How do you remove a lacquer floor finish?

Answer 1

We were attempting to remove lacquer from a quarry tile floor. We had inadvertantly put lacquer on quarry tile, which I guess is a no-no. We had a white discoloration that was appearing after only a few days after application. This discoloration was determined to be lacquer that was not bonding properly, and the problem was growing. The only way to correct this problem was to completely remove the lacquer. We sought help through this help sight, but got no answers, so we experimented on our own. We reasoned that lacquer thinner should thin lacquer, so maybe it would remove it. We tried a test area, and it did remove it, but not completely. We deduced that we were only thinning it, and when it dried, there was still just a thinner layer on the quarry tile. So we went to a more powerful thinner- acetone. Acetone has a quicker evaporation rate than lacquer thinner. We used absorbent rags and wiped on the acetone and off with the lacquer ! We had to repeat the process several times with clean rags each time, to get it totally clean. Our rags turned yellow after they dried, indicating to us that we were getting the lacquer finish removed. Keep in mind that we used lots of precautions- cannister-style breathing apparatus, rubber gloves, non-absorbent knee pads, lots of ventilation, etc., etc. We made sure all heaters, etc. were turned off so not to ignite any fumes. DO NOT attempt to take off any lacquer without at least the above protection, if not more !