Typically if you have a light shade of carpet in your home or business you are constantly running around being paranoid about spills and foot traffic. You may not worry about your stone floors. Even though stone floor care seems like a no-brainer to you, the uniqueness of the stone can be marred by the simplest of spills.

Let's use an example. You are having the perfect dinner party with pasta and salad. You are not worried that a bit of pasta sauce and salad dressing has dripped on to your stone floor. Just like with carpet, some spills can make permanent marks on travertine, limestone, onyx, alabaster, slate and polished marble. These substances include wine, tomato sauce, yogurt, perfume, liquor, some juices and vinegar. The damage is not actually a stain, but an etching in the stone. Even water can cause stains in some types of stone. What's even worse is that even if you clean up the spill, the floors may have absorbed some of the liquid or substance. This could lead to bad smell and even some erosion of your floors. How can you prevent this? First follow these tips if you have a spill:

• If at all possible, clean up any spill as soon as it happens. This can be a challenge in some situations like when you have dinner guests or small children to watch. But remember—the quicker you clean up the spill the less damage it can do to your stone floor.

• Rubbing the spill can cause more damage make sure you blot the spill instead.

• No matter how convenient and harmless it may seem, don't ever use cleaning products before you check the label to see if they are safe. Most cleaning products are not safe for natural stone cleaning.

Accidents happen and it is unrealistic to think that no one will every spill anything on your floors. But you can minimize the damage before the spills happen. Have a professional who specializes in stone floor care seal your floors. This should be done as soon as possible because any damages that happen before the floors are sealed cannot be reversed. The sealer also does not mean that you should stop caring for you natural stone floors. You still need to clean up spills as soon as possible.

When looking for a stone floor care company, find one that is willing to give you a free estimate and consultation. No two stone floors are alike---even if the floors are made of the same material. A company representative can inspect your floors thoroughly to see what prior damage may have been done because of spills and wear and tear. He or she will also be able to tell you what type of sealer you need for your types of floors. You can't trust an estimate you receive over the phone. When it comes to the care of your natural stone floors, find a Scottsdale natural floor care professional to help you.