How to make your mosaic beautifully grouted
Before you can start grouting your mosaic piece, it is important that the adhesive has dried completely. Therefore, keep 24 hours between finishing the mosaic and grouting. Also, always check that everything is secure. To do this, hold your piece upside down or upright for a moment. If anything comes loose, glue it back in place. But first dry again before grouting. Mosamia works with Mapei grout. The fine structure and excellent quality of this grout makes it ideal for glass mosaic.
Making grout
Put a good 3/4 of the grout in a container. Preferably use a disposable container that you can throw away afterwards with leftovers (better than flushing through your pipes!) Mix that with a very small amount of water and stir with a spoon. Don't just open the tap above it, because you will soon have added too much water. Use a measuring cup or just a spoon. The mixture should have a lumpy consistency, similar to thick cottage cheese. Should you have added too much water, you still have a bit of grout left to add.
The first round
Spread the grout over the mosaic workpiece. The best way to do this is to use a grout rubber, but those just starting out often don't have one. An old (bank) card will also do just fine at first. Wipe back and forth in all directions to make sure it gets well into the seams. Think about the sides as well. Now let your workpiece rest for about 15 to 20 minutes. Tip: set a timer so you don't forget the time. When the time is up, remove the first blobs and excess grout with a damp (not too wet) sponge. Leave it all over again for 15 minutes more.
The second round
Repeat the cleaning as you just did. Always rinse the sponge clean in water and squeeze it well before you start wiping. You will see that the mosaic tiles are now reappearing, although still fuzzy. Clean to the point where you can see tiles can be seen.
Note: If you keep sweeping too quickly or too much, you run the risk of sweeping the grout back out of the seams. The dull haze that remains on the tiles is no big deal. Now let the piece dry completely. This takes, depending on conditions such as humidity
and temperature, about 2 to 3 hours. After this, you can polish away the dull haze with a soft cloth.
Tip: If you really want the tiles to shine, wipe them again with a little cleaning vinegar and water.
Cleaning and finishing
Clean tools and materials you have used immediately with water. Once hardened, this is very difficult. You can also paint the backside of the mosaic in a color. If you want to hang your mosaic outside, treat the back of the wooden base with impregnation solution to make it waterproof. If you want to use the mosaic intensively (think of trays for example) then it is advisable to make the grout water- and dirt-resistant with a special grout sealant. This is available at most DIY stores.