Many mosaic tiles are made for pools using the traditional mesh backing. Time has shown though that the mesh can disintegrate causing tiles to come loose, so a new system was employed - the hot glue melt system.
How does it affect the way we mosaic?
The short answer is, it doesn't.
As always, make sure you rotate the wheels on your wheeled nippers so you're not working with dull cutting points. Keep your tile perpendicular to the wheels and give a nice quick squeeze of your nippers to get your straight lines. The glue will hold the cut pieces then you simply pull apart.
You can still cut strips, halves, large and small triangles, circles and petals with the 20mm tiles. The 10mm tiles can be cut in half lengthways or on the diagonal to make triangles.
Unless you are placing your tiles quite close together, there is no need to cut the overhanging stubs of glue. They will be covered up by the grout and won't be seen in your finished mosaic.
If you are really keen to remove the glue, you can soak in acetone to soften the adhesive then use a razor blade or stanley knife to remove.
TIP: Thank you to my customer, Theresa Scott, who has found that overnight in the pressure cooker makes pulling the tiles off the glue easy.
