Most weeks I receive calls from people asking how to remove a sealer residue. Sealer residues occur when an impregnating sealer is incorrectly applied. Impregnating sealers (or penetrating sealers as they are sometimes known) are intended to be in or below the surface of the stone rather than ‘on’ it. So, the correct application involves applying the sealer to the surface, allowing a short time for penetration (this might be around 5 minutes, depending on both the sealer being used and the material being sealed) then any surplus sealer, remaining on the surface should be removed with something absorbent, ideally a white paper or cotton towel.All too often though, for various reasons this cleaning away of surplus, whilst still wet, does not take place. Reasons include not reading the instructions and my favourite: “I’ve been using sealers for years, always done it like this and never had a problem.”
A sealer residue can appear in a number of ways: as a dry, white powdery deposit; streaky marks or shiny spots; with some sealers, the residue can take the form of a wet or greasy coating. There are a number of ways in which the problem might be rectified, depending on the circumstances.
For example, if a solvent sealer was used, it is sometimes possible to use a little more of the actual sealer, the solvent carrier-fluid it contains can sometimes re-dissolve the residue allowing it to be wiped away with an absorbent cloth.
For other residues, we would recommend the use of a micro-abrasive cleaner like Microscrub. First apply a little water to the affected area, and then add a little Microscrub and scrub. Rinse well and dry down with paper towels. For really stubborn or thick residues that have been left for some time, a stripper may be required. In such situations, we would recommend a solvent based sealer stripper or remover, such as Strip_it applied neat and left on for a minimum of 30 minutes before scrubbing with a white nylon pad.
Apart from the last remedy (using a stripper) the others should not result in the need to re-apply more sealer afterwards. So, it need not be the end of the world if a sealer residue is left on the surface, but it is of course better to avoid the problem altogether, by applying the sealer correctly in the first place.
Copyright Ian Taylor and The Tile and Stone Blog.co.uk, 2013. See copyright notice above.
Hi Ian,
Thank you for the detailed and helpful response. We have ordered the grout haze and we will let you know how we get on.
Thanks Kathy
Ok so a year after applying a sealant I have used a jet wash to clean the patio ready a re apply unfortunately after jet washing a visible dry whitish film layer seems to remain
Do I have to scrape this all off before re sealing or just seal on top of it
Sounds like the water itself, as well as the pressure of the water has killed the surface of the sealer, this needs to be removed I am afraid. You may need to do this chemically with a stripper, which will result in stripping back the entire surface, then rinse, allow it to dry be for attempting to re seal.
Hope this helps
Ian
Hi,
We have a large outdoor limestone patio area which I applied EverBuild patio sealant to in order to protect the tiles. Due to my poor DIY skills, it seems I’ve used too much sealer so there are residue patches all over our tiles. I’ve tried brushing and jet washing off but to no avail. I can scratch off the residue with my finger nails but it will take ages to do out whole patio area.
What’s the best way for me to remove this residue quickly and will I need to re seal the patio again ?
Thanks.
Hi,
OK, I don’t know the product if it is their topical acrylic then sure you have just applied too much. If you can scratch it off then you might have had surplus pooling on the top and/or it has not bonded properly. I would try an alkaline remover first (so something like our All for Stone Xtreme Clean) as this would be easier and nice to do than using a stripper. If it does not work (some acrylic sealers have a bit of resistance to alkaline cleaners) then you would most likely have to resort to some kind of sealer stripper (again we have one called Stip-It).
If it is a large area then you can use a deck brush with either a nylon emulsifying pad or nylon deck brush head – and a jet wash to rinse down afterward. If it is a very large area, I would consider hiring a rotary scrubber.
You can also do a little test with a high alkaline cleaner if you have anything suitable at home (many general floor detergents are high pH) and you can test how effective a solvent type stripper would be with some clear acetone-based nail varnish remover – just dab a little on, rub for a few minutes then buff dry – see if it breaks the coating down.
Whichever you have to use, you will be removing the sealer and not just the residue, so yes, it would almost certainly necessitate re-sealing.
HOpe that helps
Ian