Help..Floor Wax Mavens... Please send me a signal

[michaelman2]

I have a black Armstrong tile floor in my kitchen. These are the inexpensive vinyl composition tiles that grocers and stores use on their floors and they must be waxed.

I had originally put a very high gloss/mirror Acrylic wax on them several years ago and they looked like granite. It was beautiful.

Like an idiot I decide to "strip" and wax them this afternoon, one day prior to a dinner gathering I am having on Wed.

I have one big mess. I have stripped, rinsed, wet vacuumed, scrubbed...you name it....Out of desperation I have re-waxed the floor to get by on Wed.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to resurface this floor? I love the look ...but the residual wax is almost impossible to remove and it looks hazy and uneven.

Wisdom welcomed.[this post was last edited: 10/27/2010-01:18]

 

[westingman123]

What did you use to strip it? There are commercial strippers available at big box hardware stores, but I use plain old ammonia and elbow grease. The acrylic wax is also available at the bix box stores; it takes several coats (thin) to get that deep shine that we love. Hope this helps. If you would like brand names, let me know and I'll search the pantry.

 

[michaelman2]

Hi Keith,
I used the recommended stripper for the wax product....I guess I need to get my lazy ass back downstairs and go tile by tile. You are correct when you say that the only way to get a great shine is several very thin coats of wax.

Apparently there were a BUNCH of thin coats....this is a total mess...hazy and crappy looking.

The floor was fantastic looking for years.

I think if I can get rid of the old finish (Acrylic wax) and then start from scratch, it will be fine. It is just getting to that point. I cannot rinse enough.

I need one of those machines I see large grocers and Walmart using...it strips, rinses and waxes.....

I have a large floor buffer that I guess I could hook up with a scrub pad....of course that will sling Sh** all over the kitchen....

Started working on this at noon today and here I am at 2:00AM still with a mess....this is so frustrating.
......okay...I'll stop bitching...

 

[mattl]

I use the 2 or 3 step product from Home Depot on my Armstrong commercial quality floors. The first step is a sealer, then I put on 3 or 4 thin coats of the finish. The 3rd step is the stripper to remove it an do it all over again. I use my old Hoover floor-matic with the stiff brushes to remove the old finish.I generally rinse 3 times to get all traces of the old stuff up with the new Hoover Floor-Mate.

It's a lot of work and I do it generally once a year, but have been know to skip a year and just put a couple more coats of the finish on the floor.

 

[michaelman2]

Hey Matt....thanks for the advice...I have that same Hoover floor machine....I think half of the problem is that I am just lazy and did not properly strip the floor and patches of wax were still evident and I could not strip ....I actually have called a janitorial service......their ETA is 30 mins! I was DONE with this damn project

 

[michaelman2]

Janitorial service is here....yeah!!...You guys would not believe the amount of wax still on this floor..

 

[rp2813]

Drawing from your post in the DL forum, were the janitorial guys worth keeping your clothes off for?

 

[iheartmaytag]

Never cared for acrylic floor wax

Yes, it looked great, and was easy to apply. BUT it was a total PITA to remove.

My mother always used Bruce floor wax or good ole' Johnson's Paste wax, then buffed the hell out of it with the Kirby.

Actually in the olden days mom would hand buff the entire house with rag in hand, then she got the Kirby. . .then carpeting.

 

[whirlcool]

When I lived in McClurg Court in Chicago (a high rise) the kitchen floor vinyl tile. When I moved in it was yellow but very shiny.
I washed it down with an ammonia solution and the wax came off in chunks! The floor looked like broken ice! I finally put the ammonia solution on and let it sit a few hours. All the wax came off. In the end the floor was white!
I repolished it with a product called "Clear". It came in a clear plastic jig. Guaranteed not to yellow.
When the floor was done it sparkled. I had floor to ceiling windows at one end of the kitchen and you could see the Chicago slyline in the floor, it was that shiny!

 

[hooverwheelaway]

Wax-On! Wax-Off!

You need to ask Terry about this!

He is an expert!

We had an absolute blast (a time consuming blast, but an absolute blast nonetheless) earlier this year when we prepared for the wash-in. Below is a picture of us testing our our procedure in the kitchen -- before heading to the basement.

We stripped the floors with a wax-stripper that one can get at Menards/Home Depot/Ace, etc..

Then we rinsed the floor.

Then we applied paste wax, and let it set up for 10-15 minutes. Then we polished it off, and re-applied wax. We did that a few times before finally polishing it one last time. Then we switched to Felt buffing pads to bring out a bit more of a sheen, and finally went over it with Hi-lustre lambswool pads to give it a deeper shine.

I need to give the floors another coat! They're way overdue!

Lots of work, but very fulfilling in the end!

 

[tlee618]

YAY!!!!

Fred, when I first read this thread and all of the trouble Michael was having I thought about our adventure. We had so much fun and I know that made the job go a lot faster! Jobs like that are always best done with at least two workers!!! Our finished project left us both with a great sense of accomplishment!!!

 

[sudssaver]

wax remover

Try washing soda and hot water,mop it on let it set.The old
wax just just comes off the floor in little chunks. I do
cleaning jobs and you should see the build up people get from using that mop&glo stuff. No strong ammonia smell either.

 

[michaelman2]

Hey Guys...thanks for all of the suggestions and help!

I passed several of the suggestions on to the crew that showed up and saved my ass. I was right up to the wire for the dinner that I was hosting tonight!

The crew quickly showed me that the task was going to take better equipment and supplies than I had access to.

Fred and Terry...you guys look like the floor at Fred and Robert's house is perfect!

rp2813...no I remained fully clothed ...what a fiasco.

 

[mattl]

When I strip the floor I rinse until the rinse water beads up, that's my clue that the finish is gone.

I've got about 1000sq ft of Armstrong Corlon in the basement that is well over due for stripping and finishing, but just don't have the enthusiasm to do it...