Cleaning Epoxy Grout on textured porcelain tiles

[azrno1]

Hi,

I have had both polished and matt textured wood effect tiles laid in my house and am having Kerapoxy installed on both floors.

The tiler installed the Kerapoxy on the polished floors last week and despite doing a great job of cleaning up after himself there was still a greasy/sticky grout haze left the following day and I had to use a Fila epoxy remover and hours of elbow grease (and plenty of rags!) to get the haze off, which I did eventually.

That was an area of 20sqm and the tiler is about to grout our kitchen which is 32sqm of textured wood effect porcelain tiles. He did a small section yesterday and 24 hours later I wasn't able to see any grout haze, but when I touched the tiles I could feel a slight Epoxy residue on the surface of the tile, but they look great and the haze isn't noticeable as the tiles are textured.

I wanted to ask whether there would be a problem if I didn't clean the film off? My understanding is that it will eventually go hard, but as it is not visible will that be a problem on these textures tiles? I really don't fancy spending another 3-4 hours scrubbing and buffing if I don't need to. Also, as this tiler used brick acid (I know!) to clean these tiles prior to grouting, I am wondering whether the extra layer of epoxy will go some way to protecting the tiles against stains as a result of the acid etching the surface of the tile?

Any advice is appreciated as I won't have long before the haze starts to harden!

Thanks!

 

[Wayne_Phipps]

Hi,

You can use paint remover to soften residues of epoxy grout, obviously you will have to take the normal precautions such as good ventilation, wear a mask and gloves etc.

Make sure that keep the grout joints free of the remover as it will soften the joints. Use an emulsifying pad to help with cleaning off the haze and then clean water. If you have an epoxy grout left in any areas, you can also use a heat gun to soften epoxy grout as it reacts to heat.

Good luck!

 

[Jon_Hall]

With regard to the surface of the tile being etched by Hydrochloric acid, that particular acid shouldn't affect the tile.

 

[azrno1]

With regard to the surface of the tile being etched by Hydrochloric acid, that particular acid shouldn't affect the tile.

Hi,

You can use paint remover to soften residues of epoxy grout, obviously you will have to take the normal precautions such as good ventilation, wear a mask and gloves etc.

Make sure that keep the grout joints free of the remover as it will soften the joints. Use an emulsifying pad to help with cleaning off the haze and then clean water. If you have an epoxy grout left in any areas, you can also use a heat gun to soften epoxy grout as it reacts to heat.

Good luck!

Thanks Wayne. Do you know whether leaving the haze on a matt textured tile will cause a problem? The tiles are white so the haze isn't visible, even though I know there is one there by touch

 

[azrno1]

With regard to the surface of the tile being etched by Hydrochloric acid, that particular acid shouldn't affect the tile.

That's reassuring to know. Our stainless steel dishwasher was damaged by the Hydrochloric acid vapours, so I thought that given the strength of the acid it would have damaged the tiles and made them porous and susceptible to staining, especially as they are white.

Reassuring to know that this is unlikely

 

[Lou]

Don't mind me while I bump up some older but good threads. If you can contribute to the thread, go ahead. But if it's nothing for you then don't reply and it'll soon drop off the What's New page etc.
Worth linking to our new forum structure while I'm doing stuff:-

• USA Tile Forum for DIY and Professional Tile Fixers
• UK Tiling Forum for UK tiling advice
• Canada Tile Forum
• Tiling Advice Australia
• Ireland Tiling Forum
• Tiling Tools
• DIY Tiling
• Tiling Courses
• Tile Import / Export