Looking for a little insight as to a ploblem that we are having waxing laminate tile. Two years ago we striped, sealed and waxed two 200 sq ft bathrooms and a 1000 sq ft floor, everything went fine no problems. Now we are attempting to do the same over again. Started with the bathrooms, stripping went fine, sealer down and we started putting down thin layers of wax. First layer looked great, waited for it to dry then put down the second layer. Here's the problem; in only one of the bathrooms the second layer of wax when dry had what looked like spider web design cracks all over and when touched it flakes off. We have stopped everything for fear of it happening on the other floors!! Let me know if you know what causes this.
Well there could be a few factors at works here. The most likely cause is the floor was not rinsed very well. I would recommend stripping the floor with a stripper, shop vac it all up, mop with hot water, then mop entire floor with a neutral cleaner. I would than mop the floor again with straight water.
This is a bit of a process but it will assure you that the floor is free of any substance that will affect the application and drying of the wax.
I always look to see if you could have picked up a "contaminate" when waxing? Does the restroom have a mist air unit & was it on while waxing? We ran into this recently & it caused the wax to dry with an odd pattern. It was a top scrub & recoat. We had to strip it all off, shut of air unit & start over.
Helped a buddy strip a multi-colored brown vct floor. In some areas we "leaned-in" on the machine to completely strip. After waxing we notice that several of these spots have turned white as if we removed the color out of the tile. We have re-stripped and re coated with no luck. These white areas on the VCT will not turn dark. There is no color there. You would not notice this on a white VCT. It seems as if the tile was made with color only on the surface. Any suggestions on how to make those spots dark? We tried a brown marker after we stripped but it was the wrong brown. It would be almost impossible to find the right color brown since there are several shades in the tile.
John
Its not a drying issue. The white spots are there when floor is completely stripped. Its as if there was a high spot there and the tile was sanded down.
Could be a couple things here.
1). Wax could be contaminated by using same mop bucket as stripper, could be old wax, wax may have become frozen in weather at distribution point...
2). Stripper not completely rinsed or neutralized on the floor (most common problem, but usually you see the wax "fish-eye" or simply not drying)
3). If you used a neutralizer, it may have been under-diluted (too much neutralizer)
4). This may be a chemical reaction to the sealer you used or the sealer was not cured enough and mixed with the wax
5). If the floor is too soft, it can cause the finish to crack after you walk on it (this doesnt sound like your case)
6). Temperature or humidity is too high (or even too low)
My floor care guys are also having this problem. The wax is cracking or separating after the first layer of wax is put on. One of them decided to wax an area without rinsing with neutral cleaner and he said is did not separate. What is causing the wax to separate. Does the neutral cleaner have to be used?
Great Advice, I'm going to put it to Good use! Thanks Guys
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Cleaning Talk - Professional Cleaning and Restoration Forum
65.1K posts
24.1K members
Since 2006
A forum community dedicated to professional cleaning and restoration specialists. Come join the discussion about upholstery, displays, residential, styles, scales, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!