Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Tim Smith

Stripping Ashpalt oil from Vinyl tile??

Recommended Posts

I have a commercial account with an asphalt parking lot. The vinyl tile has a blackest color on the high traffic area - from people tracking in the oil from the asphalt parking lot with their shoes.

Any recommendations on what to do?

This is very expensive tile - the manufacter is Halsted International.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If it is properly sealed and waxed, I would suggest a strip & wax job. Or perhaps it could be salvaged with just a high speed buffing.

Anything strong enough to remove the tar would be equally strong enough to remove the wax, resulting in the need for a wax job anyway, so a solvent based cleaner would be largely a wasted effort.

If you are a VCT guy this could be a money maker.. if not, farm out the job to someone who is...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Most important thing for protecting interior floors is to have walk off mats. The longer the better as the feet need to touch it a few times, and most people do not stop to shuffle like they would at home or a friends house.

Does the floor have any shine left in it? If so, you may be able to do a scrub and recoat, if not then a more aggressive cleaning is needed.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Vinyl tile has never been wax - the tile is only 6 months old. It has a rough texture to it - suppose to look like sandstone.

I used a orange vinyl degreaser - it worked great, if I cleaned by hand, but did not work to good scrubbing with a mop. Do you guys use a buffer on vinyl floors?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have a small machine I use on floors that would be ideal for this. It has three small rotating brushes (about 4-6" diameter each) arranged in a triangular pattern. I'll check on the name of the manufacturer when I go back to clean the place this week. I got it at at a janitorial supply store.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You could try Kerosene, or even deodorised kerosene. All the asphalt companies over here use it to remove the tar from their dump trucks. Diesel will work OK. But I would suggest the deodorised Kerosene it's a little dearer than the normal kero, but more suitable for indoors application.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

Sign in to follow this  

×