Floor Cleaning Disaster! Help Appreciated!

Gingernutmeg

I could really do with some help to rectify a bit of a cleaning disaster!

I moved into a house with a lovely old quarry tiled floor in the hall. The tiles were filthy and looked really dull so when I saw this product from Lakeland (Holloway House Quick Shine FloorFinish) I thought I'd give it a go - it's got loads of great reviews so I was looking forward to a nice, shiny floor. It said it's fine for tiles so I didn't think there'd be a problem.

I followed the instructions to the letter, cleaned the floor and applied the stuff, and I honestly have no idea what went wrong but the floor looked dreadful, like I'd covered it in glue and left it. It dried really patchily and looked a mess, and I've spent the past few months trying to get the damn stuff off. The floor looks like it's got a severe case of eczema and no amount of mopping or scrubbing seems to make a difference :mad:

Today was the last straw - I mopped the floor and it looked a mess, so I mopped it again and it looked worse. Then I spent a hour on my hands and knees scrubbing it, then I mopped it again with plain hot water. It looked promising whilst it was wet but it's dried now and it looks worse than ever, flaky, patchy and the floor is covered in white powdery residue. It's really not the way I wanted to spend my day off ...

Please, please can somebody suggest something to get this stuff off my floor - and given that I spent £8 on the polish, preferably something as cheap as possible ... I read online that acetone might work - has anyone tried this? Or, I've heard that HG products might be good - again, any suggestions?

I will be eternally grateful for any help!

Bitsy_Beans

Did your tiles have a glaze on them? is it possible that this stuff has affected this if it had a glaze?
Isn't acetone nail polish remover?? i guess you could try that - I mean is it likely to actually get any worse than it already is?

jovichick123

Their website seems to suggest that you buy http://www.hollowayhouse.net/product.aspx?ProductID=8 to remove the product, maybe see if you can find out what the active ingredient in it is and replace with something cheaper?

Sorry can't be more help

LandyAndy

Cellulose Thinners might be cheaper than acetone.

Gingernutmeg

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

The tiles are unglazed quarry-type ones so I don't think there was a glaze to be affected. I have a feeling that maybe it's years and years worth of grot and old waxes that I'm scrubbing off, and maybe I didn't clean the floor enough at first

I actually bought a bottle of the deep cleaner - Lakeland were selling it off at 99p a throw when I bought the Finish stuff - and I've given it loads of goes with that. In fact, I just lost my temper with it completely and scrubbed the floor with the remaining half bottle and a deck brush, I was up to my ankles in suds and it seems to have made a slight difference. There's a couple of crispy patches but I don't think it's as bad (fingers crossed ...) If nothing else it was a great way to work off my annoyance, although OH is moaning about the pong I'm hoping that it'll be bit better when it's totally dry but if not, then I'm off to Homebase to get some thinner and I'll give that a go.

So much for me trying to be a domestic goddess lol

Sunnygirl_2

Do you still have the bottle? Lakeland have a money back guarantee if you are not completely satisfied. Maybe an £8 refund will go somewhere towards rectifying the situation?

MaximumImpact

Hi..

If it's floor wax and grime you think is coming off then a cupful of ammonia to a bucket of hot water will strip floor wax off....Perhaps you could try this on one tile (hidden away) to see what happens???

tomterm8

Is there any way you can take a photo of the floor? I'm finding it difficult to work out what is happening.

Bogof_Babe

Have you tried asking Lakeland for advice? They pride themselves on first rate customer service.

Gingernutmeg

I think I might phone Lakeland in the morning, although the latest scrubbing seems to have helped a bit.

I don't have a camera handy (it's still in a packing box), bu basically what happened is that the finish didn't seem to take at all - the instructions said to put it on a clean floor, spread it with a clean, damp mop and leave to dry. I did this and it dried really patchily. In some areas there were glossy spots, and in others it didn't seem to have made much of a difference at all. So, I put another coat on and the same thing happened, only worse.

I tried taking it off with the deep cleaner and all that happened was the floor seemed to 'blister' - there were lots of flaky patches and it looked like the whole floor was covered in a 'foggy' layer. Every subsequent mopping seems to have made it worse (even though it does say that you can mop it weekly with a dilute solution of the deep cleaner), and although it seems to be wearing away slowly even scrubbing doesn't really have *that* much of an effect. The last scrubbing with a deck brush does seem to have helped a lot, but there are still patches of flakiness and the floor still looks a bit 'cloudy'.

The only things I can think of are that I either didn't clean the floor properly before I put the stuff on and it's reacted with the grot and old finishes, or I'm wondering whether the floor was too cold for it. It's a tiled hall floor and it's never warm, and it was cold when I put the stuff on before Christmas. Maybe it's not designed for very cold surfaces?

Anyway, thanks for all the tips and I'll be giving them a go (and calling Lakeland)!

Bogof_Babe

Have you tried vinegar? Test it on a small area, it might do the trick.