Testing Mineral Acids for Glass Surface Safety

If you want to learn about mineral acids go here.  Mineral Acids Wikipedia  You will learn exactly what a mineral acid is and what are some of the strongest ones.  As window cleaners we have used certain ones like hydrochloric, hydrofluoric, nitric, and sulfuric.  These are four of the strongest.  We also have products intended to remove mineral deposits (hard water spots) that are based on some of these very powerful acids.  They are all dangerous.  They can blind you, burn and strip your skin from your hands, and do extreme harm to your lungs.  Just read the MSDS (SDS) for any one of them.  What you can't easily learn is which ones will do little to no harm to glass surfaces.  Which ones will have no effect at removing hard water spots from glass.  Which ones can potentially do very bad damage to glass surfaces under different circumstances.  And which ones have been blended into commercial products for removing hard water spots from window glass.  

Now none of us want to chance doing harm to our own or another persons body.  So we would want to  stay away from powerful acids like these for this reason alone.  Regarding the potential harm that an acid or an alkali (base) can have on glass however, this is something that many window cleaners wonder about.  The reasoning they follow is rather simple.  If I can protect myself from any physical harm of a certain chemical or product, and know in advance that there is no chance that it will destroy the windows I am attempting to restore, then why not use it.  I would say of course the choice would be yours.

On this last note about knowing that the chemical or product absolutely could not and would not do any damage to the glass surface;...this is something that you should always ask yourself.  How do we know?  

When I started down this road many years ago I got out the books and started doing research.  I asked different manufacturers.  And quickly discovered there were no absolute answers.  So I started buying acids, products, and new glass test plates from the local glass shop.  Then I started doing my own experiments.  I let my imagination run.  What I learned from these flights was amazing!  Things that no other window cleaner or book could tell me.  Then I started traveling to buildings that had been chemically wasted.  Went home and was able to duplicate the damage using the same products and chemicals.  It was fascinating.

The bottom line is that I was able to develop many different tests and standards that could plainly tell me in advance exactly which products and chemicals were "safe" and which were not.  With these tests and standards I didn't need any other knowledge from any source.  The tests served as my own personal compass.

With this knowledge you would never have to ask anyone any questions about any new product.  YOU become the authority.  That Is what I am now working on with the IGSA Tests and Standards Publication.  I am working on developing an internal consulting group within the window cleaning industry worldwide.  IGSA stands for International Glass Smart Association.  And Smart stands for Surface Maintenance And Restoration Technology.

If you would like to know more about the IGSA writings just send me a question at henrygrover222@gmail.com

    Tests and Standards

Written by Henry Grover Jr.

Explosive Profits with a Glass Protection Maintenance Service!

From what I have learned from other window cleaners the product NG1010 from Nanovations USA is one of the very best DIY aftermarket glass sealers on the market.  As soon as the spring starts again I am going to personally start presenting this to my current window cleaning customers.  Bottom line there is WAY more money to make applying this product than just cleaning windows, removing scratches, or removing hard water stains.

I have heard of other window cleaners making 150 USD in a single hour.  And sometimes much more.  Priced by the square foot.  One sliding glass door can be done in 15 minutes at 75 USD.  That would be about five dollars per square foot.

Sometimes you might want to remove some very light stains.  Or just do a very quick polish with some cerium oxide.  There are ways to test the surface with a fogger once you have polished with a cerium slurry.  A well polished surface will react better and really hold on to the stain.  Allowing a complete SAM "Self Assembled Mono-Layer" to form. 

Watch this video/test that Marc Tanner performs on an inside fountain at a Mall in Florida.  It runs 24 hours a day nonstop.  Marc is unbelievable!  He has so much experience and is so very innovative.  Another good friend that I treasure having as a part of my little master mind group.  Although the truth is that we have SO many of these people.  I have started some years ago to introduce such ones to our industry through my Glass Smart YouTube Channel and this blog.  As I come into product development, continue to work on my You Tube again, write this blog, and begin publishing a report/white paper on testing and standards for my association IGSA, I hope to continue to help our industry.  It has served me well for 44 years now and given me much joy through the people I have come to know because of it.  Now we are moving into 2025 and it will be 45 years.

The best application opportunities are of course inside because there is no possible degradation to the NG1010 coating from UV radiation.  But it is still a worthy test on a fountain with continuous hard water.  This next test by Nick Evans will leave you in total disbelief.  You will be convinced as I am.

Check out this next video made by Nick Evans of  Glass Genius located in New Zealand.  And pay very close attention to the numbers that he explains!  Nick is a good friend even though he lives on the other side of this planet!  And truly is a glass genius.

Nanovations USA

I have personally proven that the NG1010 product is very effective at helping to protect from scratches.  So it would be very easy to sell to the service for inside partition glass, shower doors, large sliding glass doors, and mirrors.  

It is a perfect product too for creating "invisible images" and lettering for advertising on bathroom mirrors.  The process is simple.  Just high speed polish with a cerium slurry, clean, apply a computer cut vinyl mask, apply NG1010, and remove the mask.  When the mirror fogs, the image and message magically appears.  When the fog disappears the image and message disappear.

Any more questions just ask,

Publishing IGSA Testing and Standards

Written by Henry Grover Jr.

If you would like to join the International Glass Smart Association  (IGSA) just send me an email.

henrygrover222@gmail.com

 

Overcoming Water Fed Pole Limitations

There are many severe limitations of a WFP.  They are very well known by almost everyone.  But are universally ignored because of the extreme advantages of this kind of work.  So I won't list them out in this small article.  Rather I prefer to address a few of the ways we have had success in getting around some of them.

Ordinary heavy dirt can be removed by using a flat scrub pad made of 0000 steel wool, very fine bronze wool,  plastic scrub pads that will not scratch glass, and other super abrasive plastic media.  Organic (woody) scrubbing media have the tendency of absorbing water and can become soft.  Some types of crushed/powderized  nut shells and other similar materials are more prone to this problem than others.

I hesitate in mentioning any of the organic or mineral acids that will not readily etch glass surfaces or titanium dioxide low e coated surfaces.  Although it is true that they do exist.  You can either call, text, or email me for some direct answers to this question.  But I will always suggest that you perform the tests yourself.  These tests also are good for the alkalies such as sodium or potassium hydroxide.  The greatest problem is that because glass has many chemical "reaction sites" on the surface damage can easily result.  If other conditions are present at the time that these chemicals are used.  Nonetheless it is true that there are certain times when certain liquid organic solvents, mineral acids, and alkaline liquids with a pH above 7;...can be safely used.

To substantiate my point here all I have to do is site a very well known scientific fact that pure water with a pH of 7 is known to etch glass under the right conditions.  One of my most interesting statements by Paul Duffer was that, "Glass surfaces are alive.".  Meaning that a glass surface is always chemically active.  It is always changing dependent on time, temperature, and humidity. 

I always advise never using chemicals like sulfuric acid, ammoniumbifluoride, and hydrofluoric acid.  Even in very low concentrations.  With a water fed pole or trad work.

My goal here is to create a group of window cleaning professionals worldwide that can double as consultants to the building and other industries.  Called IGSA.  This is something I have given a great deal of thought to.  Along the way I have met up with many incredible people.  Which I am certain will jump on such an opportunity.  The best way to make it happen I am thinking now is to help them and others do the work that will help them hands on to acquire the knowledge and experience needed to become members of such a group.

I am not going to promise anything.  But will begin by starting a series of papers called the IGSA Tests and Standards.  It will end when I end.  But hopefully it will help to form a small group of professional window cleaning consultants who will lead our industry in a direction where we will be more respected for our expertise.

And so I will change this blog once again to refocus on the IGSA Tests and Standards.  Along with the technology of new product development of course.  Forensic Window Cleaning is actually a precursor to such a change.  Although I didn't know it at the time of writing these articles/posts.

Winter, right before the IWCA Convention is a great time to begin this.  IGSA Tests will be available by email, billed by PayPal to start, and be priced at 25 dollars per issue.  I will send you an email once you subscribe when the next one is available.  The first one is called, "Testing Mineral Acids for Glass Surface Safety".

Hope you enjoy!

Written by  Henry Grover Jr.

Email Me!

6034989474

Forensic WC Hidden Scratches

Screens hide a multitude of sins!  They hide scratches, and other damage.  Dirt and hard water spots/mineral deposits also hide scratches.  So when you remove the screens and clean the window scratches that were there before you can become quite visible.  Whenever we clean we must be on the lookout for this kind of damage.  If it is revealed it should be immediately brought to the attention of the person that hired us and is responsible.  This will help to avoid any lawsuits.  It also puts the window cleaning on a higher level.  We become at that moment inspection professionals.  Any further damage that we find can be made note of and identified should anything more become of it.

If we are called on to identify the cause of the scratches the first step that I would take is to inspect the "clean" glass surface.  Is it scratch sensitive or not.  If it is I will look more closely at the pattern of the scratches.  If they are mostly up and down I will get the permission of the owner to try to cause more but in the opposite direction.  If a razor was used you might use the same or a similar razor.  I will never forget a consulting job I was called into where the contractor had blamed a window cleaner.  Claiming that he had used a razor on the window which scratched.  So I checked for the sound of embedded particles and discovered there were many large particles.  At this point I had little hope.  But the pattern was only in one direction.  So I took out the razor and with the permission of the contractor tried very hard to make more scratches in the opposite direction.  I tried very hard.  But no scratches appeared!  The window cleaner was cleared.  Now I also remember another concern I was called into.  Unfortunately it didn't go so well.

The most important matter to understand here is that scratches can be easily hidden.  Even scratches that the homeowner could never see before because they were so slight that when the screens were put back on they became completely invisible.  If you were to use the wrong chemical to remove a light film of mineral deposits it will etch the scratches and magnify them to the point where they become VERY visible.  Screens on or not.  And especially in the direct sun.  Acids such as hydrofluoric, sulfuric, hot phosphoric, or ammoniumbifluoride.  Never use any of these chemicals on glass under any circumstances.  Or you will reveal scratches that were left behind and hidden for many years.  EVERY TIME!

Be a forensic window cleaner.  Use your eyes on every window.  Always look carefully AT the glass.  Not through the glass like our customers.  Defy all possible lawsuits.

Henry

Forensic Window Cleaning Defeats Lawsuits

How many times have you cleaned a window only to discover damage that someone else had left behind?  Which made you wonder whether you might be blamed?  Unfortunately this is a very common problem that we all have to face at some time or another.  I have had to face it myself.

The first step towards a solution is realizing that our customers will never understand what we know about surface damage.  No matter how much we explain it to them.  Even when such damage is revealed.  In my case it was a friend and lifelong customer who blamed me for scratches left by my squeegee blade.  Ultimately they gave in to the situation realizing that I had to know way more than they did.

The next step comes by explaining to them that there are actually a multitude of different kinds of surface damage that can be revealed by a very simple cleaning.  Evan if it is the first cleaning (post construction) of new glass.  Also that we are the best professional to identify if there is damage and what exactly is the source or cause of such damage.

The third step is to be able to accurately identify any damage and be able to intelligently explain to them the damage and the cause.  Such that we could do the same in court if that became necessary.  We must be able to defend ourselves in order to preserve our company.  This requires a complete understanding and full knowledge of the matter at hand.

This third step is what I would like to help you with.  So that you will be adequately prepared.  To do this I will be writing a series of consecutive posts on this subject of "Forensic Window Cleaning".  There will be micrographs of scratches, etched glass, seal failure of low e IG units, and other assorted creatures.  Also different tests that can be performed on new window glass along with the window surfaces in question.  

I have made use of this practice over the years to save window cleaners from huge losses.  Some of these tests are very simple, but very powerful.  They can prove beyond any doubt that you are not responsible.  Of course someone was.  Usually it is another subcontractor that worked under the builder at the time of construction.  Who is long gone no one even knowing who they were.  

 

Happy Abstract Art

 I have another business I thought I should tell you about.  Recently I have got into creating art.  It is called Pour Painting.  I have links listed on www.happyabstractart.blogspot.com which you can follow on the YouTube to watch how it is done.  You can also view many of the works I have been showing at libraries and galleries/restaurants.  Scroll down and check them out.  Here below is one my wife did which I call Dragon Wings.  If you would like a custom work done for your office or home just let me know.  Another alternative would be to create something yourself.  My goal is to teach others how to do the same thing for themselves and family.  Or even sell if they chose!  More than anything however is the fun you can have doing it!

Henry Grover Jr.

henrygrover222@gmail.com

Affiliate Product links

 I will be talking about many of the products I have discovered over the last 44 years that I have been cleaning windows.  Such products will be listed with links on the side bar here on this blog.  I will be writing about each and demonstrating how they work with a touch of chemistry and physics thrown in.  But not too much.

I am also working on some unique products that I will own and will be marketing through a distributor.  Hoping this helps with your work.  Not to be left out will be answers to questions regarding certain problem jobs you might be working on.  The Glass Smart YouTube Channel will also continue.

You will find below the official Glass Smart Products Logo.

 

Winning a Scratched Glass Lawsuit

 Winning a lawsuit begins before you touch the first window.  It begins with educating your customer.  Enter the Trivalent Waiver.  Have one written up and then have each part (3 in total) signed and dated by the customer as you move through the job.  I wrote a post about this animal in this blog.  You will find it by scrolling down.  Customers need to understand that anything can happen when techniques or different chemicals must be used to remove substances that conventional cleaning methods cannot.  It is also very real that scratches left by previous cleanings can easily be revealed by removing dirt and stains.

Next if you can possibly avoid a razor this is always the best practice.  If however you must use one you should use a penny and a cheap doctors stethascope to listen for factory debris fused to the glass surface.  Not going to get into the science of what this is.  We all know it.  And have to deal with it.  Just need to know every time when it is there.  The sound will tell you.  Clean the window first with the conventional method.  Soap and squeegee.  Then light drag a penny across the dry surface and listen.  I have heard many different sounds over the years.  Including complete silence.  VERY educational.  It sure beats a microscope!

Next.  If you have to resoap and scrape do this according to a unique pattern.  Your own way that you move the razor.  So that if scratches appear later if you caused them you will see the pattern will match your pattern.  If not then you did NOT cause the scratches.

I have also when called into a consulting job actually tried to create the same scratches with the same tool that the window cleaner used.  But in a different direction to the pattern of the scratches that were in question.  I actually saved one companies business this way.  We lost a couple too.

Another tool is a handheld lighted microscope that links by bluetooth to a smart phone.  I am collecting a series of different micrographs of scratches caused by different things on my own test plate.  Also from the field.  Also have written a couple posts in this blog and included the micrographs further down.  If we can show that the scratches were caused by an aluminum ladder for example and NOT a razor blade, then we have won the lawsuit.  The microscope can be a very powerful analytical and legal tool.

More about this later.  But if you need some help to guide you through a very emotional and difficult problem please give me a call and send me an email.

Henry Grover Jr.

henrygroverjr@gmail.com

6034989474

 

Investigating Evaporated Metal Coatings (Low E First Surface)

Ever clean the outside of a green house only to find zillions of extremely fine scratches?  It is likely something the home owner never paid much attention to.  But I am certain that such a problem if discovered on a brand new greenhouse would be a lawsuit waiting to happen.  This particular problem is very common.  It is another reason for the Trivalent Waiver.

The weather surface (number one) of greenhouses use a metal coating to block certain parts of the suns radiation.  In an effort to limit the heat and ultraviolet to keep the temperature down and prevent the furniture and carpet from fading over time.  It is also extremely easy to scratch.  More so than glass. The scratches also stand out in the bright sun much more than on a glass surface.

Such scratches can be removed with certain micro-abrasive powders such as ceriums, aluminum oxides, and even plastic based super-abrasives.  Such as the one I am bringing to the window cleaning market.  My goal is to start with companies right here in the seven states of New England where I live, and sometime after bring it out to the world through a distributor.

If you find the use of super-abrasives fascinating for what they can do, and would like to add them to your line of services as a professional window cleaner;...just give me a call, email or text.  I would like to work with you.

Henry Grover Jr.

henrygroverjr@gmail.com

6034989474

 

Introducing Glass Smart Products

 Glass Smart Products is going to focus exclusively on Super Abrasive Powders.

I have had several decades to think about where I want to go with all of the research that I have put into glass Surface Maintenance And Restoration Technology.  Have tried about seven newsletters, consulting work, and even product development.  All of these adventures have worked somewhat.  But none have done well enough to hold my interest long enough to work out.  So I have decided to develop an ultra-niche line of products that will be very easy to create and distribute through our industry even on an international level.  Abrasive powders, compounds, and various other abrasive based products will be very easy to package for resale.  The profit margin will allow for the use of a distributor so I do not have to take on this problem myself.  Which will afford me the time to spend at my research and writing.  That will be published here.  My own custom made YouTube videos will continue to be implanted in these posts.  In this way I can consult directly with our entire industry.  The communications technology we have today is so advanced that I can even work with various companies through phones, tablets, and computers.  So there really is no limits.  As Marc Tanner would say the sky is the limit.  Because really it is.

Henry Grover Jr.

I have another Blog that is focused only on the products I develop.  Not the technology.  That address is 

www.glasssmartproducts.blogspot.com

 

Our MOST Valuable Assets !!!

I have been pretty much offline over the last year.  But you know I have over seven hundred people that read this blog;... on occasion.  Although I tend to get stuck in the muck of tech stuff way too ez.  If you have tech questions just send them to my email henrygroverjr@gmail.com  But this post is about something totally different. Please read on.

I have about 100 customers on my storefront route.  These are stores priced from 10 bux up to 150 bux.  They are mostly responsible for the 500 to 1000 dollar residentials that I get on the side that make up about 20 percent of my annual income.  Now these "people" are my most valuable assetts.  They advertise for me.  Stores are your best publicity.  Much better than any advertisement in a newspaper!  But even more than that.  They give you the incentive to get up in the morning and go out.  Even in bad weather.  Your store route is a friend route.  These are not just customers.  You love these people.  When you are in the hospital they will call, text, and email you.  You see them on the street and call them by first name.  Or razz them in public.  No matter how much money they have or don't have.  These are the people you kick back with in their favorite chair and share stories with.  I had a brand new resi customer the other day call me in to his summer house.  A small 1,000 dollar job.  He had a huge boat.  Gobs of money.  But he was about 84.  Had cancer but beat it.  Could barely walk.  Hearing aids, etc.  He said;... take me out with you cleaning.  You know I am going to give him a call soon and take him downtown for a coffee or a beer and spend some time with him.  Just because I want to.  I am only 64 now.  But I have learned over the last 42 years being in business that what you put out comes right back to you a hundredfold.  Because you do it WITHOUT MOTIVE.  The true benefit that you recieve is in the love you show and that which is recieved.  That is what makes life worth living.

Henry Grover Jr.

henrygroverjr@gmail.com

Products for Storefront Customers

 I have about 100 customers on my route.  They are all individually owned businesses.  No corporate chain/franchises.  For many years I have been working on products for Window Cleaners.  Like different cleaners, solvents, stain removers, glass sealants, etc.  But recently I have been thinking about developing specific products for our customers.  That they could use when we are not there.  Products that would even make our job easier.  Also products that would only be available through the window cleaner.  The only way they could acquire such products would be through the window cleaner.  So they would give us the edge at getting the contract, and in setting a price that we need to get.  

What type of products do you think would be most attractive to our customers?  The very first one should be a spray on window cleaner.  One that uses a plant based surfactant and a disinfectant  that kills bacteria and viruses on contact.  But does NOT smell.  And dries crystal clear. I would encourage using bamboo paper towels.  These last way longer than ordinary paper towels.  And are based on the fastest growing tree in the world.

Another product I am looking to develop is a decorative paint for advertising on glass.  Based again on natural biodegradable ingredients it would hang on so we could soap and squeegee the window, but would peel off dry when the time came.  It would not leave any residue.  I have had some success with this product.  Check out this video I did.

Before you get too excited however my experiments were not completely successful.  This test was done outside and within one hour.  I tried another test inside and left the Peal Paint on for a month before attempting to remove it.  I was NOT able to remove it so easy.  In fact it was VERY difficult to get off.  Soap and water with a lot of really hard scraping.  But the first test shown here gives me much hope.  And I am very excited about the potential.

These are only two of many niche products that could be developed for our storefront accounts.  As Window Cleaners we need to be Glass Smart.  Then we can help our customers in ways that no one else can.

Written by Henry Grover Jr.

henrygroverjr@gmail.com

 

Hidden Etched Glass Could Destroy Your Company

Glass can be etched in different ways by different chemicals.  Probably the most common is HF.  This can ripple out or orange peal glass surfaces.  It will magnify any kind of glass scratch, light or heavy.  It can also create a white haze that will not come off with soapy water and a squeegee.  This haze can be opague or barely visible.  All of these effects can be covered by simple dirt and revealed by window cleaning.  That puts all of us at risk!

We need to first be able to identify these different types of etch.  But not just the owners of window cleaning companies.  But all employees too.  Simply because they are in the field doing the work.  They will have control over the work.  They will be in a position to call off the job until the problem is resolved.  Before it becomes a lawsuit.

I have always found over the last 42 years cleaning windows that when I bring something to my customers attention first it gives me the advantage.  But it always helps when I can speak with a certain degree of knowledge and exerience.

Etched glass is not the only damage that can be reveled.  There are many types of damage.  If you happen to be dealing with such a situation please give me a call or send a text and we can talk about it.  I am here to help.  Please take a look at my website.  Check out the Gallery.

Written by Henry Grover Jr.

603-498-9474

glasssmart@protonmail.com

glasssmartconsulting.com

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKzhmAWtlsHJiwRd6WrgGyA/videos

You Are All Consultants

No one wants to hear anything negative.  So I never tell a homeowner in advance that I will report any scratches, abrasion marks, stains, etched surfaces, failed insulating units, negative deflection, etc.  Neither will I report that to the general contractor or anyone else that I work for.  At the beginning of the job;... however.  If I am working on any window that is scratched then I have to bring that to the owners attention.  Because if I don't, they might hold me accountable.  At the end of the job or maybe a week or a month later.  The same is true for cracked glass, etched glass, hard water spots, or even failed insulating units.  People just don't know about this stuff.  They don't even know if they have an exposed low e coating.  Not to mention degassed argon and the implosion dangers of negative deflection!  So many things are just way beyond them.  These are things that are also way beyond most employees of window cleaning companies.  But your employees need this knowledge.  It is critical for your protection.  It is also a fantastic way to maintain ownership of your accounts.  When your customers witness this kind of knowledge they gain an enhanced appreciation of your company.  And will never call someone else in even if they charge less.

These things are infact the very basis of the Glass Smart window cleaner.  Do you want to have a Glass Smart company?  Do you want to be Glass Smart yourself.  This is actually the reason why I started this blog so many years ago.  This is the reason why I started developing special niche products for non-routine window cleaning.

The next Poor Peoples Pub Meet is coming up this Thursday, February 24th at 3pm.  We did not have a Meet in January because I was sick and didn't think anyone would be ok with that.  But as I write this I am feeling good.  Thursday looks like a good day for travel.  We will likely meet in the side room as usual unless we only have a few show up.

Since this Glass Smart technology is based on very special niche products I would like to show you one right here right now in a video that I made about a couple years ago.  Just remember the paint that I used for this experiment was so hard I couldn't even scrape it off with a single edge steel razor blade.  This is what I am talking about!  This is why we need to continue to have these Pub Meets.  This is about two minutes long.  

Written by Henry Grover Jr.

603-498-9474

glasssmart@protonmail.com

glasssmartconsulting.com

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKzhmAWtlsHJiwRd6WrgGyA/videos