The Future of Stain Removal

The key to winning a 50,000 dollar stain removal contract lies in being able to guarantee the results for at least five years or more!  And the only way this can be done is to apply a glass sealant (after removing the stains) that is very resistant to alkali attack.  Then you must also have the means to very quickly remove any newly formed hard water spots as you routinely clean the windows. But without removing or damaging the sealant.  Even replenishing the sealant as you clean.  So that your routine cleaning becomes a three step stain removal, replenishing, and cleaning procedure.  All performed simultaneously.  This must be done as close to the original routine cleaning price as possible.  But the most important consideration is that you will have the everlasting solution to the problem.  This will help to ensure that you keep the contract.

The first step requires locating an alkali resistant sealant.  You can chose a hydrophobic or hydrophylic treatment.  The very nature of hydrophobic sealants presents a problem in that they create water drops.  Drops leave spots.  Which are concentrated mineral deposits.  As each new drop forms on top of old spots, the pH of the evaporating drop continues to increase with each rain or sprinkler cycle.  Ultimately as the spots age they can potentially eat into the sealant and lock onto the silicon dioxide surface.  Logically then the better choice would be a hydrophylic sealant.  Or at least one with a much lower contact angle such that rain will sheet off instead of forming tight drops.  It would be best too if such a hydrophylic coating/sealant were also very resistant to alkali attack.

Removing newly formed mineral deposits from such a surface without doing damage to that surface is possible using a compositional scrub.  That is abrasives that are soft enough to not remove the hydrophylic coating but aggresive enough to remove any mineral deposits which have formed on top of that coating.  I discovered very early on that it is possible to use four zero steel wool to remove newly formed aluminum screen burn on a Rain X surface without doing harm to this hydrophobic sealant.  In fact as you start to scrub your cleaning water will begin to bead as you break through the new stains. Revealing the hydrophobic polymer underneath those stains.  Which has not been damaged by time or your scrubbing technique.

It should be possible to periodically restore, treat, and clean by applying the fluid/chemical with a compositional scrub based applicator. Then wipe dry using a squeegee.  Periodically you can check the surface by hitting it with a small stream of pure water.  It should sheet off leaving very clean glass. Good for a Water Fed Pole maintenance. 

At the time of this writing most of this information is quite theoretical, experimental, and controversial.  But it seams to me to be the most logical course to take to solve stained window problems.  I am in discussion with various companies and chemists that specialize in this technology.  So we will see what the Future holds.  This is one for you Perry!

Written by Henry Grover Jr.
henrygroverjr@gmail.com

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