How To Remove Acrylic Sealer From Concrete – FAQ Video by CoverTec Products

The answer is yes. Typically, there’s two ways of doing that. One way is by mechanical means, either sandblasting or grinding, or even using a high pressure washer to physically remove the sealer from the concrete.  The other way is to strip the sealer from the concrete, typically using:

1. Chemical strippers
2. Solvent-based strippers, or
3. A plant-based – or more environmentally friendly – emulsifier to soften the sealer. 

If you have a solvent-based acrylic on your floor, then replace it with a solvent-based sealer, rather than a water-based product.

A quick check for solvent acrylics is to take some Xylene and apply a small amount for about 15 or 20 seconds, then wipe it off. Then touch the acrylic. If it’s very tacky, that’s a good indication that you have a solvent-based acrylic.

Then you should go back with a solvent that will bond or fuse to the existing layer, and you’ll have a good re-coat. Don’t use a water-based acrylic over an existing acrylic.

You need to be very careful, because unless the solvent-based acrylic is very worn, a water-based acrylic won’t be compatible with a solvent-based product.

What you’re likely to see is the solvent-based sealer will reject the water-based acrylic. It will repel it.

So, it’ll appear like there’s oil on water’s surface. The water-based acrylic will ball up, separate, and it won’t lay out in a nice coat.
That tells you there is some incompatibility, and you probably need to strip the solvent based acrylic off the surface if you want to use a water-based acrylic.

An important thing to consider if you’re going to use Xylene-based acrylic sealant is that they are much more flammable. They’re much more hazardous to use. They release fumes into the atmosphere – what we call VOCs. And they’re very high in VOCs.

Typical solvent-based acrylic products contain 15% acrylic, and the other 85% is just pure salt. More and more, the sealer industry is moving away from solvent-based acrylics because they’re hazardous. They’re not good for the environment, so you should consider using a water-based product.

It may be worth the time and investment to strip off old solvent-based sealers and continue with the much more user-friendly, and more environmentally safe, water-based acrylic sealers.

Well, you should use a chemical that doesn’t dry out quickly.

You should be able to apply it, and it softens the acrylic, allowing you to come back and pressure wash it or scrape it off. If it dries out or evaporates too quickly, then the acrylic will go from being soft to being a hard resin. This makes it more difficult to remove.

You should use something that’s safe to use, like our Surface PowerStrip®, which uses very safe, environmentally-friendly emulsifiers to soften the acrylic sealer. It’s long lasting, it’s slow evaporation, and can effectively remove multiple layers of acrylic sealer.

Stay away from high solvent, highly flammable, high VOC, caustic chemical strippers. These are dangerous to use, may dry out very quickly, and require repeat application.

There are two main ways of removing acrylic sealer.

If it’s old and flaky, you may be able to just pressure wash it off using a high PSI setting.

You may need to use abrasive methods like sandblasting or mechanically grinding. Of course, you need to be careful about damaging the concrete, because these clear sealers are usually thin layers applied on the concrete.

A safer way of doing it is to use chemical strippers, either a solvent-based product, or a plant-based type of stripper. These products will soften the sealer and allow you to scrape it off, or to pressure wash it off.

Something like our Surface PowerStrip® is a very effective sealer remover. It’s emulsifiers will quickly soften the clear acrylic, and keep it soft for much longer time than a lot of solvent-based products that just flush off quickly.

It can be applied by sprayer or roller application. Then it can be safely pressure washed. It’s not harmful to the environment. And when it’s diluted like, it won’t damage surrounding plants or grass.

In general, I would say no.

The concentration, and the amount of household ingredients need to be much higher than you typically have. And I don’t think they’ll effectively remove an acrylic.

Vinegar or caustic chemicals may dull the surface, or the shine of an acrylic sealer, but they won’t totally remove it.

I would say generally no.

Vinegar is a mild acidic solution, and most acrylics are resistant to vinegar. Plus, vinegar needs to work on mineral-based surfaces. The acrylic is a polymer. It’s a resin that’s going over the concrete.

So, vinegar might clean bare concrete, but it’s not going to actually have any real impact on removing an acrylic polymer resin.

Generally I would say no. Acrylics will hold up to muriatic acid.

It can be sourced at very high concentrations, and typically you need to dilute it to use it safely. But, that won’t impact, or really harm or soften the acrylic sealer.

Acids work best on cement or mineral type surfaces. Remembering that acrylic is a polymer, it’s a resin, and it’s acting as a barrier to the concrete. So, the muriatic acid is not actually be touching the concrete itself.

As a result, I would say don’t use muriatic acid, and be very careful because that comes as a concentrate that needs to be diluted to be safely handled.

The answer is no.

Baking soda is a mildly alkaline product or chemical, even in a solution.

It may dull the surface, but it’s not strong enough, or powerful enough, to break down an acrylic.

You need to use something that’s got a much higher alkalinity, or higher pH than you would find in baking soda.

Mineral spirits can soften an acrylic sealer to allow you to scrape it or remove it. It really depends on the type of acrylic sealer that you have.

Interior, higher shine acrylics from a big box store that are softer, may be removed using mineral spirits.

However, the tougher acrylic sealers, the tougher stain and chemical resistance products like our CoverSeal AC450® are going to be very resistant to mineral spirits.

They may dull the sheen a little, but they’re not going to effectively strip it off the surface.

You need to use a stronger solvent, or a stronger emulsifying product, something like our our FloorStrip HP®.

How long an acrylic sealant lasts really depends on:

• How it’s formulated
• The type of acrylic resin that’s used
• How much of that resin is in the formula, and
• What is it’s solids content?

Typical off-the-shelf, big-box store acrylics are softer resins. They have a lower polymer content, and they’ll last one to two years.

They’re softer. They absorb water. They wear off quickly, and they break down faster due to UV light exposure.

At CoverTec Products, we formulate with a much harder resin. Something that dries out with a very hard film. One that is very resistant to water absorption. One that is very resistant to chemicals, and extremely stain resistant.

So, our acrylics typically last two to three years for exterior, high traffic exposure.

With a good tough, hard-wearing acrylic sealer, it should be much easier to keep the concrete clean. More specifically, one that provides a strong barrier across the floor that’s resistant to dirt pick-up, chemicals, oils and stains.

As a result, you don’t need to use harsh chemicals. A mild dishwashing liquid, neutral cleaners, low alkalinity type cleaners will work nicely. No need for harsh chemicals. Nothing acidic is necessary.

You can use a slight scrubbing action. It’s important to just agitate the water a little bit, and then remove it either by damp mopping or using a wet-vac, without leaving a residue on the floor.

If you’ve got a higher shine, softer resin, then that may require more care. Some of these acrylics that you get from the big-box stores are softer.

They trap dirt, but they’re also very moisture sensitive. They’ll leave marks. They’ll leave wet or they’ll water white.

You also need to be very careful about the cleaning water. Don’t leave damp buckets on the surface, because they can leave permanent marks in your acrylic sealer.

Again, avoid using harsher chemicals. Use mild chemicals, and neutral cleaners like the Neutral GlossClean or the Emerald Floor Maintainer.
They are both great for cleaning acrylics, whether it’s interior or exterior.

Join us again for another FAQ video from CoverTec Products.

About Our Expert | Charles Idowu

Charles Idowu started his career as a civil engineer in 1983 in the UK. After achieving his MBA and his Chartered Engineer qualifications, Charles quickly became the waterproofing and coatings expert for a renowned British construction company. His international work landed him in South Florida, where he combined his engineering experience and passion for business to start CoverTec Products.

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