# Seal Peel and Stick Tiles?



## Bud Cline

What does the maker of the tiles recommend? Do as they suggest.:thumbsup:


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## Echo1

*Thank you!*

Wise man!

Often the best answers are the most obvious!


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## Nestor_Kelebay

Bud Cline:

Almost certainly the company that made the Peel & Stick won't have even contemplated the possibility of someone wanting to seal a Peel & Stick tile floor. They probably won't say anything (other than to clean the floor every day before walking on it).


Echo1:
I have 21 bathroom linoleums in my building and every one has a coating of vinyl composition tile sealer on it. I know full well that voids my warrenty, but my warrenty was written more to protect the company that made the linoleum than to protect me. It says that if the linoleum I bought is defective, the liability of the company is limited to refunding my money or providing me with a new hunk of linoleum (worth about $45). So, if I void my warranty, I'm risking the possibility of not being able to collect $45. Tragic, really. I lay awake at night worried about that. I expect your warrenty is similar.

Look in your yellow pages phone directory under "Janitorial Equipment & Supplies" and phone the company nearest you and ask if they sell a "SEALER for vinyl composition tiles". Make sure it's a sealer, and not a finish or a combination sealer/finish. It will come as milky white liquid in a gallon jug cuz that's the smallest quantity that you can buy. It will dry clear. Sealers go onto the tile floor before any floor finish, and they're primarily meant to both protect the VC tiles from stains and promote better gloss development in the finish. They form a very hard film that's equally hard to remove. In fact, sealers aren't meant to be removed once they're on, but you can remove them if necessary.

Eventually, when the sealer on your P&S tiles gets embedded with dirt from shoes and such, simply scrub the dirt out of the tiles with a Magic Eraser and apply another coat of sealer.

There is a trick to applying sealer (or floor finish). Take a WHITE cotton rag and thoroughly wet it with water. Squeeze most of the water out and put the rag on your P&S tile floor. Pour sealer directly onto the rag, and then spread the sealer onto your floor with that wet rag. Keep the rag in a plastic bag with the air squeezed out of it between coats to prevent the sealer from drying and leaving you with a rock hard rag. Use a white rag and a plastic bag without any ink on the inside because the coalescing solvents in the sealer can dissolve these, leaving you with a coloured sealer and a floor with a colour tint to it. You can use acetone or nail polish remover to remove ink from plastic bags.


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## Bud Cline

> Almost certainly the company that made the Peel & Stick won't have even contemplated the possibility of someone wanting to seal a Peel & Stick tile floor. They probably won't say anything (other than to clean the floor every day before walking on it).


*NONSENSE KELEBAY!!!!*

Do you lay awake nights dreaming up this rediculous schit you come up with?

OK Echo1 just let this know-it-all Kelebay help you I'm out of it.

Your best bet is to check with the manufacturer.:yes:


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## Echo1

*sealing peal and stick*

LOL to the two of you.

Well, actually, you both helped me out in some way or another.

I did not think to check the manufacturers sheet (der) until Bud Mentioned it, and what the manufacturers said was "Use vinyl cleaner regularly, wax as needed, do not clean with soap and water"

So it answered my question that I could use wax...

But it made no specific mention of recommended sealer or wax brand. I don't know if "wax as needed" means 'We recommend that you wax' or 'if you want, feel free to wax' but that is just small cookies now...

I did find Nester's post completely helpful and I felt like he really answered my question in depth. Thank you to both of you!!:thumbsup:


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## Nestor_Kelebay

Bud Cline: Just because I know more about floor finishes that you do is no reason to act like you just sat on a tack. You need to grow up a bit.

Echo:

Please don't use a floor "wax", which nowadays is called an "acrylic finish" on your Peel & Stick tiles unless you have a floor machine. That is, something that looks like one of the machines shown on this page:

http://www.nextag.com/floor-machine/search-html

Just to get the nomenclature out of the way, years ago they used Carnauba "wax" (obtained from the Brazilian Carnauba Palm tree nut) on hardwood floors. Then the S. C. Johnson Wax Co. came up with an acrylic coating for resiliant floors which contained no Carnauba wax at all, but which they foolishly called an "acrylic floor wax". So, the use of the word "wax" for any protective coating you put on a floor stuck, and now, people who don't know the difference use the term "floor wax" for the acrylic floor finishes that are available nowadays that contain no Carnauba wax at all. People that know the difference use the term "Finish" to refer to an acrylic floor "wax". Also, people that are in the business know the difference between a floor tile sealer and a floor tile finish.

Now, floor finishes are much softer than sealers. That's cuz a finish is made to be maintained by scrubbing off the surface layer that dirt gets embedded in underfoot, and then applying finish to replace the amount you scrubbed off. The standard maintenance procedure for floors with an acrylic finish on them is to periodically scrub the dirty surface layer off with a floor machine using an aggressive brown or blue pad, and then put several coats of new finish down, thereby restoring the floor to it's original clean and glossy appearance. You can keep doing that for decades, and one of the reasons vinyl composition tile floors are preferred by certain companies (like Safeway and many car dealerships) is that that you can keep vinyl composition tile floors looking new and shiny for decades (centuries, really) by just maintaining the floor finish on them.

If you don't have a floor machine, you simply can't scrub that dirty surface layer off. No human being has the strength to scrub that hard for that long as to scrub off the dirty surface of floor finish in a room. You use a floor machine to do that. It's just a big heavy electric motor that turns an abrasive nylon pad that scrubs that acrylic plastic off your floor.

If you don't have a floor machine to maintain your floor finish properly, it's a mistake to even put floor finish down. All you'll do is put down a soft coating that will become embedded with dirt in the traffic lanes much sooner, making for a floor you don't have the knowledge or equipment to maintain properly.

You could use a Magic Eraser to get rid of most of the dirt, but you could never get rid of all of it the way you could by scrubbing the dirty surface layer completely off. And, since the finish is softer, you'll be cleaning that floor finish much more often to get rid of the embedded dirt. Your only other option would be to strip all the finish off, and put new finish on, and you'd normally need to remove all the furniture in the room to do that.

Sealers dry to a much harder film than floor finishes because they're not intended to be removed or polished smooth. MUCH less dirt becomes embedded in the sealer because it is so much harder. So, it stays good looking much longer. I installed vinyl composition floor tiles in one sister's kitchen and my other sister's basement, and I used only sealer to give both floors a gloss. Both sisters are perfectly happy with their floors.

If you're wanting confirmation that what I'm telling you is correct, just look in your yellow pages phone directory under "Janitorial Equipment & Supplies" and talk to any of the people that cater to the janitorial service sector of the economy. They will all be knowledgeable about acrylic floor finishes and sealers made for vinyl composition tile floors.

If you're looking for a good floor sealer, contact any company that sells S. C. Johnson Wax products and buy a gallon of "Technique" or any company that sells "Buckeye" products and buy a gallon of "First Down". Those aren't the only good sealers on the market, but I've used them both on bathroom linoleum floors and know them both to dry to very hard and very protective (against stains) films.

PS:
If your tiles were made by Armstrong or Mannington, both companies will undoubtedly advise you to use their own products. Armstrong has a product called "New Beginnings" as a stripper and another product called "Shine Keeper" as a floor finish. When I was young and stupid enough to believe what the manufacturer told me, I would use their products TO MY OWN DETRIMENT. That's cuz both products are exhorbitantly priced, so people tend to use them sparingly, and that's just bad for proper maintenance. You would do MUCH better by buying ANY COMPANIES floor stripper and floor finish and using PLENTY of it to remove the finish from your floor completely and putting on MANY coats of finish so that you can "Scrub and Re-coat" for many years. If I recall, Armstrong's "Shine Keeper" costs about $30 for a half gallon. I use S. C. Johnson Wax "Carefree" on all my VC tile floors, and it costs about $30 per gallon. (I buy it by the 20 liter "enviropac".)
Truth is, that the flooring companies that make VC tiles, sheet vinyls and Peel & Stick tiles charge exhorbitant amounts for their products because they, and the retailer, know that the customer will buy them merely because they don't know what else to use. I'm telling you that you will maintain your floor much better by buying cheaper products from janitorial supply stores, and using MORE of them to both strip the finish off the floor more completely and provide a much thicker finish on the floor afterwards. Truth is, I never got a real high gloss shine on my VC tile floors when using Shinekeeper because I never used enough of the stuff to get a good shine. And, the reason why was cuz it cost $30 for a small bottle. When you're buying your finish or sealer for half that price, you use more, and you get a much thicker, more attractive and glossier film that provides more protection to your floor tiles.

I've had my fallings out with Armstrong, even though I have their VC tiles in all of my apartments. And, I can tell you that they screw their customers after the sale by charging double or triple the cost for the cleaners, strippers and finishes their customers need to maintain their sheet vinyl or VC tile floors, and I will debate Armstrong any day of the week on this point. Armstrong won't even admit that you need a floor machine to maintain the floor finish on a vinyl composition tile floor. I have little respect for them anymore. Maybe it's just their customer service department, none of whom have ever maintained vinyl composition tile floors. In my case, I own a 21 unit apartment block with VC tile floors in every apartment. You can see the condition of my VC tile floors on my web site at:

http://www.ilos.net/~nkelebay

Keep in mind that every floor you see in the apartements available on my web site is at least 15 years old.


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## Bud Cline

I'll grow up when you stop copying and pasting rediculously long excerpts from the encyclopedia and taking credit for it, and recommending dangerous activities to unsuspecting DIY'ers. 

I personally think you're a phony my friend.:yes:


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## angus242

:boxing:


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## Nestor_Kelebay

Bud Cline said:


> I'll grow up when you stop copying and pasting rediculously long excerpts from the encyclopedia and taking credit for it, and recommending dangerous activities to unsuspecting DIY'ers.
> 
> I personally think you're a phony my friend.:yes:


 
You can think as you like, Bud.

But, if I'm a phony, why do you keep reading all my posts?

Isn't it a waste of time for you?


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## Bud Cline

Don't flatter yourself! I don't read all that crap.


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## Nestor_Kelebay

Bud: Well, if you didn't read it, how do you know it's crap?

The original poster knows that all he has to do is discuss my views on the matter with people that sell vinyl composition floor tile sealers and finishes, and they will advise him whether or not I know what I'm talking about or not. All it takes is a phone call.

Echo: Open your yellow pages directory to "Janitorial Equipment & Supplies" and phone around to find out who sells S. C. Johnson Wax Co. products in your area. Phone that place and ask to speak to the person most knowledgeable about sealers and finishes that would be suitable for Peel & Stick tile floors. Or, ask for the name and phone number of your local S. C. Johnson Wax sales rep. If those people don't know about what you should use on your Peel & Stick tile floor, no one does. That's their business.

And, I have vinyl composition tiles in every apartment in my building, so it's my business to know about those products too.


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## 47_47

:boxing::drink:


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## NoExperience

What is Magic Eraser ?


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## Nestor_Kelebay

NoExperience:

A "Magic Eraser" is a cleaning product marketed by Proctor & Gamble under the "Mr. Clean" brand name. It is a "sponge" made out of melamine resin foam made by the BASF company as "Basotect" foam. The very fine and stiff fibrous structure of the foam makes it excellent for cleaning slightly rough surfaces, like acrylic wall paints and floor finishes. But, because the plastic the foam is made of is nearly as hard as glass, the foam is actually quite abrasive, and can leave very fine scratches on soft surfaces. To minimize that scratching, don't press harder than necessary on the Magic Eraser when using it.

http://www.plasticsportal.net/wa/pl...mon/upload/foams/basotect_consumer_eraser.pdf

You should be able to buy Magic Erasers in any grocery store in your town.


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## NoExperience

Is that sealer a lot of maintenance ?
Do you need to reseal every time you use the magic eraser ?
Or every time you clean ?
Does the sealer look bad if you use the magic eraser and don't recoat ?


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## sgbotsford

Ok. I read the directions. No help.

I have trafficmaster ceramica peel & stick tiles, installed groutless. These are NOT vinyl comp. tiles -- the colour layer is about 12 thou thick. The body of the tile is murky gray green.

The tiles have rounded edges, so there is a groove perfect for funneling spilled coffee, runoff of soaked dogs and kids, snowy boots into the subfloor. 

While the tiles are pretty tight, I don't kid myself that they are water proof. Will the VC surface sealer work to water proof the cracks, or do I need some form of seam sealer?


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## sewmama

*Need more help*

Nestor_Kelebay, I found your article of Jun 8 on sealing vinyl floors extremely helpful. I have a vinyl peal and stick floor I did not seal the seams on (expensive product and being ignornant of the consequences left that step off). I have cats with lots of hair. The flooring has developed a gooey  ooze on the seams which is hard to remove (I have used Goof Off) but it eventually comes back. This was laid over sheet vinyl. I want to seal the seams and the whole tile/floor. Will the "Technique" or "First Down" products you recommend seal the seams too? Or do I need to bite the bullet and seal the seams only or seal seams first and then whole floor? Between the sticky goo attracting long cat hair and everything else I am about to pull my own hair out. I can't afford a new floor but I want something to make life easier until I can. I hope you can help!


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## rusty baker

Nestor hasn't been here since 2009.


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## sewmama

*seal peal and stick tiles*

Thank you Rusty for that info. Maybe you can help me then? Any ideas? Anyone?? Maybe if I seal the seams now the problem with be solved but don't know if I need to if I seal the floor. High traffic area and sick of the sticky floor. Just don't know whether to seal seams, then floor or just seal floor and hope it takes care of the seams. THanks!!! ANy help is greatly appreciated!


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## Floor installer

*peel-n-stick*

Ugh..... I wouldn't rent any apt with vct on the floor If i wanna see some vct ill go to walmart. http://www.tradesmanservices.us Now that is what some laminate is supposed to look like!!:laughing:


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## JetSwet

Floor installer said:


> Ugh..... I wouldn't rent any apt with vct on the floor If i wanna see some vct ill go to walmart. Now that is what some laminate is supposed to look like!!:laughing:


I second that notion, I'm with you on vct lol


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