I would probably do it again. We used our guest bathroom (w/ trav floor) exclusively while the other two baths were torn out for reno'ing at the same time. There were a number of etch marks on the floor, mostly from cleaning products. I've since switched to more stone-friendly cleaning products, and just try to be more careful when using the TB cleaner (even the environmentally-friendly TB cleaners use citric or acid based ingredients, which are NOT stone friendly from what I understand).

Also, it was suggested in a thread on the kitchen forum to try a green scrubby with granite (or other cleaner) on marble etching. This worked well on most of the marks on my travertine (incl outlines of "bad" cleaner containers). I would test this out on a sample tile or inconspicous area on the floor first to make sure the cure isn't worse than the originaly spot(s).

So far, we are trying to be more careful with the trav we had installed in our hall bathroom (DH's bathroom) last month. I am hoping the switch in bathroom cleaners helps us avoid any etches.

HTH!

Travertine is one of the limestones: soft, and easy to scratch and etch. I've seen floors made of it, and either the homeowner was paranoid, or they were getting beat up.

Can you find a porcelain tile with a travertine look that would go with your wall and accent tiles?

When I say, being careful, I mean with regards to cleaning products. I eliminated using Lysol Basin, Tub and Tile Cleaner in all three bathrooms, and I try to watch out for drips from the TB brush.

We also used travertine in the entryway from our garage, in the laundry room, and two closets off that same entryway. We got a great price on the travertine at the time, and it didn't make sense to us to spend more for a porcelain/ceramic look-alike.

We don't baby those floors at all. We wear shoes in the house, and sometimes track in grit and dirt (esp in the spring when we come in from gardening). We slide boxes and laundry baskets across the floor, too. Does the floor look brand new? Probably not. Does it look beat-the-heck up? Definitely not. There are some faint surface scratches I'm sure. Deeper scratches (e.g. from washing machine and/or dryer being moved) I "filled in" using a permanent marker (found brown, beige, tan ones at Staples) and then buffed off any excess with a very fine steel wool pad.

To me, the etches looked worse than any scratches. If I can avoid most or remove them if/when they occur, then I am happy we chose travertine for the rooms/areas we did, and would likely use it again.