Packshot of Floor Etcher
Packshot of Floor Etcher

Floor Etcher - 5L

SKU: FS-00043

Packshot of Floor Etcher
Packshot of Floor Etcher
£27.70 INC VAT
£23.08 EXC VAT
£27.70 INC VAT
£23.08 EXC VAT
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The top choice for quickly and easily removing grit and dust from concrete and screed floors before sealing, coating or painting - with the lowest price guaranteed! An essential floor preparation solution for concrete and screed floors - floorsaver Floor Etcher etches, cleans and opens up the pores of the concrete, which helps effective adhesion.

Product Features:

  • The lowest price - guaranteed!
  • Perfect for powerfloated or smooth concrete floors
  • Contains detergent for cleaning action
  • Removes lime dust on new concrete
FREE Standard Delivery*
Free standard delivery on your order when you spend over £100

FREE Standard Delivery*

Order from floorsaver and get free standard delivery on your order when you spend over £100. (For smaller orders, a carriage charge does apply.)

Choose standard delivery and we'll get your order to you within 2-3 working days*. Our warehouse is closed at the weekend, so orders placed on a Saturday or Sunday will be processed on the following Monday.

*Delivery exclusions

We only deliver to the UK mainland, excluding the Scottish Highlands. That means we're unable to deliver to Northern Ireland, Ireland, Isles of Scilly, Isle of Wight or the Channel Islands. We are also unable to provide next day delivery to Scotland.

More info

  • floorsaver floor paints are designed to last years, so the last thing you want is a problem with adhesion. There are 4 good reasons to use floorsaver Floor Etcher.

    • Concrete often has a gritty dusty surface. If you apply paint to it, the paint will stick to the grit, but the whole lot will break away from the concrete beneath. floorsaver Floor Etcher removes this.

     

    • Concrete should be slightly porous to allow the paint to penetrate. floorsaver Floor Etcher keys the surface to make this happen.

     

    • Single pack alkyd based paints, such as floorsaver Floor Paint, do not like high levels of alkalinity. New concrete (less than 6 months) is alkaline and floorsaver Floor Etcher neutralises the surface alkalinity.

     

    • floorsaver Floor Etcher is a diluted hydrochloric acid based liquid, which is great for removing ingrained dirt and dust. If used on dirty, bare concrete the concrete will end up looking much 'whiter' and it will look like a surface which is now ready to be painted.

  • Application

    Application: Only use on "Bare Concrete", it is ineffective on painted or sealed surfaces.

    • Tip into a plastic watering can fitted with a plastic rose and apply evenly to an area of 15-20m maximum. The etcher will froth as it hits the concrete, this is the acid base reacting with the alkaline concrete and biting into the surface, removing impurities and keying it. Please note: The quoted coverage of this product is a guide only and it will depend on the texture, finish and porosity of the surface.
    • Scrub using a stiff broom or hire a scrubbing machine for large areas.
    • When the frothing stops, wash the floor etcher with water. Don't worry about disposing of an acid solution, what's lying on the floor has been neutralised by the reaction.
    • When the surface is dry you can apply floorsaver Floor Paint. If you're using floorsaver Epoxy Floor Paint it doesn't matter if the concrete is still a bit damp as a result of cleaning.
    • What to do if the etcher does not froth or react with concrete
    • This means the surface is sealed and should instead be lightly abraded to provide a key. It could also mean that the concrete is so smooth, dense and hard that the etcher cannot penetrate. This means the floor paint won't either and it's best not to go ahead.
    • Tip - If you don't use a watering can and rose it will be difficult to get the application even. If you pour it onto the floor, straight from the can, you may be left with 'acid scarring' where the concrete has been unevenly etched, and this may show through the paint.
  • Specification Value
    Product usage
    • Interior
    • Exterior
    Product uses
    • Bare Concrete
    • Masonry
    • Brick
    Product shelf life 12 months, if unopened and should not be allowed to freeze.
    Product coverage 5L covers approx. 15-20m2
    Product properties Diluted hydrochloric acid based etchant and cleaner
    We do not recommend
    • Application to "Sand" and cement "Screed"s, or self-levelling compounds. This product is for "Bare Concrete" only.

  • Product Information Sheet

    Download

    Safety Data Sheet

    Download
Description

floorsaver floor paints are designed to last years, so the last thing you want is a problem with adhesion. There are 4 good reasons to use floorsaver Floor Etcher.

  • Concrete often has a gritty dusty surface. If you apply paint to it, the paint will stick to the grit, but the whole lot will break away from the concrete beneath. floorsaver Floor Etcher removes this.

 

  • Concrete should be slightly porous to allow the paint to penetrate. floorsaver Floor Etcher keys the surface to make this happen.

 

  • Single pack alkyd based paints, such as floorsaver Floor Paint, do not like high levels of alkalinity. New concrete (less than 6 months) is alkaline and floorsaver Floor Etcher neutralises the surface alkalinity.

 

  • floorsaver Floor Etcher is a diluted hydrochloric acid based liquid, which is great for removing ingrained dirt and dust. If used on dirty, bare concrete the concrete will end up looking much 'whiter' and it will look like a surface which is now ready to be painted.
How to Use

Application

Application: Only use on "Bare Concrete", it is ineffective on painted or sealed surfaces.

  • Tip into a plastic watering can fitted with a plastic rose and apply evenly to an area of 15-20m maximum. The etcher will froth as it hits the concrete, this is the acid base reacting with the alkaline concrete and biting into the surface, removing impurities and keying it. Please note: The quoted coverage of this product is a guide only and it will depend on the texture, finish and porosity of the surface.
  • Scrub using a stiff broom or hire a scrubbing machine for large areas.
  • When the frothing stops, wash the floor etcher with water. Don't worry about disposing of an acid solution, what's lying on the floor has been neutralised by the reaction.
  • When the surface is dry you can apply floorsaver Floor Paint. If you're using floorsaver Epoxy Floor Paint it doesn't matter if the concrete is still a bit damp as a result of cleaning.
  • What to do if the etcher does not froth or react with concrete
  • This means the surface is sealed and should instead be lightly abraded to provide a key. It could also mean that the concrete is so smooth, dense and hard that the etcher cannot penetrate. This means the floor paint won't either and it's best not to go ahead.
  • Tip - If you don't use a watering can and rose it will be difficult to get the application even. If you pour it onto the floor, straight from the can, you may be left with 'acid scarring' where the concrete has been unevenly etched, and this may show through the paint.
Technical Spec
Specification Value
Product usage
  • Interior
  • Exterior
Product uses
  • Bare Concrete
  • Masonry
  • Brick
Product shelf life 12 months, if unopened and should not be allowed to freeze.
Product coverage 5L covers approx. 15-20m2
Product properties Diluted hydrochloric acid based etchant and cleaner
We do not recommend
  • Application to "Sand" and cement "Screed"s, or self-levelling compounds. This product is for "Bare Concrete" only.
Data Sheets

Product Information Sheet

Download

Safety Data Sheet

Download

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Have a Question?

Ask a Question

  • What is the dilution rate

    This should not be diluted. Please apply it directly to the surface, as supplied.

  • Hello I have a bare concrete floor in the garage that I’d like to use as a home gym. It gets really dusty so is there a solution where I don’t kit the garage out and then my gym equipment gets dusty.

    Hi,

    On a new concrete surface the dust is often surface laitance, This is when fine particlaes that have risen to the top of the surface during the drying process have simply resettled. Often they create a constantly dusty finish to a concrete floor. In fact, this can easily be removed using our Floor Etcher. This is used to remove the very top layer of the surface which is loose and dusty and expose the harder surface just below.

    Once complete you can then either paint the harder floor you are left with, for a dust free and clean finish, or simply user a clear penetrative sealer. Our Concrete Dustproofer would soak in and stop the floor from conitnuing to dust up without siginificantly changing the appearance.

    Kind Regards,
    Michael

  • Is this suitable for use on a new (dusty) concrete slab before applying sealer?

    You could use it for this purpose, but it isn't necessary. The Concrete Sealer will bind the dust together and prevent the floor dusting up again.

  • We need to paint the floor of our garage with a hard wearing epoxy paint, what would you recommend? We are after a semi gloss, grey finish. We're moving into a new home (New Build) and it has an attached garage and we want to paint the floor with a hard wearing epoxy paint. Can you recommend what we need and how we should proceed? It's a single garage and we're after a grey semi gloss type finish. Thanks

    If the concrete is new use our Floor Etcher first, as this will remove surface laitance (a dusty layer) and it will slighly open up the surface of the concrete so the epoxy paint can bond to it.  Epoxy Floor Paint is really hard wearing and it's between a semi - high gloss finish (depends on the porosity of the concrete) and comes in both light and mid grey.  See our data sheet for colour swatches and step by step preparation, application, etc.

  • I have a concrete garage floor that was "sealed" many (20+) years ago and which has then been painted over at least twice. The existing paint sticks to car tyres and lifts away if a car is parked on it for a couple of days or more. There are only a few patches where the concrete is exposed, and 5L of etcher would be way more than I'd need - is there another solution that will ensure that a fresh coat of paint over the top of the existing and onto the exposed concrete will stay down?

    Thank you for your enquiry. We do not advise using the etchant on a previously painted substrate. we would advise that the substrate is abraded to remove any previous coating/sealer before the applying a 2 pk coating. Epoxy Floor Paint - 5L - heavy duty, 2-part epoxy concrete floor paint – floorsaver

  • How many square feet does your Floorsaver Etch cover. Do you have to dilute it or use it straight from the container. Regards John.

    Hi John, this will cover 20sqm and you do not need to dilute it. Please see Floor Etcher - 5L - concrete etching surface preparation and cleaning – floorsaver