Sealing a slate floor, again!

[sidonaldson]

Hi, this is my first post so please be gentle.

I thought I would share my story and ask for further advice just incase it helps someone else too.

I decided to tile my bathroom with natural honed slate tiles. The cutting and tiling process went rather well so I immediately launched myself into sealing the finished tile before grouting.
I used Fila Colour enhancer and sealer as recommended and purchased from ToppsTiles. I read the can and applied a sensible amount of sealer with a foam roller across my clean and dust free tiles.
It seemed to absorb well but after drying there were thousands of little pimples where tiny bubbles had dried. I lapped the first coat back and merrily applied another, then another, as you could always see brush strokes.
It then that I read on this board that what I actually had was excess sealant dried on top of my tiles! Argh! - I followed the instructions exactly - why didn't I try it first on a inconspicuous area??

So I looked into getting a FILA dewaxer but that only came in 5l cans which is rather a lot for about 2 square meters. Luckily I used dewax from Lithothin and it actually did the job perfectly. I drenched each tile with the chemical and left to soak for a bit before coming back and working it in with a brush until finally removing with soap and water.
Amazingly my tiles now look better than ever and I can finally start again!

So, please can you advise me how to apply this stuff correctly. I don't want a glaze, just a protection and colour enhancement.

I'm tempted to try to apply it with a soaked lint free cloth, leave it for 10mins and then come back to remove the excess. I'm worried that I might get dry patches of another gloss finish!

What should I do?

Thanks

 

[tpt]

You may be expecting far more absorption than your going to get. Try just using a lint free cloth to wipe it over, your not trying to put it on thick, it will actually be absorbed into the tile, not lay on top of it.

Wipe a thin layer all over, and wipe off any thats not absorbed in 10-15 minutes. your far better off doing 3 or 4 coats like this rather than 1 very thick coat.

 

[sidonaldson]

It's surprising how many people have seemingly fallen for this mistake and yet there is little online showing you how to do it properly.

This looks like a good start: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFCXJHyJtR4

I'm going to wipe off the excess with a cloth already damn with the sealant so to avoid creating any smears. Hopefully it will leave a tiny amount left to dry into the tile.