Travertine Slabs

[OnPoint]

Originally thought it was granite but now know its travertine what's the best product to use on travertine slabs? 15lpm, tried fsc, fan and turbo and they don't look much cleaner!

Customer requested a test patch of SH which I said wasn't a good idea low and behold 1 slab is slightly discoloured now.

 

[Pjj]

Bleach should be ok

 

[OnPoint]

From doing abit of research since my post I have now found it travertine falls under limestone.

 

[K in Kent]

I'd try something like Fairy or Ecover and advise them to get it sealed or it will stain - but try and deal with this first.
Porous stone is a nightmare to keep clean

 

[Truckcab79]

Post a pic of the discoloured slab. Are you sure it’s not just clean? Looks to me like your gear isn’t up to cleaning off black spot without a bit of help.

 

[K in Kent]

Post a pic of the discoloured slab. Are you sure it’s not just clean? Looks to me like your gear isn’t up to cleaning off black spot without a bit of help.

Everyone needs a bit of help where lichen's concerned

 

[Truckcab79]

Everyone needs a bit of help where lichen's concerned

Looks much like the one I’ve just completed. Sandstone in this instance. First wash of hypo and the FSC got rid of all the dirt and the white lichen, but the worst spots, invariably the edges took up to 5 or 6 additional hypo treatments. Mostly used neat.

 

[K in Kent]

That's my point - hypo is essential to deal with hypo quickly and thoroughly.....

 

[Truckcab79]

That's my point - hypo is essential to deal with hypo quickly and thoroughly.....

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Very nice job.

 

[K in Kent]

Very nice job.

Thank you . . . and just to clarify - my previous comment should've said about hypo being essential to deal with lichen. ... got hypo on the brain. Maybe the fumes are getting to me!
But is great stuff - total game changer

 

[Truckcab79]

Thank you . . . and just to clarify - my previous comment should've said about hypo being essential to deal with lichen. ... got hypo on the brain. Maybe the fumes are getting to me!
But is great stuff - total game changer

Yep. That’s what I read it as. ?

I find the white lichen goes in seconds. You can see it fizz. The black either goes straight away or it takes multiple strong applications. Always goes though. I can’t leave a job if I can see any at all.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Yep. That’s what I read it as. ?

I find the white lichen goes in seconds. You can see it fizz. The black either goes straight away or it takes multiple strong applications. Always goes though. I can’t leave a job if I can see any at all.

I have found the best way to treat black lichen on edges is to soak a rag in neat hypo and place it on top of the lichen. It means the hypo stays on top and gets the job done in less than an hour. ?

 

[K in Kent]

Yep. That’s what I read it as. ?

I find the white lichen goes in seconds. You can see it fizz. The black either goes straight away or it takes multiple strong applications. Always goes though. I can’t leave a job if I can see any at all.

Yeah the black lichen is in a different league, yellow can be tricky too (especially on roofs) and the white is a bit of a lightweight in comparison.
I know they basically embed themselves into the surface which makes them so hard to remove, and there are many different species but I've no idea why they differ so much.
I did a bit of research into them for a post on my own website r.e. soft washing / pressure washing a few years ago and fun fact I learnt from Wikipedia was that apparently:

It is estimated that 6–8% of Earth's land surface is covered by lichens

so there you go, there's a useless fact you'll never need to know

 

[OnPoint]

Just thought I would update this.

Found out that the patio had been sealed the year prior which now makes complete sense why it didn't come up alot cleaner! Now debating on what I do next I.e go back to strip it or not.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Just thought I would update this.

Found out that the patio had been sealed the year prior which now makes complete sense why it didn't come up alot cleaner! Now debating on what I do next I.e go back to strip it or not.

That's the reason most of us don't get involved with sealed patios and driveways because all it does is turn out a headache and the customer thinks its the cleaners fault. ?

 

[K in Kent]

Just thought I would update this.

Found out that the patio had been sealed the year prior which now makes complete sense why it didn't come up alot cleaner! Now debating on what I do next I.e go back to strip it or not.

Unless you're being paid very well it's a time consuming process with no absolute certainty about the end result.
Ideally you need to know what sealer was used and then contact the manufacturer to recommend the best remover to use.