Visitor Question - How Can I Remove The Greasy Waxy Coating From My Porcelain Tiles?
By John Evans on Aug 1, 2008 in Porcelain, Visitor's Questions
Question - “Help, I’ve just had 30 sq. metres (open plan hall, dining room and kitchen) of 600mm x 600mm glazed porcelain tiles laid. I was told that I needed to seal them, and was supplied with LTP MPG sealer for polished wall & floor tile sealer. I followed the instructions on the bottle, put it on thinly with a small sponge roller, then 20 minutes later tried buffing it with a clean, dry cloth as instructed, working any excess into the surface (even although it wasn’t completely dry?) The bottle instructed me to apply another coat after 4 hours (which I have not done), it states to buff well between each coat, but I cannot get the first coat buffed up. No matter how much I rub and buff, I cannot get rid of what looks like a greasy, waxy coating! What can I do now?”
Our Suggested Course of Action - “I don’t suppose it is of much comfort to hear that you are not the first person to have this problem, but it is very common. A mixture of things going on here I think. First of all, can I clear something up? - You say 600×600 mm ‘glazed’ porcelain - that is entirely possible but, I suspect highly unlikely. What I suspect you have is ‘Polished Porcelain’ a material that I have written about elsewhere in the blog (and I am sure I will continue to do so). If it was glazed (which means a ceramic body with a very thin layer of glass on the surface), then you would not have needed any sealer and if you tried to apply it, it would just sit on the top.
Assuming you have a polished porcelain (very shiny, but still the same material as the body of the tile, just highly, mechanically polished to a high shine, just the same way as stone) then you may or may not have needed sealer, I am guessing though, that you do.
Here are a couple more assumptions: The tiles were reasonably priced and they were made in China. Not that there is anything wrong if they were but it leads me to one last assumption: There is a factory-applied, wax coating on the tiles.
The sealer you purchased is an impregnating type. I do not know for certain but I imagine it is a solvent-based one. It needs to be allowed to penetrate the surface of the polished porcelain (there are tiny micro-pores that the polishing process has opened up) but the protective wax needed removing first. What you have got is a combination of sealer residue (sealer that was left behind once the carrier fluid evaporated) mixed up with the wax. To make it worse, if, as I suspect, the sealer was solvent-based (did it smell?) then it will have partially dissolved the wax, enough to re-emulsify it a bit and mix it with the polymer of the sealer, then as the solvent flashed off, it ‘set’ again leaving the semi-solid, greasy, cloudy mess on the surface. If it was not a solvent, then you still have sealer left on top of the wax, unable to penetrate - basically a similar result.
Needless to say it all now needs removing, the best way is to use Nanoscrub, either on its own (with just a little water and a white scrub pad) or, if the wax is particularly stubborn, you may need a stripper like Sealer and Coating Remover in conjunction with Nanoscrub. In the latter case, you would apply the Sealer and Coating Remover neat, leave it to dwell for 30 to 40 minutes, then add a blob of Nanoscrub and scrub. Then remove the slurry and rinse well. Once absolutely clean and dry you can seal again. I would not leave the sealer 20 minutes before you buff it though - you need to buff dry any remaining (in other words un-needed) sealer BEFORE it dries normally within 10 minutes - yes that advice was correct - if you are thirsty, you pour a glass of water, do you drink every last drop, or only what you need to quench your thirst? - bit of a stretch that analogy but hopefully you see what I mean. If you leave it to dry on the surface, then that is exactly where the surplus sealer will remain - on the surface - it is mean to be in the surface. For more information sealing porcelain go to this article.
For a more detailed description of Nanoscrub click here. Hope that helps, let us know if you have any more problems.”
DISCLAIMER - Any advice or recommendations given on this site are given on the strict understanding that neither the Tile and Stone Blog or it's authors can accept any responsibility for damage or loss arising out of the use or misuse of such advice or recommendations. These recommendations are intended as general guidelines for the product/situation covered. Always Read Product Labels Entirely Before Use. Always Conduct a Small Test To Determine Desired Results.
You must be logged in to post a comment.