It started back in 1981 when I returned from a working vacation in Greer South Carolina. Not wanting to deal with another NH winter I left to stay with a friend at the end of October. On arrival I dropped my old Charger at the local junk yard where my friend worked, bought a bicycle for the seven mile commute to work, and got a job at a cotton mill carting bobbin sleds back and forth for overweight women on piece work. When I returned in May I was in need of a job. An old friend of 70 years invited me to work for him cleaning windows. He taught me the trade and how to live. We always started work at the crack of dawn;...10 am. And worked late, quitting time was about 3. One hour lunch breaks lounging on private beaches. Boat rides to private islands. This was just the beginning.
My friend Noah Richardson died of a heart attack in his sleep at 72 leaving me to fare for myself. At 22 I took over his residential and commercial accounts, and began my own route twenty miles away. My own company was formed which I called Sunshine Window Cleaning. Five years later around 1987 I met my second mentor Ed Sullivan. He introduced me to the swirl and Sansco Window Cleaning concentrate. It took me some time to master. I remember actually dreaming about different maneuvers. This was something new and esoteric. I loved it. I didn't love the 27 degree ammonia we used to buy in 15 gallon black pails. One day I sniffed some by accident. Fifteen minutes of dance and I was as good as ever. I am surprised after that I still grew nose hairs later on in life.
The soap Sansco took on a mystique for me. I remember hearing the lore that it was based on silicone. So I called the manufacturer and badgered them to divulge the secret ingredient. I was not overjoyed when they absolutely and fervently denied that it had any silicone in it. This left me with only one alternative. Find a true silicone soap. So I did. Then added it to the Sansco so I could use it for advertising purposes. My slogan was my cleaner would not just clean but leave a super shine from the silicone. Sounds like my Soap N Seal product now. This is based on an organo-silane. The purpose being a hydrophobic rain repellancy, and an easy clean surface.
My next technical hurdle was understanding hard water spots and how to effectively remove them. This led me to the library and polishing powders and various compounds. I set up a lab in my kitchen and bought all kinds of acids, alkalies, and solvents. I had about 2,500 chemicals with an entire file full of MSD Sheets. And 3 fifty five gallon drums of 100% pure methanol on the back porch. This great learning almost drove me to madness. It did drive me to want to share what I was learning.
I remember walking the streets of Dover looking for the library there. Cuz I believed I would find a collection of phone books for many different cities in different states. From these I was going to get a list of window cleaning companies. Then I was going to start a newsletter. I ended up meeting Rich Fabry in California over the phone. He told me that he and Rod Woodward had started the American Window Cleaner (AWC) magazine by buying a mailing list. Then mailing the first issue with an offer for a subscription. The money they got for this came from selling the patent for the Super System to Ettore. Unfortunately several years later Rod died from complications from a transplant operation. Rich took over the mag and did really well with it. He always supported his past friend by mentioning him in the magazine as the founder.
I told Rich about my research and how I wanted to also begin a newsletter. Not a magazine. I didn't want advertisers. So that I could be very plain. And I wanted to write about technical subjects. So Rich made me an offer. Write for his publication. An article every issue six times a year. He would give me an ad at the end of the article in exchange. After a couple years writing for the AWC the IWCA discovered me and brought me to Texas and Florida to give seminars on Glass Stain Identification and Removal Techniques. My first newsletter was born. People started waking me up in the morning with phone calls from as far as Japan, Australia, and England. I started traveling for consulting jobs. I remember trips to Cincinnati, Canada, Florida, DC, Virginia, NYC, PA, Connecticut, MA, and my home state NH. Some buildings I looked at were the Met Art, Grande Hyatt, and WTC in NYC. Also the chiquita banana office high rise in Ohio. Many fascinating and enjoyable memories. I will never forget one warm summer day eating out at a pavilion in Virginia watching about fifty guys play kickball. So much of what I learned about stained windows and the problems that result from bad restoration techniques didn't come from books. I met with window cleaning companies that did the damage, companies that were looking to fix it, and lawyers who were called in to litigate. Most of all I got to see real problems up close and personal.
The newsletter I developed was called Technically Speaking Per se. Or TSP. Unger Enterprise bought a subscription. Henry Unger read the first issue on a plane trip to Germany. When he got back he gave me a call. I met him and his son Dane at the convention in Lubbock TX. One thing I wanted to show off then was a hard water spot remover I had developed in my kitchen. So I took about twenty guys outside in front of the motel and demonstrated. Dane was watching too. Immediately after they took me into a vacant room and made an offer. Ettore also wanted to work with me. I chose the company close to home. And so began a very enjoyable adventure with Henry and his family. His goal was to develop a signature line of products using my personal name. The only trade off was I had to end the newsletter. Simply because we couldn't market a product if the formula of such had been disclosed to even a very limited group of subscribers. So in search of the bigger buck I did this.
I can remember Henry inviting me to a small convention. To his personal home in CT. An inventors show. And pizza with all the employees at the factory. The hospitality of Henry and his family was much appreciated. It was a very enjoyable time in my life. Unfortunately after about a year Henry died and the contract was dissolved. His three sons were busy moving into other Countries. They had all they could do now just managing the business. This is what I figured. I had other interests too. In a couple years I was married in 1997. I moved out of my lab. The chemicals had to go. I had kids now. Too young to know that sulfuric acid will burn through your skin. It was necessary to refocus.
Rich had sold the mag at some time also. I drifted away from writing and was just busy with survival. Then about sixteen years later something happened. The internet had developed into something much larger. There were window cleaning forums now. After trying out a couple I discovered Chris and Alex Lambrinides. Chris just said;... write. No stipulations. Rich had told me start but you can't stop. So several years later here I am. Still writing in the WCR forum. Writing not for Chris and Alex, but for all of us. The net made it possible for me to connect with our community in ways that I never imagined possible. It also has made it possible for me to start a newsletter again. This time it is a purely electronic newsletter. It is created, marketed, sent, and sold electronically. The focus is on developing and testing new products. Much of this information is totally free on my blog and over the WCR forum in my posts. I am developing videos to demonstrate the products I am developing. Which is probably the most fun part of it. But the simple idea that I can use social media to market the information I am creating is the most amazing thing. Thirty years ago I bought a five hundred dollar typewriter to produce TSP. Then I had to print the pages and send them out by mail. I received payment by checks also sent by mail. That old typewriter went to the local dump. Now with my somewhat old computer I can do everything without any use of snail mail. I don't even have to travel to the bank. As long as I remain focused this will continue to work. I have an IPhone, a Mini IPad, and a desktop computer. Next I need to get another laptop computer for the road. I can record video on my phone, tablet, and digital camera. Then transfer the clips via WiFi to the computor. String them on my timeline where they can be edited, uploaded to You Tube, and published in the WCR Forum and my blog. Along with other digital social media. So much advancement in so little time. Relatively speaking!
Written by Henry Grover Jr.
henrygroverjr@gmail.com
Publishing The Product Development Review and Addendums
Just 35 dollars for each monthly issue of the PDR. Addendums are free for regular subscribers..
To automatically receive these posts in your inbox just type your address in the box at the top, "Follow by Email".
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Sealing Glass for EZ Clean Maintenance
I have a window cleaning route of about 200 commercial storefronts. They are cleaned weekly, twice a month, monthly, every other month, and quarterly. I have marketed glass sealant application to certain accounts with good success. That being how easy it made their routine cleaning of small mirrors. Like at a salon. I have about fifteen of these on my route. So this IS one of the benefits of applying a glass sealant. It makes it rather difficult for certain things to adsorb onto the glass surface. That is adsorb with a D not a B. This is the Wikipedias definition of the word,
Adsorption is the adhesion of atoms, ions, or molecules from a gas, liquid, or dissolved solid to a surface.[1] This process creates a film of the adsorbate on the surface of the adsorbent. This process differs from absorption, in which a fluid (the absorbate) is dissolved by or permeates a liquid or solid (the absorbent), respectively.[2] Adsorption is a surface-based process while absorption involves the whole volume of the material. The term sorption encompasses both processes, while desorption is the reverse of it. Adsorption is a surface phenomenon.
I will not necessarily apply a sealant to the inside of windows because it makes it very easy to see any film that develops on the inside. Such as smoke, or fryolater oil, or car exhaust. This effect becomes much more pronounced as the weather becomes colder. Such that there is a temperature differential between the outside air and the inside.
Another concern when applying a sealant to mirrors is they must be cleaned with pure water after. Such as with a microfiber cloth. If any type of detergent based cleaner such as Windex is used it will streak;...badly.
For the EZ clean effect I might offer to apply the sealant to the outside of windows. There are two concerns here. One is in the heat of the summer. Then the outside is warmer than the inside. And I have had difficulty with that filming effect I just spoke of. Mirrors do not experience this because they are always at the same temperature on both surfaces, front and back. You might test your sealant on a large spot in the middle of a window during the hottest month of the year with the AC blasting inside. If the EZ clean effect IS the reason you are applying the sealant, you will want one that is water based such that it can be applied with little to no extra time. This way too if it wears off in one to three months you can just up your window cleaning/maintenance cost say 20% and make more money. Now the application of the sealant becomes an integral part of your cleaning maintenance. And the employees MUST use microfiber towels to take off fingerprints in between your visits.
Another application of such an EZ Clean sealant/coating is Water Fed Pole (WFP) work. My Soap and Seal product is more of a Contact Angle adjustment for window glass. It is hydrophobic but not as much as Rain X or the Invisible Shield, or Aquapel, etc. The beauty of this is water tends more to "sheet off" the glass rather than "bead up". This means there will be less water drops on the glass to dry in the hot sun. So if there happens to be a certain amount of silica in the water that doesn't show on a TDS meter it will not be left behind. This problem is greatly reduced. The SS product is also water based. So you can apply it to the glass with an applicator then rinse it off immediately after. I will be doing some videos of this technique. My idea is to show the results we can get from a surface that has been "modified" by a sealant. Which make WFP work much easier and quicker. Cuz you see. The so called hydrophylic glass that guys say is so wonderful for WFP work is really not truly hydrophylic. It is indeed hydrophobic. But just enough to change the rinse properties of window glass.
The PDR on the new Soap and Seal water based glass coating will be out in July. Check out the first video I made of this product.
Written by Henry Grover Jr.
My newsletter The Product Development Review is available for 35 dollars a month. It is published electronically on a monthly basis. Just send me an email if you are interested. henrygroverjr@gmail.com
And if you want to recieve these free posts directly in your inbox just type your address in the box at the top right, "Follow by Email".
Adsorption is the adhesion of atoms, ions, or molecules from a gas, liquid, or dissolved solid to a surface.[1] This process creates a film of the adsorbate on the surface of the adsorbent. This process differs from absorption, in which a fluid (the absorbate) is dissolved by or permeates a liquid or solid (the absorbent), respectively.[2] Adsorption is a surface-based process while absorption involves the whole volume of the material. The term sorption encompasses both processes, while desorption is the reverse of it. Adsorption is a surface phenomenon.
I will not necessarily apply a sealant to the inside of windows because it makes it very easy to see any film that develops on the inside. Such as smoke, or fryolater oil, or car exhaust. This effect becomes much more pronounced as the weather becomes colder. Such that there is a temperature differential between the outside air and the inside.
Another concern when applying a sealant to mirrors is they must be cleaned with pure water after. Such as with a microfiber cloth. If any type of detergent based cleaner such as Windex is used it will streak;...badly.
For the EZ clean effect I might offer to apply the sealant to the outside of windows. There are two concerns here. One is in the heat of the summer. Then the outside is warmer than the inside. And I have had difficulty with that filming effect I just spoke of. Mirrors do not experience this because they are always at the same temperature on both surfaces, front and back. You might test your sealant on a large spot in the middle of a window during the hottest month of the year with the AC blasting inside. If the EZ clean effect IS the reason you are applying the sealant, you will want one that is water based such that it can be applied with little to no extra time. This way too if it wears off in one to three months you can just up your window cleaning/maintenance cost say 20% and make more money. Now the application of the sealant becomes an integral part of your cleaning maintenance. And the employees MUST use microfiber towels to take off fingerprints in between your visits.
Another application of such an EZ Clean sealant/coating is Water Fed Pole (WFP) work. My Soap and Seal product is more of a Contact Angle adjustment for window glass. It is hydrophobic but not as much as Rain X or the Invisible Shield, or Aquapel, etc. The beauty of this is water tends more to "sheet off" the glass rather than "bead up". This means there will be less water drops on the glass to dry in the hot sun. So if there happens to be a certain amount of silica in the water that doesn't show on a TDS meter it will not be left behind. This problem is greatly reduced. The SS product is also water based. So you can apply it to the glass with an applicator then rinse it off immediately after. I will be doing some videos of this technique. My idea is to show the results we can get from a surface that has been "modified" by a sealant. Which make WFP work much easier and quicker. Cuz you see. The so called hydrophylic glass that guys say is so wonderful for WFP work is really not truly hydrophylic. It is indeed hydrophobic. But just enough to change the rinse properties of window glass.
The PDR on the new Soap and Seal water based glass coating will be out in July. Check out the first video I made of this product.
Written by Henry Grover Jr.
My newsletter The Product Development Review is available for 35 dollars a month. It is published electronically on a monthly basis. Just send me an email if you are interested. henrygroverjr@gmail.com
And if you want to recieve these free posts directly in your inbox just type your address in the box at the top right, "Follow by Email".
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Making Soap and Seal
This is a very simple product to make. To begin I measure out the water by putting 95 tablespoons in a bowl. Then I put four tablespoons of the silane. This is the brown bottle with the blue strip in the video. Next I add a single tablespoon of Dawn. I am supposing you could add any window cleaning soap/product. Then I put the mix in a 16 ounce plastic bottle using a funnel. So it is essentially 95% water, 4% silane, and 1% Dawn. Very simple.
To apply just wet a dry applicator with Soap and Seal. Apply to a dry window. Then squeegee it off. It is possible to rinse it off too using a water fed pole. The new surface you create will be hydrophobic. But not as hydrophobic as Rain X or Aquapel. It is actually possible to coat treated glass with pure water. I used the window of my car to show this in the video. I sprayed the windshield with a garden hose using the soaker setting. After applying Soap and Seal to a circular area on the windshield. The water covered every square inch of the glass. But. When I broke the surface tension of the water that covered the area I had treated with Soap and Seal using my finger;...the water instantly broke away sheeting out to the edge of the circle.
I don't like the terms hydrophylic and hydrophobic. Rather I use the scientific term contact angle. Superhydrophobic is around a 150 degree CA. Superhydrophylic is down to a 30 degree CA. If my memory holds. What WFP guys want is a sealant that is actually right in the middle. Not one or the other. So that the rinse water will easily cover the glass but then "sheet off" instead of forming hundreds of very small beads/drops. This would help in preventing the deposit of silica water spots. Since we get spots from drops.
Written By Henry Grover Jr.
henrygroverjr@gmail.com
To receive these posts directly in your inbox just type your address in the box at the top right, "Follow by Email".
To apply just wet a dry applicator with Soap and Seal. Apply to a dry window. Then squeegee it off. It is possible to rinse it off too using a water fed pole. The new surface you create will be hydrophobic. But not as hydrophobic as Rain X or Aquapel. It is actually possible to coat treated glass with pure water. I used the window of my car to show this in the video. I sprayed the windshield with a garden hose using the soaker setting. After applying Soap and Seal to a circular area on the windshield. The water covered every square inch of the glass. But. When I broke the surface tension of the water that covered the area I had treated with Soap and Seal using my finger;...the water instantly broke away sheeting out to the edge of the circle.
I don't like the terms hydrophylic and hydrophobic. Rather I use the scientific term contact angle. Superhydrophobic is around a 150 degree CA. Superhydrophylic is down to a 30 degree CA. If my memory holds. What WFP guys want is a sealant that is actually right in the middle. Not one or the other. So that the rinse water will easily cover the glass but then "sheet off" instead of forming hundreds of very small beads/drops. This would help in preventing the deposit of silica water spots. Since we get spots from drops.
Written By Henry Grover Jr.
henrygroverjr@gmail.com
To receive these posts directly in your inbox just type your address in the box at the top right, "Follow by Email".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)