Restoring Severely Faded Tiles

[zeddy]

I have a lot of severely faded gray swisstrax diamondtrax tiles (old design) that I'd like to clean up and make somewhat presentable. Age is unknown, but definitely far from new or even newish. They had been used on a deck, so sun exposure has really gotten to them.

I gave Swisstrax a call to see what kind of products they recommend to restore the fading, if any. I was told that a cleaning crew comes in with a floor buffer every 3 months to clean their own tiles, and that they could send me literature with instructions. The literature I got was beyond paltry - it consists of tools (pictures of mops, and a picture of an oreck buffer), and cleaners (simple green or greased lightning). Swisstrax representative did not know if the racedeck restore cleaner would help or even work on swisstrax products.

I tried a few auto detailing products - 303 Aerospace Protectant, 303 UV Protectant, couple of spray and wax products including Duragloss 951, and Chemical Guys VRP (wipe on plastic dressing). The products helped make the plastic more smooth to the touch, and helped a little on the fading, but did not make the tiles look that much better.

I'm going to order a bucket of the Racedeck restore, but wanted to see if anyone else had any luck with other products or methods to bring some life back into these types of tiles.

Thanks

 

[tthornto]

2 things to try.

A 50/50 mixture of boiled linseed oil and paint thinner: Spray on let it sit for a minute then wipe off, or apply with a sponge wiping up excess as you go.

or

Heat the tiles up with a heat gun, the goal being to ever so slightly melt the surface of the tile and get the bleached out surface to mix with the layer below that still has it's original color. Be careful though, keep the heat gun moving so that just the surface is allowed to get hot, heat one area to much and the tile will deform. Be very careful after to allow plenty of time for the tiles to cool and harden before walking on them or placing heavy objects on them.

 

[zeddy]

2 things to try.

A 50/50 mixture of boiled linseed oil and paint thinner: Spray on let it sit for a minute then wipe off, or apply with a sponge wiping up excess as you go.

or

Heat the tiles up with a heat gun, the goal being to ever so slightly melt the surface of the tile and get the bleached out surface to mix with the layer below that still has it's original color. Be careful though, keep the heat gun moving so that just the surface is allowed to get hot, heat one area to much and the tile will deform. Be very careful after to allow plenty of time for the tiles to cool and harden before walking on them or placing heavy objects on them.

Solid advice, I saw the heat gun tip in another old thread, but the person said they did it on their shutters and not actually on tiles. I guess plastic is plastic, and should work across the spectrum. I have a bunch of really crappy looking tiles that even if they get messed up by either of the methods above, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.