Sealing Travertine Shower Frequency
by Angie McGovern
QUESTION:How often should you seal travertine tile installed in a shower and what type of sealer would be best for water and soap scum?ANSWER:Travertine tile is not very absorbent despite what you might have read that marble and travertine stain easy... not true.And polished travertine is nearly non-absorbent and typically cannot be sealed since it won't absorb the sealer properly. So, sealing travertine for most installations is a judgment call based on where the installation is and the level of exposure to staining substances. For example: honed travetine kitchen floor... seal it. Living room floor... probably not necessary unless you have kids. And frequency for sealing travertine or any stone simply depends on if the original sealer is still effective or not, which is easily determined by the water test. But sealing a travertine shower... there is really no need unless you like to eat spaghetti in there or leave oily products (that may leak) sitting on the floor. The risk of staining a shower is very small, since you have water washing everything away and most bath and body products will not stain. And even if they do, you can remove stains from stone rather easily in most cases. The general rule is that you want to do as little to stone as possible and you don't want to seal stone in a wet environment. You want to let stone breath especially tiles on a floor or wall. If water gets behind the tiles, the moisture will be trapped by the sealer causing decomposition of the stone. So, I recommend that you do not seal the shower. It just doesn't provide any benefit. A couple things you should be aware of: Some products could "etch" travertine if they are acidic. Etching is corrosion of the stone and will ruin the polish on travertine creating dull spots and/or light colored spots. Etching is not as noticeable on honed or tumbled travertine though. Using the wrong cleaning products will do the same thing. So be sure to always use products safe for cleaning travertine and marble maintenance. Regarding soap scum: I'd recommend using PRISTINE Soap Film Remover. Works very well and of course safe for use cleaning travertine as are all the products we recommend. And by the way... sealing won't do a thing to prevent etching or soap scum build up. Good Luck, Ryan P.S. Get all the facts, answers, explanations and simple solutions with step-by-step instructions for any issue, problem or question with our Granite & Marble Maintenance Manuals.
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