How To Remove Excess Colorsealer Off The Surface Of The Tiles

Grout Colorsealer Removal Tips

By Troy Cantini

Often times an industrious home owner will attempt to colorsealer their grout and allow excess colorsealer to dry on the tile surfaces.  This dried on colorsealer can be difficult to remove especially if you are using the wrong chemicals and procedures. We show you the best way to remove a grout colorsealer and restore a tile countertop.

Trying to scrape away excess colorsealer can be an exhausting task.  Using a chemical stripper combined with an aggressive scrub pad is the easiest way to remove excess colorsealer. Consumer level colorsealers like Grout Renew are not very hard to remove using a water based stripper like Aqua Mixes Sealings and Coatings Remover. This is a water based stripper that does not have harmful vapors like other solvent based strippers containing MEK like paint strippers.

When trying to remove a professional grade colorsealer you may be required to use solvent based paint strippers containing MEK.  Solvent based paint strippers are extremely difficult to work with and require the use of rubber gloves and a respirator. You do not want to have to use solvent based strippers on verticle tiles where the stripper will drip down on your hands and arms. In many cases where the grout colorsealer can not be more easily remove it is best to just replace the entire tile installation.

It is always best to first try using a less toxic water based stripper first before resorting to toxic paint strippers when removing colorseal off of tiles. Grout haze remover is designed for removing grout haze off of tiles and will have little effect when trying to remove a grout colorsealer.

The Aqua Mixes Sealings and Coatings Remover should be allowed to dwell on the areas of colorsealer that need to be removed.  Allow the stripper time to loosen up and break down the colorsealer. In some cases it can take just a few minutes but it is not unheard of for it to take 30 minutes of more for a chemical stripper to break down some types of colorsealer. Keep dabbing on more stripper so it does not dry out while dwelling on the tiles.

When you see that the colorsealer is starting to break down then an aggressive type of scrub pad can be used to scrub away and remove the colorsealer.  Always protective clothing, gloves and safety glasses when working with chemical strippers. Also use plastic tarps to protect your carpets, cabinets, wood floors and any other object that might get damaged or discolored with the chemical stripper.

After the colorsealer been removed then the grout lines will need to be restored.  Correctly colorsealing the grout is a viable option when dealing with sanded grout with wide grout lines. It can be difficult to get good results when colorsealing unsanded grout with narrow grout lines. In most cases it is better to just replace unsanded grout with new grout rather than trying to colorseal unsanded grout.  Many times the grout in countertops will be old, worn away and extremely soft and weak. In these cases you can simply use a utility knife to dig out the old grout.

After you have removed the old grout then it is important to allow the countertop to dry out for a day or two before applying the new grout.  Replacing the unsanded grout in countertops will typically give much better looking results then trying to colorseal this type of grout. Since countertops get a lot of abuse many times even the best types of colorsealer will wear away over time when used on a countertop.