Thread Number: 28545  /  Tag: Other Home Products or Autos
Which floor sealer and wax for new VCT floor? 		[Down to Last]

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Post# 318708   3/18/2015 at 19:46 (3,316 days old) by mom11 ()        

I just finished installing new vct tiles on my mudroom/pantry/kitchen annex floor. It took me 12 straight hours from glue until last horrible trim around the door frame tile. Armstrong says to wait 72 hours, then seal, then wax and buff.

Does anyone have any recommendations on the best sealer for a new vct or linoleum floor? These are the old school vinyl composite tiles, not the vinyl self-stick cheapo kind. I checked Home depot site and they don't have the Armstrong sealer or their wax.

I did find an old Hoover chrome floor polisher at a thrift store but it is in pretty sad shape and is missing the lambs wool buffing pads. I need to find those as well. If anyone knows where I can get those please, please, please let me know.
thanks so much,
Lisa

Post# 318712 , Reply# 1   3/18/2015 at 20:42 (3,316 days old) by mom11 ()        
Oops...not a Hoover...

 I;m sorry, I said my polisher was a Hoover. It's not. It's a General Electric.
Sorry

Post# 318716 , Reply# 2   3/18/2015 at 22:31 (3,316 days old) by HooverCelebrity (Germany)        

Home Depot does sell a line of sealer and floor wax, the brand is ZEP. We have a VCT floor in our kitchen and basement, and the liquid products that are sold at Home Depot are very easy to use. I've polished the floor with Johnson's paste wax and a Hoover polisher, and although it's a lot of fun, it's soooo much work.

I tried out the high traffic - high gloss liquid wax earlier this year, after stripping the old wax off really well, and I was very pleased at how well the liquid wax worked. A friend recommended that I try the liquid this time. I probably put 6 coats of wax on the floor, letting about an 30-60 minutes go by between each layer of wax. I also did the basement floor. A HUGE job, but I had help, and it was well worth it when it was all done.

Some pictures, after stripping/before waxing, then with many coats of wax applied.

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Post# 318718 , Reply# 3   3/18/2015 at 22:56 (3,316 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)        

suckolux's profile picture
Wowza

Post# 318721 , Reply# 4   3/19/2015 at 00:11 (3,316 days old) by mom11 ()        
Wowza is right!

 Oh, My, Goodness, I am breathless looking at those pics, Hoovercelebrity!!!! And not just those floors! I love every single thing you have there. Your range (is it pink?) looks very similar to my 1956 pink Hotpoint. I love your washers and dryers, to die for. And your Mixmasters. I admit: I kinda have a mixer problem. But most of mine are boring white. I have one turquoise one I FINALLY bought at Christmas time.
The cart! That microwave! I have a Amana Radarange Touchmatic.

Those floors are a-may-zing! Just beautiful! So do your pictures show them with the liquid wax (Zep) or is the the paste wax? Can you share the machine you used and what pad/brush, the steps to the process, etc.

Thanks for the sweet, pastel, eye-candy. Made my night after being too sore to move after laying down down my floor.

Post# 318728 , Reply# 5   3/19/2015 at 01:09 (3,316 days old) by mom11 ()        
pics of my new vct floor before waxing

 Here are a few pics of the floor I just installed last night/morning. Sorry for the bad quality. My camera is not great. I have been collecting random vct tiles for many months, second-hand, from different thrift stores, re-use centers, and Habitat Restores. I paid between 10 and 25 cents a piece for them. A few I got as samples from Armstrong and Congoleum. The last few I paid 62 cents for at Menards. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out especially how it kind of looks like a quilt. Quilting is a favorite hobby of mine as well.

Thanks, again, for sharing. And anything about the process would be so helpful. :)

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Post# 318755 , Reply# 6   3/19/2015 at 08:46 (3,315 days old) by HooverCelebrity (Germany)        

Thanks for the compliments! Love the random color pattern of your floor! Very cool, indeed! And a fun story of how you collected random tiles for a while to be able to do this!

I used a rag and a bucket to apply the stripper to the floors. After getting the floors nice and wet, and letting the stripper sit for as long as the directions called for, I scrubbed them really well with my Hoover Floor-A-Matic scrubber. The Floor-A-Matic also has a 'wet pickup' feature, so I was able to suck up the dirty water. Then I cleaned out the Floor-A-Matic really well, and put hot water in the tank and rinsed/scrubbed the floor to neutralize the stripper. I did that twice, to be sure there was no stripper left on the floor. Then I believe I let the floor dry overnight.

I actually forgot to use a sealer, but with as many coats of wax that I put on, I figured it probably wasn't necessary.

I applied the wax on my hands and knees; starting in one corner and working my way out of the room. (Invest in Knee Pads!) I'd pour some wax out, then spread it out with a rag. Pour some wax out, spread it with a rag. Directions say to use a string mop, but I found a rag worked well, and I had more control over it. I eventually got into a rhythm, and it was a snap. The hardest part was waiting between coats of wax. But seeing the floor come to such a high gloss was amazing. I could have put more and more coats of wax on, but finally stopped at 5, I think.

THe pictures are from using the liquid wax. Not sure that I have any phtots from when I did the paste wax thing a few years ago. The other thing I noticed about paste wax, is it left the floors a little more "sticky" than the liquid wax, as well. I imagine you could probably use lambswool pads on a buffer to keep the luster up on the liquid wax, but am not 100% sure.

I saw your other tread asking about polishers - and I do hear very good things about the Electrolux polishers, but I favor the Hoover Polishers; they were well made and pads/brushes are still pretty readily available. You may have to hunt for them a bit, but they're out there. I'll have to take a look, but I may have an extra Hoover Polisher that I'd be willing to sell. I could probably cobble together a set of brushes, but it may take me a while to locate all of those things. :-)

The range is a TOL 1956 GE. Yes, we do love our small appliances, for sure! :-)

Found a few more pictures. First one is the two types of floor polish Home Depot had, we went with the "wet look" on the left. It was a bit more expensive, but you can see what the finished results looked like. Another was taking a break from scrubbing.. and the last was another "finshed product" where you can see some of my polishers, lined up ready to go.


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Post# 318756 , Reply# 7   3/19/2015 at 09:04 (3,315 days old) by Electroluxxxx (……)        

I would go with vectra, it is a 25% high solids wax and for what you are using it for it will be bullet proof, easy to strip when you are ready to recoat. Vectra has a sealer in it so sealing will not be required. Apply 4 coats 3 light and one medium and you will have a shine that will last YEARS! You can find it at a commercial cleaning supplier or vac shop that sells commercial cleaning chemicals.

Post# 318758 , Reply# 8   3/19/2015 at 09:07 (3,315 days old) by Electroluxxxx (……)        

Oh and before you wax ALWAYS scrub a brand new virgin vct floor with a neutral cleaner to open the pores.

Post# 318894 , Reply# 9   3/20/2015 at 22:54 (3,314 days old) by mom11 ()        
Got the goods today

 The only vct care products I could find locally were the Zep products at Home Depot. I got the 'neutral cleaner', the 'floor sealant', and the 'high traffic floor polish'. I tried them all on a left over square of the tiles and it looks good. Can't wait until tomorrow morning to shine her up.

And, for "HooverCelebrity" I dug up a few photos of "Beulah", my 1956 pink Hotpoint Supermatic range. And one of "Flossie", my 1958 GE combination fridge.

Thanks again to all for the warm welcome. :)

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Post# 318911 , Reply# 10   3/21/2015 at 10:09 (3,313 days old) by gottahaveahoove (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640)        
In a word...

 gottahaveahoove's profile picture

"fab".  IF my old kitchen were intact,  I'd have kept it.  But,  as I said,  there was nothing left.

  I love that vintage look.
Post# 318938 , Reply# 11   3/21/2015 at 14:04 (3,313 days old) by ronni (USA)        

Your pink Hotpoint range and G-E refrigerator/freezer are the cat's pajamas! I wonder if you have the original surface elements on the Hotpoint--or at least the original medallions? If so, I'm curious to know if one of them is marked "Extra Hi-Speed" as the G-E ranges had. I used to own a 1966 coppertone G-E range which had one. The extra hi-speed denoted a higher wattage. At one point they were phased out and all the elements were produced with higher wattages--6" and 8".

I believe Hotpoint was made by G-E as its lower-tier line.

By the way, dd you know that Mary Tyler Moore was "Happy Hotpoint" in 1950s commercials?


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