PlastiSkrub, GS Zircon, GS Diamond Compound, Cal Skrub, GS Cerium Compound

These five Glass Smart (GS) products will be available starting January 2026 one at a time in the sequence listed here.   Starting with PlastiSkrub. It is available right now.  It comes in a 1/4 pound plastic bag for 25 USD plus shipping.  They are all proprietary products NOT available through any manufacturer or distributor.  There will be posts and YouTube videos to explain how to use each one.  

PlastiSkrub (Skrubs) is a polishing/cleaning micropowder.  The purpose is to help remove fingerprints, and other very greasy deposits on glass and low e hardcoats. It has even been known to remove light scratches from hardcoats.  It can be used in water fed pole work by gluing it to a soft pad for skrubing bird droppings and other organic dirt.  My biggest contention about using plastic microparticles is the arguments against microplastics and health issues.

GS Zircon (ZirComp) is a compound similar to the GS Cerium product.  In that it is also a compound and comes in a syringe.  So it can be carried in your pocket.  Zirconium oxide has been used for many years like cerium for cold working glass surfaces.  In particular it is used for precision polishing silicon wafers for the electronics industry.  So it carries a higher price than cerium, although not as much as diamond.

GS Diamond Compound (DiComp) is a perfect pocket companion for removing light scratches, abrasion blemishes, and water marks.  But by hand with paper towels.

CalSkrub (CSkrubs) is a micronized calcium carbonate based powder.  Just like PlastiSkrub it is a polishing/cleaning powder.  It is however biodegradable and not an environmental hazard.

GS Cerium Compound (CerComp) is a cerium oxide compound in a syringe.  I decided to develop this type of product because cerium powders are very difficult to use and very expensive.  Although the cost of cerium has gone down from several years ago.  Creating a compound makes it VERY easy to use.  Which I have already explained in previous posts.  You will  be able to carry a syringe in your pocket as you go from job to job.  Also since I am not using distributers and am the only manufacturer of the compound, the price will be much more reasonable.

Feel free to send me an email, text, or call.

Henry Grover Jr.

Glass Smart Products

henrygrover222@gmail.com

6034989474

Spot Free WFP at 444 TDS

No drops no spots!  This is even true if your water reads 444 TDS.  Now I know many of you think that hydrophobic windows are the best for WFP work.  But the truth is if there are any water drops left behind that have most any level of total dissolved solids (minerals), when they dry they will leave behind mineral spots.  But as I have said no drops no spots.  Whether your TDS is 5 or 444.  But how do you accomplish this?

Well as I have explained in previous posts there are three basic ways.  The very first is by mechanically or chemically or both you deep clean the glass surface.  This will remove all water repellant substances.  Which will reveal the silanol and silica molecular elements of glass which are water loving or hydrophylic.  Here is a video I made that shows how to do this by mechanically polishing glass with a cerium embedded disc.  I show off my Mini Wobble Wheel too.

This technique can be improved by employing a mechano-chemical technique.  This involves using a sodium hydroxide solution.

The next method requires sealing a deep cleaned window glass surface with a functionalized ceramic nanoparticle with silanol groups which are hydrophylic.  Such a treatment works really great the first time but will wear off over time.  So it is good if you can couple this with the first technique.

The third technique involves adding a surfactant to your cleaning water that will help clean the glass and sheet the glass.  This because the surfactant will break down the natural surface tension of water and cause it to spread out so that it will not be prone to leave drops.  The surfactant chosen must be very effective at doing this but it must also create the least amount of foam or suds.  The Draves Test for Wetting Agents is an interesting test for surfactants.  There are many examples on YouTube.

But what exactly is the process here when we go from phobic to phylic in WFP window cleaning?  The method is very much the same.  In that you clean and rinse with the same water.  Unless you use the first technique which is much more involved.  The main difference is how the water/cleaner/treatment leaves the window.  Instead of "running off" which will leave water behind to evaporate;...it will "sheet off very slowly" leaving a completely dry clean window.  If you are using a surfactant/wetting agent you will notice a line form at the top of the window separating the upper dry part from the lower wet part.  The wet area will move down slowly.  Until the entire window is dry and clean without a single drop or spot.  This always works best on humid 40 to 50 degree days.  An interesting effect to look for as this happens is what looks like a tree line of pines.  The very top of the pine trees can form multiple colors.  When I first did this I had no idea what this was going to look like until I did it!

I told you in the last post I did that I was going to introduce you to the geniuses among us that I will be working with in product development.  Well here is Jack.  He has had a YouTube channel for some time now.  I am sure you will find his work with WFPs VERY interesting!

https://www.youtube.com/@Jack-Surreal_Panes/videos

Written by Henry Grover

henrygrover222@gmail.com

Which Solvent Is The Most Powerful?

My personal choice would be one of the essential oils of which there are many.  There are in fact over one hundred different essentials Most of these are not extremely expensive and are readily available.  They are quite environmentally friendly as they come from nature.  Further they are extracted from the petals, roots, peels, and bark of different plants.  So they were designed to interact with organic substances;...and we are talking here about removing organic/carbon based substances.  Whether such are adhesives, natural resins, other nonessential oil residues, or just plain rather tenacious organic dirt.  Also, as you will read below, different essentials are most effective at removing different organic substances.  My advice is to carry a good assortment of industrial grade (these will be the least expensive) essentials to experiment with on site.  Give each one enough time to work.  I have learned that industrial solvents in general do take upwards of a half hour to penetrate the substance to be removed.  Evan the most powerful.  So essentials also take time to work.  Another matter to consider is the identity of the surface you are attempting to clear.  Is it mylar, acrylic, or polycarbonate?  It could be sensitive to the chemical you are planning to use. Remember that plastics are usually carbon based.  They are constructed from oil.  Especially if the surface is under some type of mechanical stress like vibrational energy.  So with all that being said have at it!  I will be getting into the sales of industrial essentials at some time.  This chemistry is way too amazing for me to leave alone.

Powerful Essential Oils for Specific Solvents

• For Sticky Sap & Resins: Orange oil (d-limonene) and Pine oils (pinene) are excellent natural degreasers and sap removers.
• For Adhesives & Pitch: Lavender essential oil is noted for tackling tree pitch and sticky labels.
• For Fragrance Extraction (Industrial/Lab): While not essential oils themselves, strong solvents used to get essential oils include ethanol, hexane, acetone, and bio-butanol for high yields.
• For General Cleaning/Degreasing: Eucalyptus oil and some citrus oils break down grime effectively. 

Key Components

• D-Limonene (Citrus Oils): A powerful terpene that is a great solvent for oils, resins, and glues.
• Pinene (Pine Oils): Strong solvent for pine resin (pitch). 

Important Distinction: Essential Oils vs. Extraction Solvents

• Essential Oils as Solvents: Are used at home for cleaning, often diluted in carrier oils or used neat (like lavender on pitch).
• Industrial Solvents: Chemicals like hexane, acetone, or ethanol are used in labs/industry to extract essential oils from plants, not typically used as the final essential oil product. 

Written by Henry Grover Jr.

henrygrover222@gmail.com

Glass Smart Product Creators

Let me introduce you to my Window Cleaning Glass Smart Product Development help group.  I want you to meet the people I have come to know over the years who are truly incredible.  They have helped me with ideas and beta tested some of the formulas and products I have discovered.

These are the people that I will be working with as I move ahead with the business of product development.  I will be doing video interviews with them on the Glass Smart YouTube.  So that you will get to know them I will be embedding these videos directly into my posts on this blogspot.  I am VERY sure that you will tremendously enjoy our interaction with them.  I have truly enjoyed meeting them and am VERY confident that you will too.

Probably half of these people have developed their own product(s), and most are window cleaners themselves.  These are the kind of people who deserve to be creating products for our industry!

Written by Henry Grover Jr.

henrygrover222@gmail.com

Blow Up Your Company with Glass Smart Products

A single product can win you the contract.  It can make you thousands of dollars.  Or even tens of thousands.  Because it can give you the ability to repair or restore a window that no one else can.  Further how long do you think you could keep that job?  Some of my jobs I have had for 25 years or even more.  When I do the math I am amazed at how much I have made from some of these jobs. 

Plasti Skrub

Silica Polish

That is what Glass Smart Products can do for you!

These are products based on chemicals and superabrasive powders.  The chems are alkalies, acids, and organic solvents.  The superabrasive powders are based on particles that are either in the nano or micron range of size.  They are different sizes, shapes, hardnesses, and materials.  Such can also be "functionalyzed".  Which means the surface of each particle can be coated with a certain molecular species.  Usually for the purpose of making the particle chemically reactive.  Particles can be made water loving or water hating for example by attaching a CH3 group.  The more densely arranged this group is the more hydrophobic/water hating the particle becomes.

I have always wanted to create a company based on the discovery of such "ingredients" that the professional could purchase at a reduced price, and make specific application of.  Such as the first product/ingredient that I discovered.  It is a plastic superabrasive made from grinding a certain waste plastic into a powder.  It is great for removing sticky stuff from factory metal alloy coatings on window glass.  We call these low e solar coats, or antireflective coatings used on the outer surface of solar panels.  When I turned this product out to some beta testers they came back with some interesting results.  They discovered it was very effective at removing bird crap from horizontal glass for water fed pole work.  Also it has the ability in certain situations for removing light scratches from the metal hard coats I just mentioned.  I am quite sure there are many other applications that window cleaners and janitorial companies will discover.  Since there are many other surfaces out there.

Most of these products will be ingredients.  You will likely not need much of any of them.  The powders will be measured in weight from a quarter pound up to a couple pounds.  The ready made compounds based on the nano and micron sized powder based compounds will be based on 3 gram to 20 gram syringes for easy use.  Whereas the chemicals will be from 4 ounces up to 32 ounces.

All of these products/ingredients will be explained in the blog.  The prices will be listed here. And you will order directly from me.  There will be no outside distributers.  No outside manufacturers of the compounds.  I will own all of the recipes.  Each will have a name.  The first one available right now has been available for awhile.  It has been tested.  And is a plastic superabrasive with a particle size of aproximately 70 microns.  Available in a 1/4 pound plastic bag for 20 USD and shipping.  Just send me an email if you would like to order some.

Written by Henry Grover Jr.

henrygrover222@gmail.com

Testing Glass With The Back of Your Fingernails

First of all soap and squeegee the window.  Then flip your hand over so the back of your fingernails are touching the glass,  Then lightly move your hand back and forth over the window.  You will be able to easily feel any and all raised inclusions.  Which window cleaners usually call glass fines.  These can be felt even beneath low e surfaces.  In fact it is sensitive enough to even feel thin soap films.  If you rub some soapy water on a small area of a window that has been squeegeed you will be able to feel the soap film. 

Simply put this technique is much more sensitive than a penny for detecting how smooth or rough a window surface is.  And you have your nails all the time.  Just flip your hand over and you can test any window.  Here is a very interesting discovery.  And I am sure you will discover more.  Some windows have rather large raised inclusions but are very smooth between them.  Then other windows are very rough but have no inclusions.  This is a great method too to couple with pure water or vapor to test for the use of acids that etch.  If there are any mineral deposits based on silicates or silica you will be able to feel these.  Even water with a TDS of 0 from a Water Fed Pole system can leave spots based on silica.  That can be seen in the direct sun, detected with fog, or felt with the back of your fingernails.

This is how you can prevent scratching windows and keep yourself from any lawsuits.

Written by Henry Grover

henrygrover222@gmail.com  

Diamonds are a Window Cleaners Best Friend!

Superabrasive diamond powders when used the right way can make us a heap of money.  When used the wrong way they can do absolutely nothing for us or create a very bad lawsuit!  Let me explain how this is true.

I have experimented with superabrasive diamonds in different ways over the last several decades and have discovered some rather fascinating results.  Which I expect will continue to grow over time.  Here in this post I will list just a few of them.

The first had to do with a bad white stain/deposit on plain clear window glass.  It was from a cleaning solution that could have been a mix of two different products.  One based on sodium metasilicate and the other sodium carbonate.  This is a very powerful combination of chemicals.  When trying to remove the stain with a cerium oxide slurry using a rotary polisher at about 1200 rpms I got no results at all.  I tried a microcrystalline silica compound.  Again no results.  Then I tried a superabrasive diamond compound with the polisher.  Yes the stain came off but this left scratches.  So it was unacceptable.  Next I tried the diamond compound by hand with paper towels.  No rotary polisher.  The stains were cleared.  No staining left.  Crystal clear.  No scratches.  And it even removed some of the scratches that were left from previous efforts.  This was a total win win.  It taught me that superabrasive diamond does have unique properties that can make money.  I made about 10,000 from this job.  BUT the diamond MUST be used with the correct technique.  Or else the results can be quite counterproductive.

Another interesting occasion was when I came across some dark tinted glass that was covered with some rather light hard water spots from the sprinkler systems.  No compounds would remove them.  There was a lot of square feet so this would have taken a rather long time even if I could have found one that worked.  Next up I experimented with a wheel that was used to polish granite table tops.  The disk was covered with little plastic drops.  Each was loaded with a superabrasive powder.  I spun it against the glass using a soapy water solution.  The plastic nubs did not dissolve releasing the superabrasive.  But within a minute all of the stains were gone. The problem was there were millions of extremely fine scratches that would need to be removed with a cerium slurry.  That would have added more time.  But considering this might have been the only technique that would have adequately cleared the windows to the satisfaction of the customer, it might have worked.  Even at a couple hundred dollars per window.  Depending on replacement cost.

Another time I decided to experiment with a felt pad on my "Wobble Wheel" and a diamond compound.  I wet the window with soapy water, applied several drops of compound to the felt pad, and went at it.  This technique completely removed all of the hard water spots in very little time.  The glass was totally clear.  The only problem was an extremely fine haze on the window which was only visible in the direct sun at the right angle.  So the overall results were not acceptable.

One other time I received a diamond based compound which was intended to be used by hand to remove stains.  I tried it on my pellet stove glass door.  No other compound worked on this.  I was working by hand, no machines.  The diamond compound took it all off in seconds.  Only problem was that it was based on a rather crude diamond powder.  So ir carried some particles that were much too large.  Which left some rather deep scratches.  When I tried the product on ordinary window glass I had the same results.

Now when using a ready made highly pure superabsrasive compound by hand on ordinary window glass I ended up with some very positive results.  It was able to quickly remove very light scratches, routine hard water spots, light vapor etching, blunt metal abrasions, and water run/drip marks.  It also is very efficient at converting phobic surfaces to phylic in preparation for hydrophobic coatings.  Which can be used for scratch protection.  So all together these compounds can be used for what I call "scratch maintenance" of storefront windows.  They are great to carry around with you in a 20 gram syringe in your front pocket.  You could make an extra 25 bucks in five minutes by just removing a single blemish that nothing else will remove.  Do that four times in a day and you will have made an extra hundred bux.

This one here looks like someone tried to remove a couple blobs of ketchup with a greeny scrub pad.  You can plainly see the linear scratches.  It would take some time by hand to remove.  But a cordless Dremel with a felt bob and the right diamond compound should take it off quick enough.  I would go for a hundred bux on this one.  It measured out at about three by three inches.  This type of scratch patch can be found in almost every restaurant.  The thing is they look like unsightly food stains!

Henry

henrygrover222@gmail.com

Creating A Product for Water Fed Pole Window Cleaning

The Holy Grail of WFP window cleaning has always been a product that would convert a glass surface from phobic to phylic in a single application.  Or at the most a double application where the first is used to "deep clean", and the second to apply a coating of silanol functionalyzed nanoparticles.  

Some window cleaners have used glass etchants such as hydrofluoric acid to deep clean glass.  Which is quite frightening if you know anything about the dangers of this acid.  But there are other chemicals such as dilute solutions of sodium hydroxide that will deep clean window glass making it hydrophylic.  As for coatings that use functionalyzed nanoparticles;...these are quite common.  Most of these are used to created hydrophobic (water hating) surfaces.  As for the use of silanol groups (which are quite hydrophylic) to functionalyze nanoparticles, this is also a rather common practice.  But it is currently used for a completely different application other than WFP window cleaning.

I write this only to demonstrate that the technology for creating such a product is well within our reach.  It is just that no manufacturer has done it yet.  So what about any of you manufacturers that are reading this blog.  I know you are out there.  I know you are reading what I write.  And I know you are watching my videos like the one I just posted from my Youtube account.  Which plainly shows how to convert glass from phobic to phylic.

Do you want to talk?

henrygrover222@gmail.com

Henry

How many of these 50 nanometer particles could you functionalyze and fit along the inside walls of a glass micropore which measured about 5 microns across?

Converting Glass To Water Loving For Water Fed Pole Work

Have you ever been able to snake off a window after wetting it with pure water?  I mean water with not even a drop of soap of any kind or chemical like TSP or sodium metasilicate.  Not even a little ammonia.  No GG3 or GG4.  Nothing but pure water.  Well I have!  When I wet the window the pure water completely sheeted over EVERY square inch of glass right to the edge. This is an absolute dream for window cleaners that use water fed poles.  But how do we CONVERT a glass surface to love water this much?  Convert it to what is called hydrophylic?

I will begin by explaining that ALL glass is naturally hydrophylic.  It is in fact very hydrophylic.  IF it is as clean as it can be!  Which most of the time it is not.  You see glass is mostly made up of silicon dioxide.  Which is somewhat polar.  Therefore it will attract water.  Further the surface of "clean" glass has silanol (SiOH) groups which are very water loving and attract water molecules.  So why is glass hydrophobic in the field?  Why does water bead up unevenly?

Because glass gets dirty on a molecular level.  It also collects soap residue, oily contaminants, and other residue.  Sorry to tell you but our methods don't really clean glass that well.  Also people are using all manor of coatings on glass.  Repcon was one of the very first hydrophobic coatings that came to market back in 1971.  Which then became Rain X.  Which then became the Invisible Shield.  There have been over a hundred different aftermarket hydrophobic products that have come to market between 1971 and 2025.  Currently we have aftermarket hydrophobic products based on functionalyzed ceramic nano particles. There are also hydrophobic coatings applied to float glass at the factory as it comes off the float bath.  It is fused to the glass surface.  

To convert a hydrophobic glass surface to hydrophylic we must completely remove all contaminants and coatings.  By doing this you will expose all of the surface silicon dioxide and silanol groups.  Personally I will go one step further and increase the roughness of the surface which increases the surface area for greater exposure.  So the glass acts like a sponge.  I do this by using a cerium oxide slurry.  The cerium should be as pure as possible so near white.  Also a particle around 2.5 to 3 microns is good.  This a "mechanical cleaning" or polishing technique.  The time needed for this is around thirty seconds per square foot.  So it is very time consuming.  The results however are unbelievable.  Other window cleaners have experimented with other mechanical techniques like using 0000 steel wool or ultra fine bronze wool.  Then there are some products that have come out based on nanoparticle slurries.  Or some people have turned to using glass etchants such as hydrofluoric acid or sulfuric acid.  As they clean with a water fed pole.  Using an etchant with a water fed pole is probably one of the most frightening things I can imagine.  So of course I would NEVER suggest doing it.  The only reason I mention it here is to advise AGAINST  using it.

The goal here is to find the most effective, completely safe, most quick ways to "deep clean" glass surfaces on a molecular level for the purpose of returning the glass to its original hydrophylic nature.  Here is a complete demonstration of a product that was developed to do precisely what I have been explaining in this post.  This product IS available.  There are others too.  In this video that I made I show not just how to deep clean in this case a mirror, but also how to snake off with ONLY pure water once the glass has been "converted" to a hydrophylic surface.  Also exactly what a true hydrophylic surface looks like when covered with totally pure water.  If this does not amaze you nothing will.  Watch it a few times.  Then send me an email and let me know what you think.

Henry

henrygrover222@gmail.com

Ricks Fight to Live

Rick is a good old friend who has worked hard to provide for his family all of his life.  He is now about 58 and just had a massive brain bleed.  The details are below on this link.  I wanted to help by posting the link on this blog and my FB page.  Of course I have also helped financially.

Rick and Lisa

Ricks Gofundme Page

Unlocking the Power of Organic Solvents

The true power of an organic solvent such as terpene, or napthalene lies in several different properties.  These are solvency power, water miscibility, slow evaporation rate, and low toxicity.

Solvency is simply to what degree the OS will dissolve or soften the deposit in question such as paint.  Different solvents are based on different chemistries.  This information is easily discovered.  But how powerful your chosen solvent will be at dissolving paint as an example can only be determined by experiment.  I remember one consulting job I was working on once.  Where I had to locate a chemical that would eat up a very strong epoxy paint.  The answer turned out to be a 50% water based solution of sodium carbonate.  NOT an organic solvent but a VERY powerful alkalie.  Also NOT a chemical you would want to get on your skin or in your eyes.  Just look up the msds on a 50% sodium carbonate solution.

Water miscibility is VERY important because it will make your product very easy to remove with an applicator, soapy water, and a squeegee.

Slow evaporation rate is critical because the longer you can leave the product on the window the better it will work.  Always remember however that powerful solvents have the ability to destroy plexiglass and polycarbonate plastic.  So keep them far away from vision plastics.  I have a video here that demonstrates the solvency power of a very good solvent with a very slow evaporation rate.  This video also shows how plastic which is stressed can be destroyed in short order.  Even by a simple solvent such as alcohol.

The Elevance 1200 product here is a VERY powerful solvent.  But it still took a good half hour soften the green paint.  Not even a sharp single edge razor would remove the paint which I applied extra thick with several layers.  This demonstrates exactly how practical products like this can be.  Especially if you are working on a metallic coating such as titanium oxide.  But again I encourage safety.  Because we still would need to test the solvent against the coating.  Then make sure you get your waiver signed.  Don't risk a lawsuit.  Such a thing could literally be sickening.  Even if you win.  Furthermore the customer must absolutely know that a painted pyrolytic or low e coated window has already been wasted.  Also whatever warranty it had is totally gone.  So if you were to perform a successful restoration on the building you would be saving the owner a ton of money.  You must also be very careful about doing harm to the seal of IG Units, and any metal framing around such units.  It should be put in writing that you will take special care to not let any solvents or chemicals come into contact with the window (IGU) seal.  Otherwise the window could fog up even a year later and you might be blamed for that!  So again I emphasize cover yourself.  Also charge a percentage of replacement cost for the job.  Do NOT charge too little.

Henry

henrygrover222@gmail.com

I HATE It When They Paint MY Windows!!!

 This is what I used to say before I discovered the perfect paint.  Now I look for ways to convince people they need to paint their windows.  Because when they do I will make money by selling them the paint, and scraping it off.  Which is really easy to do without creating a mess!  No mess because the paint does not break up into small pieces and blow away in the wind.  I just scrape it off SO easy and put it into a hand held large paint cup.  In fact with Glass Smart paint the images will not bubble up and end up looking really bad when it rains.  They will stay perfect looking even when I clean the windows with my wand and squeegee.  The chemistry of the paint is perfectly balanced.  No rain damage, easy to clean the window without damage, messless paint removal when needed, and a very smooth application.  Take a look at some videos and pictures I have taken.

These two pictures were taken of some paint work done by an artist NOT using a Glass Smart paint.  You can see how rain has seriously bubbled the image by softening and getting under the paint.  This type of paint will also break up into small pieces that cannot be controlled and make a big mess.  They have to be swept up with a broom and dustpan.  Another problem happens when the paint just dissolves with your solution turning your applicator whatever color the paint was.  It then gets all over the window sill and the sidewalk!  What a royal horrible mess.  I am SO annoyed by these painters!  But now I am actually looking for them to paint the windows on my little route.  Here is why.

These three videos show Glass Smart paint can be very easily scraped off in large sections using soapy water.  No choppy pieces.  And NO RUNNY paint.  The applicator/wand stays perfectly clean!  When peeled off by hand it can actually be stretched out.  I can scrape a five by five foot window in 1 to 2 minutes.  Also by charging ten bux per plate I can make well over 200 bux an hour for my time.  But I control the process because I can sell the Glass Smart paint to the artist who makes the application.  So I make money off the paint sales and the service of paint removal.  That is a big win win for me!

If you want to know more just send me an email.

Henry Grover Jr.

henrygrover222@gmail.com 

Why Glass is Like a Cake

Why Glass is Like a Cake-Understanding the science behind the surface--Glass Genius

Discover how float glass is made-and why every stage from glazier to restorer plays a part in keeping glass flawless.  Learn why glass is like a cake, and why respecting its surface matters.

To read the entire article just go to https://www.glassgenius.co.nz/why-glass-is-like-a-cake

Written by Nick Evans of Glass Genius

glassgenius.co.nz

The Absolute Best Aftermarket Hydrophobic Sealant

Repcon was likely the very first hydrophobic sealant for glass developed in 1971.  It was created specifically for aircraft.  Rain X came out the next year in 1972.  This was 54 years ago.  Since that time there have been many different chemistries that were developed to accomplish a similar effect.  It would not surprise me if there has not been well over a hundred different products put out on the open market.  Most of which have claimed to be the very best.  Many of these have been tested by accredited testing companies for things like hardness, rain repellancy, contact angle, scratch resistance, protection against hard water spots, longevity, ease of application, self assembling monolayer formation, and so on.  With all of this confusion I don't think anyone could ever know the real truth about which one is indeed the absolute best.  So I am not going to even attempt to answer that.  But I will do something much better.

We can set up our own tests to determine which product we want to use.  I have been doing this since 1985.  Along the way I have discovered some fascinating truths.  Which you can follow if you want to take the time.

The very first one that I would like to write about in this post is longevity.  Using what I call field application testing.  First find a single window that has full sun exposure.  Meaning every square inch has the same sun exposure for the entire day.  Then using a random oscillating polisher and a felt pad with some cerium, polish the window.  Do a full polish and clean.  Test to make sure pure water evenly sheets over the entire window.  Meaning it is completely hydrophylic (water loving).  Next apply the product you are testing to the entire window.  Then tape some cardboard to half of the window.  Give it a full month to bake in the sun.  Now remove the cardboard.  On a cool overcast day fog the entire window.  This can be done with an cold ultrasonic fogger.  Then take a handheld lighted microscope at 40X and look at the microdroplets on the fogged surface.  The product protected under the cardboard should nut have been affected by the UVC of the sunlight at all.  Those microdrops should be the same exact size they were a month ago.  But if the side that was exposed to the burning sun had been degraded then those microdrops will be larger.  The contact angle and hence the hydrophobic property will have changed.  It should be quite apparent.

Using microdrops and a handheld lighted microscope is actually one of the most basic and very simple ways for testing other interesting properties of hydrophobic sealants/products.  Solar UVC radiation is not the only means of hydrophobic degradation.  Another is concrete deposits.  As concrete cures it goes through a hightened pH at the glass concrete interface.  Which can go as high as 9.5.  At that number the sealant can completely break down leaving the phylic glass surface unprotected and exposed to attack by other construction chemistries.  Hard water drops can also accomplish the same effect as they increase their pH as they evaporate and leave behind hard water spots.  Using a light cerium oxide to remove secondary hard water spots will also degrade a phobic sealant/product.  It should also be true that certain chemicals could also degrade phobic sealants.  

But again the test is yours.  You can even compare different products one to another to another over time for other properties.  There really is no need to try to understand what certain test companies have discovered.  We are the scientists.  We are the technologists.  We are the window cleaners.  And it is our reputation that is on line.  We must stand behind our work.  Also we must demand top dollar for what we do.  That takes confidence.  Which also takes complete trust through private individual testing which we develop!

Written by Henry Grover Jr.

henrygrover222@gmail.com

Glass Smart Products for The Window Cleaning Professional

I will be writing more this winter about Glass Smart products which I will be selling directly and as an affiliate marketer.  These are products that will be used specifically for glass restoration, maintenance, and preservation/protection.  My hope is to develop and get out to the window cleaning industry as many different products as possible.  Also to make known and explain other products that are already on the market.  This is my third attempt at direct sales, and my first as an affiliate. 

There is a dire need within our industry for safe performance chemical and abrasive products.  Especially for coated glass.  I think this is partly because this type of product requires an understanding that is different from that of mechanical systems.  If you look at the mechanical tools we all use you will find most of them were directly developed by window cleaners.  Some people like Henry Unger developed large manufacturing businesses that have spanned the globe.  Whereas others designed products like the Super System, and then sold the patent to a manufacturer as Rod Woodward did to get the money to start the American Window Cleaner Newsletter.  Manufacturers have attempted to develop such chemical products over the decades but they have for the most part lacked an understanding of what they were creating.

In later years it seems that most of the new products we have were developed by window cleaners.  Especially the Water Fed Pole.  The name that comes to mind immediately is Phil Alexander.  He is an old guy like me, and a hard working window cleaner.  Having talked with him many times over the years I have gained much respect for his creativity.  He is the inventor and marketer of the Simpole. 

Of course there are many others which I will be mentioning in these posts.  I would really love to start a podcast on this subject alone.  My only concern is the time element.  Already I am maxed out.  Just writing this blog has taken much time.  But it has no scheduled timing, no deadlines.  Also I can write a four paragraph post like this one or a much longer one such as the last post I just wrote on the Ghost Particle.  So it works well with my lifestyle.  I think that is why I have been cleaning windows for 45 years!  But right now I really really must make a paradigm shift.

Henry

henrygrover222@gmail.com