Floor Strippers And Sealant Removers

Professional Floor Strippers And Sealant Removers

This subject is debated by most people and understood by no one. Everyone has a project where an old sealer has failed and everyone has a long or short story about how they have failed to remove it even if the strongest and the most recommended floor stripper was purchased and used. The same confusion exists within the professional floor cleaning and floor rejuvenating trade as well. Where to find the best floor stripper?

Floor Strippers And Sealant Removers | Understanding The Issue

There are many different types of floors and as many types of sealers, protectors, enhancers, polishes, waxes and refreshers. The main confusion appears when the owner of a damaged surface hasn`t got a clue what type of sealer is on their floor and it is mostly a guessing game. Just like the wide variety of floor polishes, there is also a thriving floor stripping or sealant removing business.

Hundreds of floor polish removers, wax removers, floor strippers, colour enhancers, protector strippers and so on. The trick is to be able to use the right floor stripper for the right type of sealer. Otherwise, it is a big waste of time. Below, I will explain a bit about what are the most popular types of sealers around:

Water Based

The majority of the new and more modern floor polishes, sealers and protectors are water based. It does not mean that the product is manufactured from water but it means that it is made from non solvent or oil based materials. Even within this range of products, there are other groups and categories like high traffic, low traffic, impregnators, glazers, etc. 

Solvent Based

The solvent based sealers are still around and many companies still use it on a daily basis. The solvent or oil based sealers or impregnators are manufactured from solvents and fossil fuels. Some do look way different than the water based sealers but some are 100% identical to water based floor sealers and for the untrained eye can be very deceiving. 

Epoxy Based

The epoxy range of sealers and impregnators are really high traffic and are usually used to seal and protect very high traffic commercial areas, worktops, pillars, etc. They are available in all types of sheens, thickness, strength and viscosity. These sealers are very hard to be removed without proper tools and equipment and most essentially, without a lot of know -how experience.

These three types of protectors, sealers and enhancers are by far the most popular within the Irish market. There are many more types but not really used by the residential or the commercial market. For those with a trained eye the issue is already visible. Why do some sealers seem to be unremovable for some people and are easy peasy to remove for others?  Because the wrong type of floor stripper or polish remover is being used on it. 

As the name of the products are saying, to be able to remove a solvent based floor sealer you will need to use a solvent floor stripper, to be able to remove a water based floor polish or sealer, you will need to use a water based floor stripper or polish remover and to be able to remove an epoxy protector you will definitely need to use an epoxy remover. The epoxy remover will provide 0 results on water based sealers, the solvent strippers will provide 0 results on epoxy sealers and the water based floor strippers will not bother the epoxy or the solvent floor sealers. 

Floor Strippers And Sealant Removers | How To Pick The Right Polish Remover

This is tricky. Most people that use refreshers or floor polishes kind of know what product was used but the issue is when you move into a new home or unit and there is no way of knowing what was used before. The short answer is that there is no way for you to know. But if you have attempted to remove the sealer with a water based floor stripper and it has not worked, then try a solvent floor stripper and the issue will be definitely resolved.

Floor Strippers And Sealant Removers | Most Popular Floor Strippers By Brand

Cleanfast.ie sells a wide range of floor strippers and polish removers for all types of floors. We have a number of heavy duty floor strippers, medium duty floor strippers, light floor strippers, solvent floor strippers and of course, epoxy removers. Below, I will detail the best options:

Cleanfast Floor Stripper 

Amtico I Lino I Vinyl I Laminates I Natural Stones I Marmoleum I Wood I Concrete I Ceramic I Tiles 

This product is 100% Irish manufactured and is by far the most aggressive and the most effective floor stripper ever. This incredible floor stripper is usually used to fully remove layers over layers of water based floor sealers, impregnators and polishes. It reduces the amount of time required to break down floor protectors and is highly concentrated. This product might be too strong for the residential market.

Evans Easy Strip Floor Stripper

Marmoleum I Lino I Vinyl I Marble I Travertine I Concrete I Terrazzo I Amtico I Wood I Laminate I Ceramic 

A top quality highly effective floor stripper that can remove up to 3 coats of floor polish at once. It is as effective on all the floors listed above. It will remove most types of water based and acrylic based floor sealers and floor polishes. While highly effective, it is a bit more moderate than Cleanfast Floor Stripper. Suitable for commercial and residential floors.

Bona Stone & Tile Floor Polish Remover

Laminates I Natural Stone I Tiles I Wood I Ceramic I All Types Of Plastic Floors I Cement I Painted Floors

A mostly residential floor stripper or polish remover from Bona. This product is available in 1L bottles and it requires a dilution rate of about 1 to 10 up to 1 to 20. It is mostly used by the residential market for removing all types of water based floor sealers, impregnators and protectors. A quick acting floor stripper that has become popular all over the world. 

Amtico Floor Stripper

Amtico I Lino I Vinyl I Marmoleum I Laminates I Wood 

A highly concentrated floor stripper and floor dressing remover from Amtico. It is designed to fully remove Amtico floor sealers and surfaces that were over cleaned with Amtico Maintainers. It can also be used to remove layers of water based floor sealers and polishes from most types of floors. Due to its unique formula, this floor stripper will fully break down the Amtico Floor Dressing.

Faber DEC 21 Solvent Floor Stripper

It will fully remove all solvent based floor sealers, floor impregnators and floor protectors from the entire Faber range and other Brands. It fully emulsifies solvent based products and it reduces the amount of time needed to achieve great results. This product is highly appreciated by the professional trade. One of the most efficient and most cost effective solvent based floor strippers. This product is well known for resolving issues where other solvent strippers have failed. 

This product can also be used for so called Faber double stripping operation. A mixture of Faber DEC21 + Faber DECEPRA/R will really break down layers of solvent and some water based floor sealers. 

Within our company we employ a number of highly skilled floor cleaning technicians and people that have dealt with all kinds of issues along the way. If you find yourself in a situation where you have attempted everything and nothing has been working for you, just call us. We will find a solution for you. 

Floor Strippers And Sealant Removers