Whether you're trying to remove your carpet to see what the floor looks like underneath or you just happened to spill glue on your tile while doing a DIY project, there's nothing more annoying than seeing a thick, hard layer of glue caked on the tile. Even though it may seem difficult to clean up, removing tile adhesive from porcelain tiles or other flooring materials can be done.
What You'll Need
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To remove glue from floor tiles, you'll need nail polish remover, cloths, lighter fluid, paint thinner, mineral spirits, protective gloves and a razor blade. If you're not familiar with mineral spirits, this handy carpet glue remover is also known as mineral turpentine, turpentine substitute, petroleum spirits, solvent naphtha, Varsol, Stoddard solvent or paint thinner. Mineral spirits is a petroleum-based clear liquid that's used as a solvent in painting.
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Small Areas With Glue
Before you start hacking away at the glue, clean the area first. If there are small spots of glue, put some nail polish remover on a cloth and scrub the area to get rid of them. The more pressure you add, the more the glue will soften, and it should come right up.
After you get the small traces of glue up with the nail polish remover, clean the tile with soap and water. This will remove any leftover traces of glue.
Large Areas With Glue
If you have larger areas of glue, you need to soak a cloth in lighter fluid, paint thinner or mineral spirits to soften up the glue. Although you can use lighter fluid, if you think it could be a hazard in your home, stick to the paint thinner or mineral spirits. Don't combine any of these.
After you pick your liquid of choice, lay the soaked cloth over the glue and let it sit there for 15 minutes. Doing this will ensure that the large area of glue will come up with care on your part. Once the time is up, remove the cloth, take your razor blade and start scraping away at the glue. Preferably, you should use a single-sided razor blade, but if you only have a double-sided blade, make sure it has a holder covering one side. Always scrape away from you.
Remove Glue From Floor Tiles
As you're peeling up the glue, make sure to clean your blade. If all of the glue doesn't come up in the first go-round, soak the cloth again and let it sit on the surface. Repeat as many times as you need until all of the glue is scraped off.
After all of the adhesive is off of the floor, clean the area with soap and water to get rid of the sticky sediment that the glue may have left behind. Doing this ensures that dirt, lint or dust won't stick to your tiles.
Additional Tips
When you're applying your liquid of choice, make sure that the cloth is thoroughly soaked. This will help the glue to come up faster because the cloth is saturated. Although you need to apply a bit of pressure to get the glue up, you don't want to rush this job or you may scratch your tile. Always scrape the surface gently. Ceramic tile has a hard finish, but you still need to be wary of how hard you're scraping the flooring.