Make life easy, search the forum.

Discuss pre seal cleaning in the Specialist Tile -Stone, Porcelain, Glass area at TilersForums. USA and UK Tiling Forum

J

J Sid

Please checkout the following advertisement.
Was working away this morning giving the present job, 200m2 of modular chiseled edge unfilled travertine floor, a clean, pre seal, after being grouted yesterday morning ( 80m2 ) when CTD turned up with another 2 pallets. The delivery driver was amazing at what I was doing, saying he has never seen anyone do it before.
This lead me to wonder how you do your pre seal cleaning.
how do I do it....
assuming no pre grout sealing is required I grout as normal and clean of with the wash boy. To the eye it looks nice and clean. Next day i re clean using a cleaner with either a white pad or maybe a soft broom giving a gentle scrub and the using my Charles wet vac remove all the cleaning water. Then repeat using clean water. From what seems a clean post grouted floor you would be amazed at the dirt that is lifted and remove. Will then leave for 2 to 5 days to full dry out before sealing depending on stone.

How do you clean yours? WP_20161004_11_31_26_Rich (2).jpg
 

jobdone

TF
Reaction score
182
Hot wash the next day then dry buff. like the idea of the wet vac. Nice job. im looking for the same tile but without the chiseled edge, CTD don't stock them any more.
 
OP
O

One Day

I am so totally OCD that with stone I simply work cleanly and fully seal before grouting. Honestly.
I know it's wrong and slow but that's me.
Currently 2/3rds of the way through 100sqm limestone and I'm not cleaning it until AFTER I've grouted.
 
OP
F

Flintstone

I've always sealed before grouting, some times after too. I'm a microfibre cloth man
 
OP
J

J Sid

sorry , but how long between fix cleaning and sealing do you leave and how can you possibly get limestone clean with a wash boy?
 
OP
O

One Day

sorry , but how long between fix cleaning and sealing do you leave and how can you possibly get limestone clean with a wash boy?

Me??
I'm fixing with TM Semi-rapid and it's already very clean out of the crates.
I work cleanly and any odd mess I sponge off. I don't need to clean it before sealing.
Soon as https://www.tilersforums.com/forums/tile-adhesive/ has gone off I'll seal using Lithofin MN eco to saturation.
Grouted next day and no problems with the washboy so long as I am thorough and change water often.

I have fixed some stone so filthy out of the crate it needs washing. By and large though I seem to get the good stuff and working cleanly I skip the wash and dry.
 
OP
J

J Sid

if you have a wet vac , just once try a clean and vac ofF. You be amazed how dirty the water will be...I'm using trav out of the box from a crate straight from the dock and you can see the difference after a clean.
 
OP
O

One Day

if you have a wet vac , just once try a clean and vac ofF. You be amazed how dirty the water will be...I'm using trav out of the box from a crate straight from the dock and you can see the difference after a clean.

I know what you mean. I have a wet vac and use it often but this stone from somewhere in Bristol is just SO clean. They even pack it with straps under the stone so it lifts out of the crates rather than having to strip the crate.
 
OP
G

garybadger

I clean it after tile, seal the floor 1st time on same day.
Grout floor next day
Seal day after its grouted.
 

Lithofin BOB

TF
Esteemed
Reaction score
613
Pre clean can be one of the most important processes, not only can this remove instalation grimes greases,addy residues ,but also removing dust particals from the surface of the stone can improve the look ten fold , especially on some stones, semi honed,honed, flamed.
If you seal some stones without the pre clean this can bind in the dust and some dirts as the product cures, they can still look good - but could look better.
This also rules out strike marks- where the sealer collects the dust/dirt and sinks in forming lines or water shaped marks, this can be with highly porus stones

As above if you are pre cleaning ,you will need to extend the dry time prior to sealing
 

Reply to pre seal cleaning in the Specialist Tile -Stone, Porcelain, Glass area at TilersForums.com

Or checkout our tile training advice or the Tile Standards

This website is hosted and managed by www.untoldmedia.co.uk. Creating content since 2001.

New Tiling Questions

UK Tiling Forum Stats

Threads
66,600
Messages
866,701
Members
9,509
Latest member
flooringdemand
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock