Magic secret for removing grout colorant from tile

Hi there,

This Thursday and Friday I am going on a little trip to hell. I have to stain/color 600 feet of tile for a Home Depot residential customer. I have been a subcontractor for Home Depot for 12 years and a tile setter for 22.

I have sealed grout about about 20 - 30 times using Home Depot's "CUSTOM BUILDING PRODUCTS" Grout stain. Now all of a sudden its called "POLBLEND GROUT RENEW" Here is the link:
http://www.custombuildingproducts.com/onlyproducts/GROUT/groutcolorant_DS.htm

PROBLEM: I go by all the rules (except taping off 600 feet of tile to prevent getting the colorant on the tiles) This would take like 6 weeks! I use a paint brush cut exactly to the width of the grout joint, paint on the colorant ever so gingerly - but you can't help but get some on the tiles, Come on! These tiles have a slightly distressed edge and minor pitting. I am applying a darker color to a lighter grout, so thats not an issue. Wait about and hour, mist some water and attempt to remove the grout from the tiles with a semi-light scouring pad. BUT IT NEVER COMES OFF NICE AND EASY!

What I want to know is - Is there some kind of mystical and magical secret for getting it off like real easy? THERE'S GOT TO BE SOMEONE OUT THERE WHO KNOWS SOME MAGICAL SECRET FOR DOING THIS! I am totally dreading this Thursday. Need help.

I beg The Gods Of Tile Installation who reside at this great forum for all of your available knowledge.

Please do send it before Thursday, July 22nd 2004

Thanks in advance,
Erik Buckman

Erik-- In this respect, CBP is no better or worse than any other colorant. I made the same mistake the first time I used a colorant on grout joints. The directions said that I could go an hour or so, and then, like you said, mist the tile, ans scub "gingerly" with a green scotch pad. Hell, I couldn't have gotten that stuff off with a buffing machine! I ended up replacing the floor at my cost! I learned after that-- what I'll do is color the joints of about 10 feet or so at a time-- whatever I can do in about 15- 20 minutes, and then I'll go back with a cotton rag (old t shirts seem to work best) and a bucket of water. I'll soak and wring out the t shirt, and then cover a finger with a part of the t shirt and rub it off, constantly changing the position of my finger in the t shirt, till it needs to be rinsed out. I'll then rinse it out, and do it all over again, till the area's clean, and then do another section. It's worked for me. Others may have still an easier way.

I've done a lot of restoration work using colorant and here's the secret for applying a grout colorant to glazed tile floors with sanded grout. Sanded grout is much easier to stain than unsanded grout because it absorbs the colorant more readily. This method works best with smooth or slightly irregular tile surfaces.

You'll need a couple of sponges with the white scrubby on one side, a small container to hold the colorant, a good quality 1" latex paint brush, and a scrub brush (very important- use a high quality one. It should be able to support your weight without crushing the bristles). The one I use is called Scrubby I think, (or something like that). The A/C should be on because excess humidity will make the job more difficult and time consuming. The grout joints must be prepped properly because if the colorant won't bond to the grout you'll never make it look right.

Once you have prepped the floor to accept colorant, apply the stain to the grout joints in an area the size of roughly 4 square feet of tile at a time (no need to worry about getting excess colorant on the tile). Then, holding it flat to the floor, use the scrub pad side of a slightly damp sponge and lightly scrub the area in a circular motion to remove the bulk of the excess colorant. If you hold the sponge flat to the floor it will not dig into the joint- it takes a little experience but you'll get it. After you have stained the entire floor, put a fan over it and allow it to dry for 30 - 60 minutes. The tile should haze up.

After the floor is dry, wet small sections of the floor at a time and scrub the tile in a circular motion to remove the haze (using the scrub brush). Don't worry, the brush should be too stiff to dig into the joint, it will pass right over them if you hold it flat to the floor. Use the sponge to remove excess water after the haze has been removed from each section and use the fan to dry the floor as you work. It will look brand new when you are finished.

With experience, you'll find out 600 feet shouldn't take more than 4 hours. It's good money once you get the system down.

Very interesting, Carter. I'm going to save this thread, and next time I have occasion to use a colorant, I'm going to try that. Thanks!

Yeah, I've had at least three installers track me down this year just to personally thank me for teaching them this method.

I'll post the name of the scrub brush I use tomorrow. It's a very stiff, flat bottom, nylon bristle brush.

Wow!

Thanks Bill and Carter for such prompt responses. You guys obviously know the misery involved with staining grout.

Bill, I’ve tried your technique before. What I did was purchase every type of cloth known to mankind and figured I would learn by deduction. But letting the stuff dry for only 20 minutes I ineptly rubbed the grout out of some of the joints and smeared the stain everywhere. Then I got more and more stressed, the customer noticed I was worried and I ended up sweating and being on a relatively small job for 2 days finally making it right somehow. This method does not work for me at least. Thanks for replying.

Carter: This idea is different!

600 feet shouldn't take more than 4 hours

You say! That would be like some divine intervention. I would earn 900 bucks and be home napping by 12 if this works.

The only unease I have on this particular job with this technique is the tile itself: Distressed, sort of a recessed edge. And the finish on the tile is a little coarse. When I drag the scrubby across the tile, I will have to apply pressure to get it out of those deep areas. Then won’t I be washing it off the grout as well? Or am I wrong? Please tell me I am. Even a small job with this type of tile can be a wicked bear.

How much colorant do you allow to get on the tile? And could you please get back to me with the brand name of those Scubbies?

Thanks you Guys!

Is there someone out there coveting the REALLY, REALLY BIG secret.
Keep them coming please. I’ll try anything and everything.

Thanks,
Erik

Made a mistake - In paragraph 2 I wrote "grout" instead of "Colorant" Its a link. See how stressed I am?

I generally apply the colorant to the grout with little regard for how much I get on the edges of the tile. The scrub pad will remove the excess. Even if it does touch the grout it shouldn't remove the stain. The scrub pad will just spread the grout colorant around much like the paint brush does. The grout must be dry and able to readily absorb the colorant or it hasn't been properly prepped. One of the main ingrediants in grout colorant is water. It's acts like a carrier to pull the colorant into the grout.

Courseness of the tile will not make much of a differance in removing the haze either. By applying a little weight to the brush and scrubbing the tile in circular motions, you are emulating a floor machine with the care and finesse of the human touch. Scrub the tile in up and down strokes and you probably will dig the colorant from the grout.

The bond between the colorant and grout is greater than the bond between the colorant and a glazed tile. When you wet the area to remove the haze, the colorant will separate from the tile much more readily than it will from the grout. If you allow the colorant to dry for 30 - 60 minutes it will set up strong enough to resist minor interferences with the scrub brush. As for the recessed edges of the tile, I'm sure you could tweak the process to fit your situation. Keep in mind though, the colorant cannot be removed from any area a scrub pad or brush can't reach.

I suggest you try a small area first to get a feel for it.

Thanks Guys.

Carter, I will positively give this a shot.

If anyone has any other ideas PLEASE let me know.

This is a great forum. Thanks,
Erik

Diluted Muriatic Acid,
We did not have the same situation but we have found that this product works for everything from getting the glue up from under the vinyl flooring to removing the grout we left on the tile floors over night (actually over a week) This Acid has helped us alot with our tile flooring project. We wish we would have known about this to begin with, but we didnt and we went throught everything to get the left over grout off the top of the tiles. I hope this helps. Like I said though we used it for something similiar but not the same.
Be Sure To Delute IT!
Try it in a place that wont be seen.
Make sure you have good ventalation
Read All Of the directions for Diluting it!
There are very specific directions to Diluting it.
The acid is normally found in the pool cleaning area.
PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL WHILE USING IT.

DO NOT bring Muriactic Acid into your house, no need for it.

Hey Carter-- I haven't looked, so if you've done this already, just chalk it up to my ignorance, but you might want to add your idea to the info side of the site. That's got to be one the biggest time (and aggravation) saving ideas I've seen come down the pike in a long time!

I've used Carter's method many times. No 'sweating' involved. Every job has been a success. Just mist letting the colorant on the tile soften and then use your scrub pad. Easy money.

Really?.I've only had one experience with coloring grout, and it didn't go well. I had to really scrub the tile to get the paint off, and I ended up taking it off the grout as well, leaving the initial color exposed. I want my grout lines to look perfect and straight. So when Carter's method is applied, they look just as perfect and straight as before there was any paint? Even though it just sounds like you're "breezing" over the tile surface to get the excess off? I'm curious here. I'm getting ready to take up as much grout as I can on about 250-300 square feet and regrout it because this paint didn't work for me. Convince me it works so I can have more options in changing the shade on that grout for a customer Thanks!

Thank you for this technique. I did about 15 tiles in about 1 1/2 hours and started googling. The trick is to let it dry. If its not dry enough, you will pull the colorant out of the grout. If it is too dry. You know what. I used scotch brite, paper towels and a misting bottle. Thanks again.

Used this product many times.
Do sections and only leave on for a maximum of 15 minutes. I have never had a problem until I tried to do too large an area at once and it got left on too long. Then, I used a flexible putty knife and it helped.