How to Seal Travertine Floor Tiles

Sealing your travertine tile floor is important to protect it from absorbing dirt, spills and contaminates.

Travertine is one of those stones that should definitely be sealed to protect it. Unsealed travertine will absorb dirt, stains and contaminates and make cleaning up these embedded stains extremely difficult if not impossible. By sealing the travertine you will allow the dirt, spills and contaminates to remain on the travertine tile floors surface where they can be wiped away before they enter into the porous travertine tile stone. It is also important to protect the porous grout between the travertine tiles.

You should only use only professional high quality sealers when sealing travertine tiles and grout. Properly sealing your travertine tile with a quality tile, grout and stone sealing product will protect your travertine tile floor for years to come.

While some dense stones like granite will not absorb a sealer porous travertine tiles definitely will absorb a sealer and therefore should be sealed. You can see from the pictures below how travertine will darken up after a sealer has been applied. Also the travertine tile will stay dark even after the sealer has been wiped off of the surface of the travertine tiles. The darkening of the travertine tile verifies that the sealer is in fact being absorbed by the travertine tiles.

Sealer applied to travertine tile floor

The travertine tile darkens up after the sealer has been wiped from the travertine tile floor surface.

Travertine darkens after sealer is wiped a way

It is important to use a quality sealer to protect your travertine tile floor and the grout lines. Cheap sealers will not be fully absorbed by the travertine tile stone. Also cheap sealers will not provide the maximum protection necessary for your travertine tile floor installation. You should try to use only a quality sealer with the latest microbond sealer technology. These newer microbond sealers will provide the maximum protection and they will also be fully absorbed by the travertine tile.

Aquamix sealers choice gold is a premium sealer with the latest microbond technology and it is the preferred sealer for tile installers and stone restoration professionals. This type of sealer is also water based so it will not have harsh odors and does not require a respirator to apply like some solvent based sealers. A gallon of sealer will typically cover approximately 600 sq/ft of travertine tile and grout.

You can apply the travertine tile sealer with a cotton towel and just wipe it on the travertine tile floor. Use a liberal amount of sealer and ensure that the travertine tile floor is fully saturated with the sealer. Do not allow the sealer to dry on the travertine tiles so apply additional sealer to any areas that you see begin to dry up.

Applying sealer to travertine tile floor

It is important that the travertine tile floor is fully saturated with sealer and no areas dry out. Allow the sealer sit on the travertine tiles for 5-10 minutes for the sealer to be fully absorbed by the travertine tiles. Work only in about 100 sq/ft areas at a time and constantly watch and monitor the area being sealed to ensure that the sealer does not dry on the travertine tile surface.

Tile sealer being being absorbed by travertine tiles

After you have allowed the sealer to sit on the travertine tiles then it is important to wipe up all the sealer residue from the travertine tile floor. Paper towels work great to absorb and remove the excess sealer. You should wipe away all the sealer from the travertine tile surface and the grout lines. You do not want any sealer residue to sit on the tile surface or pool up in the grout lines. Continue wiping away the sealer from the travertine tile floor until you are sure that there is no trace of sealer residue sitting on the travertine tiles.

Cleaning sealer residue from travertine tiles

After you have wiped away the sealer residue from the tile surface you will see that the travertine tile floor tiles are darker due to the sealer that has been absorbed by the travertine tiles. This is normal but there should not be any sealer residue left on the tile surface. If you see that some sealer residue has dried on the tile surface then you can reapply some sealer the the sealer residue area to reactivate the sealer. Then you can wipe the sealer residue away with paper towels.

Sealer drying on travertine tile floor

After the sealer has dried then you can see how the original color and appearance of the travertine tile floor has been restored to its pre sealed look. You should not notice any change of color, sheen or look of the travertine tile floor after it has been sealed. You should fully inspect the travertine tile floor after it has dried to ensure that there are no areas of sealer residue that have been left on the travertine tiles. Inspect the travertine tile floor from all different angles and with different light sources. Excess sealer residue areas will show up as shiny spots on the travertine tile surface. You can reactivate these sealer residue areas with extra sealer and then wipe away the sealer residue with paper towels. Sealing travertine is not too difficult of a task and if done correctly then you will not have any areas of sealer residue to deal with.

Sealed travertine tile floor

For normal everyday cleaning of your travertine tile floors you should use a quality pH neutral cleaning solution designed for cleaning tile grout and stone. When using a pH neutral cleaning product you only have to use about 2-4 ounces of the cleaning solution per gallon of hot water to get effective cleaning results. Also you do not have to do any type of intense rinsing and extracting of the excess cleaning solution. PH neutral cleaners are safe and effective cleaning products for all of you tile, grout and stone surfaces and they will not break down any of the sealers you have applied.

Cleaning, sealing and maintaining a travertine tile floor can be difficult work for the DIY homeowner. You may want to hire a professional tile, grout and stone cleaning contractor to steam clean your travertine tile floors to get the ultimate cleaning results without the backbreaking labor of cleaning your travertine tile floors yourself.

You can read some valuable information and tips on how to hire a tile, grout and stone cleaning and restoration contractor at our contractor information page here. Tile Restoration Contractor.