Musivarius
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A long post and not tiling but I hope someone can help, I'm trying to get some decent information about how long the effects of waxing a floor last on tumbled marble.
Tumbled marble marble, so it's obviously a matt finish. You get some wax on the floor, domestic house, not a huge footfall. How long would you expect before the colours begin to fade, losing the effect of the wax? The floor would not have been sealed.
If you left a tumbled marble floor that had been waxed alone, is there a natural process in which the effect of the wax fades?
The reason I ask is this; Roman mosaic floors would have been set and then had the surface ground down, it seems mostly just smoothing off, as if it were tumbled marble. I do not think many carried on past that stage until the floor got a polished effect. Logic dictates they used a type of wax though we have no evidence what. There is such a variance though in finish, some still have the colour up, others are very faded. Some of the faded ones are in museums so the surface would be clean.
Most Roman floors you see here in the UK now look very dull, the colours are very washed out. Yes I realise 2,000 years can have a bit of effect but I read this statement from an academic and they said;
'They’re as brightly colored now as they were 2,000 years ago. Mosaics are made of stone and glass, which fade hardly at all'.
Some floors still have their colour but the mostly the colours are dull, why the difference I don't know. I have asked some restorers I know why there would be this difference and am waiting on any replies.
Thanks.
Tumbled marble marble, so it's obviously a matt finish. You get some wax on the floor, domestic house, not a huge footfall. How long would you expect before the colours begin to fade, losing the effect of the wax? The floor would not have been sealed.
If you left a tumbled marble floor that had been waxed alone, is there a natural process in which the effect of the wax fades?
The reason I ask is this; Roman mosaic floors would have been set and then had the surface ground down, it seems mostly just smoothing off, as if it were tumbled marble. I do not think many carried on past that stage until the floor got a polished effect. Logic dictates they used a type of wax though we have no evidence what. There is such a variance though in finish, some still have the colour up, others are very faded. Some of the faded ones are in museums so the surface would be clean.
Most Roman floors you see here in the UK now look very dull, the colours are very washed out. Yes I realise 2,000 years can have a bit of effect but I read this statement from an academic and they said;
'They’re as brightly colored now as they were 2,000 years ago. Mosaics are made of stone and glass, which fade hardly at all'.
Some floors still have their colour but the mostly the colours are dull, why the difference I don't know. I have asked some restorers I know why there would be this difference and am waiting on any replies.
Thanks.
