Sealers are applied to concrete to protect the surface from water and salt damage. Acrylic sealers work by blocking the pores of the concrete from water adsorption. Unsealed surfaces can allow water to penetrate into the concrete, where it may freeze and cause cracking, or dissolve salts and carry them to the surface where they are deposited by water evaporation. This is called efflorescence and ruins the appearance of concrete because of scaly, white salt deposits that remain.
In addition to protecting concrete, sealers can also enhance the appearance of the surface by providing a “wet look”. The wet look is the darkening and drawing out of the color that occurs when the surface is wet. This may also include an enhancement of the surface gloss, although this is not a universal definition. Solventborne acrylic sealers do a good job of providing a wet look to concrete surfaces. Of course this comes with the price of higher VOC levels, typically 350 g/L or higher. Current waterborne wet-look sealers contain between 100 and 250 g/L of VOCs, while not delivering an appearance that matches a solventborne sealer. HydroPLIOLITE WL is a modified acrylic copolymer that gives the appearance and protection properties of a solventborne sealer and can be formulated into a sealer with a VOC level of only 50 g/L.