily (or not so easily) cleaned off later. Once the seal has failed, mold and stains can get too deep to ever successfully clean out 100%.  Make sure the grout, silicon or caulking around the walls and floor stays intact. Once these fail and either crack, peel or crumble, water will be able to get behind the tile and mold and mildew will grow rampant.
• Have Blue Monarch come out every two years to professionally steam clean or polish your stone shower stall.  What is it your grand mother use to say? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?

Pets are a source of companionship and joy for millions of us.

Understand how to help your pets stay healthy,clean and happy and your home will be fresher for it. There are two pet-related problems that can affect the freshness of your home and its furnishings. These are pet accidents, both urine and feces, and body oils. Knowing about them can make living with a pet an even more positive experience.

Hot steamy weather is the time you are most likely to notice pet odors. That’s when pet hair, skin dander, and the residue from “pet accidents” begin to decompose — generating a distinct “doggie” smell that plagues even the most fastidiously cleaned homes.




Dogs, especially, secrete oils from their fur and paw pads. Good grooming and baths keep this in check. Periodically launder your pet’s bedding. If your pet has a favorite spot on the floor or in a chair, you might want to put a pet blanket/rug or some other washable item there.

Pet accidents are always cause for concern. Animal behaviorists will tell you that by instinct pets are attentive to good hygiene. They don’t want to have accidents in their homes. When they do, it is usually because of some other factor. Perhaps the pet is sick. Perhaps the pet’s exercise schedule was interrupted or wasn’t long enough. Perhaps the litter box needs to be cleaned. Maybe the pet has been traumatized. It’s been recommended that the first thing to do when a pet unexplainably starts having accidents is to talk to your veterinarian.

As far as cleanup goes, you need to blot up as much of the problem as you can. If solids are involved, gently scrape it up with a bit of cardboard. Work from the outside toward the center. This is important: Don’t apply house cleaners to the site. Some of them can change the color, texture or stain resistance of the affected fibers. Some can leave strong smelling residues that serve as “marker” triggering further accidents from your pets. New safe-to-use enzyme products are available which do an excellent job of treating these problems areas.

Here’s How You Can Help Keep Your “Home-With-Pets” Clean and Fresh

1. Act immediately when pet accidents occur. The longer the soil stands, the greater the chance it will seep through the carpet to the pad and floor.
2. Remove as much moisture as possible by blotting the spot with a clean white absorbent material. The more moisture you remove now, the less residue has to be treated later. Using a clean white absorbent material lessens the risk of transferring dye between your cleaning material and your affected fabric. It also helps you to “see” if the stain is being successfully removed.
3. If you catch the animal in the act, use a mixture of one part ammonia to three parts water. Spray it on thespot to neutralize the urine, let stand for five minutes, then flush with water and blot with a dry towel. If theurine spot is not fresh, use an enzyme to help kill the odor
4. Call us. We are trained and equipped to thoroughly clean, disinfect and deodorize pet stains. We also stand behind our work.

I don’t know you, but as a professional floor cleaner, I can tell you that Carpet as a flooring choice is not as popular as it was five years ago.

Today, many of the homes I go into only have carpet in the family/TV room and the bed rooms. The rest of the home’s heavy use areas are getting covered in woods, stone and ceramic/porcelain tiles. Makes perfect sense really. Most hard surfaces are easier to keep clean for the home owner, less prone to show wear compared to carpet and considering to the rising cost of the “fuzzy” stuff, a great investment for your home.

We saw this trend coming years ago and have invested a lot of time, money and education into learning how to properly clean, restore and maintain Stone and Tiled flooring. We are getting lots of phone calls from confused and frustrated home owners who are having issues keeping their stone and grout looking like new. In many cases, if the floor is under a year old, we can walk the home owner through a very effective cleaning process over the phone. If it’s been a couple years and just no amount of scrubbing and bleaching is doing it, then it’s time to call in the big guns at Blue Monarch. You will be amazed at what Steam Cleaning can do to bring that soiled Travertine, Limestone, Marble or snow white Grout back to normal. You have to see it in action to believe it.

I don't blame you.

I’ve seen the same botched jobs you have. Those silly Grout pens from QVC that looks like you used White Out or tooth paste to hide the stains. Lumpy, uneven results that look horrible. I blame the poor quality products from the hardware store, lack of proper prep work and no artistic skill from the applicator.

With our extremely thorough method and superior Acrylic seals you can be sure to get many, many years of perfect looking grout and clean up so easy you wont believe it!

I cant say enough about the Bissell Power Clean. For about $100, you get better suction than the infamous Dyson, no bags to buy and all the extra tools you’ll ever need.  And best of all, the filter is extremely easy to maintain. The popularity of bagless vacuums can be over hyped when uneducated homeowners bring home their new Hoover or Eureka only to discover that half way through their home, the new bagless vacuum looses most of it’s suction due to a clogged filter or in some cases, filter’s.

Who wants to wash a filter out every time you vacuum up after Chompers and Mrs. Fiskers?

The Bissell has somehow gotten around Dyson’s patent and duplicated the same “cyclonic” filterless system and sells it to you minus the huge cost of an incredible marketing campaign. You can buy five of the Bissells for the cost of one Dyson and still come out ahead in the suction department.

Give one a shot, what have you got to lose - except pounds of dirt?