If the travertine tiles of your bathroom floor are looking dull or dingy, it’s time to put some elbow grease into polishing your natural stone so it looks as beautiful as the day it was installed. Here are step-by-step instructions for making your floor shine like new.

1. Clean the floor
It’s important to take some time to thoroughly scrub the tiles clean first.

According to DoItYourself​.com, a home improvement website, if you leave any dirt or debris on the travertine tile before you polish it, the filth will become embedded in the stone. By skimping on this step, your floors may not shine the way you want them to.

With a damp paper towel or sponge, fully wipe down the tiles. Once they’re sparkling, you can move on to the polishing process.

2. Sand down the tiles
Next, you’ll want to smooth the travertine tile with sandpaper. Use large, circular motions while you’re sanding down the surface.

Though doing this manually requires extra elbow grease, DoItYourself suggests that you don’t use a power sander. These devices, albeit convenient, may damage travertine tiles.

Before you begin polishing, the source reminds you to take note of any cracked tiles so you can avoid buffing them and causing potentially irreparable damage.

3. Buff the floor
The San Francisco Chronicle suggests that you use a buffing machine with a 100-grit diamond polishing pad. Simply fill up the well of this buffer with water and you’ll be ready to polish.

Use long and even strokes when you use this machine. Be careful not to linger on any spot for too long or else you run the risk of leaving a mark on the floor.

Once you’re done with the entire surface, do a second round with a 200-grit pad. Follow this with 400- and 800-grit rounds, buffing the surface until you’re satisfied with its sheen.

4. Mop up the surface
There might be leftover dust and debris left from your buffing rounds, so once you’re done polishing, finish the job like you started: by cleaning off the surface. The Chronicle suggests that you use clean water to do this. Next, use a wet vac to suction any water left behind.

It’s important to let the floor dry entirely. Then, you can seal the surface with tile sealant to protect it from staining. With this, your bathroom floor will look as good as new.