Which dust sheet?

[quackfly]

Hey all just wondering how many of you use plastic (disposable) dust sheets? it seems to me that once the heavy cotton ones get a bit of addy trod into them that they only bring a mess into the next job, just wondering what you think on the subject

[Sir Ramic]

Plastic ones are slippy and rip easily.
I have a couple of heavy twill and a stair sheet complete with Stair rods

[Alan.P]

Stick the addy / sticky on the walls and not the sheets, a lot cleaner but no, normally use the cotton ones, you can get them cheap enough from Aldi IIRC about a fiver, clean them as you go if you do make a mess, get the worst up, then when dry get shot of the rest with a good scrub up.

[quackfly]

i know the object is to get it on the walls lol, but i'm still a novice and struggle with keeping all addy on the trowel and walls.

[Dan]

lol @ Alan, not wrong though mate.

I'd avoid plastic sheets on the floors when you're carrying tiles over them with perhaps wet feet or addy spillage. Imagine throwing a box you're carrying into something like their grandfather clock or expensive banisters on their stairs or even worse. The reason dust sheets are cloth is so they collect the dust. Imagine rolling up a plastic one afterwards, all your dusts back in the room.

My nan used to have a plastic runner by the front door that I think 1 in 3 people used to slip on when entering the house. Crazy invention IMO. Used to love it as a kid though doing the peter kay slide. Woooooooooooooooooooo

[CJ CERAMICS]

i use the heavy duty twill ones to cover floors etc but for work tops i use tredaire carpet underlay cut to fit.... i use this because it covers the area and the rubber adds
extra support incase of droppages.
chris

[Alan.P]

i know the object is to get it on the walls lol, but i'm still a novice and struggle with keeping all addy on the trowel and walls.

Sorry mate, just having a moment no offence meant, so, what is your technique for getting the addy on the wall, do you use a bucket trowel and scope it onto your notched trowel, do you just scoop straight into the tub / bucket with your notched trowel ? maybe try a little less at a time, get it onto the wall and work it there.

Sorry if that's stating the obvious.

[quackfly]

usually scrape straight onto notched trowel until there isnt enough left then use a bucket trowel. i tend to find tho that when im scraping across the wall where the two runs overlap a slither forms and sometimes falls off the wall, does that make sense? oh and dont worry about offending me, i'm Irish and well used to taking the P!!

[Sir Ramic]

Sounds like lack of spreading technique. Dont worry it will soon become natural.
I remember as a kid when i started tiling a plasterer watched me spread teh adhesive on a wall somewhat caggy handed and remarked " His wrist hasnt broken yet" meaning that my wrist wasnt flexing.

[Alan.P]

I know what you mean, it's a thing you'll get in the end, watch for any build up that could drop and work it before it does, try and work the addy in a way that you don't get build up, if you see it happening, flatten the trowel to take off the excess, work the 'drip' and continue, hope that makes sense

Try smaller areas maybe

[quackfly]

yeh, it is my spreading, to be honest i waste so much time chasing the addy round i'd say i'd half my overall fitting time when i get the hang of it. does my box in sometimes!!

[Oli]

i use old curtains, bed sheets etc, it would appear that my parents bless em have kept every single pair of curtains they have ever owned, as there both over 50 ive still got a huge pile to get through. I get plastic tarpaulins for outside to mix on and rinse them clean every now and again.

[doug boardley]

twill for me, altho i also use stroll and roll carpet protector

[timeless john]

Carpet protector on a roll which sticks.
Best thing since the double handed 16inch serrated trowel.

Quackfly - Try putting the adhesive on the wall in a vertical movement - when you've covered your area go 1 final time horizontally.
Dont forget to keep the trowel on this final pass through at the 90 degree angle to maximise the full potential of the trowel depth being used.

Timeless John.

[Benny Tiler]

Hi Guys

I'm still quite new to tiling and end up with addy on the dust sheet / bath / my shoes

I use the thick cotton ones, customers love the stair climber

I also bought a big roll of the thin plastic sheets from wickes and have to say they're really handy. Especially when grouting a floor that goes up to carpet. I tuck the plastic into the threshold on the carpet side then cover with a cotton dust sheet. Maybe that's going for belt and braces but I don't fancy trying to clean coloured grout out of someones carpet.

[quackfly]

Just wanna thank you all and big up this forum, I started by asking about keeping mess under control and the chat led on to some of you more experienced guys giving some much needed advice on addy spreading which lay at the heart of me making mess in the first place. Cheers guys