Vehicular Glass Maintenance

Auto glass is usually never maintained.  Consequently it becomes stained by mineral deposits.  These look very bad and impair vision.  The Envirosafe product is able to rub it off by hand with paper towels.  Or you can use small three inch soft wool pads with a rotary machine.  Slow is best.

Have you ever looked at a couch bus?  They are huge.  Half of the surface area is glass.  Further every bus that I have ever seen has hard water stains covering every square foot of glass.  This is usually from regular washing and rinsing with ground water that is loaded with minerals.  But all of this glass can be polished so it is crystal clear. There are few hard water spot removers that will remove average spots by hand without scratching, and without the use of acids or other unsafe chemicals.  You will know that all of the spots have been removed if you fog the glass with your breath.  The fog will form an even film of water.  Any left over minerals will show up in the fog.  Even "invisible" deposits will show up in the fog film.  I typically use this method to show silica deposits left by water fed pole window cleaning.  The TDS of the cleaning/rinse water might be zero but it could still have silica.

Boats, especially yachts, have bad spots from ocean water.  Which can be very difficult to remove.  Further subway trains will develop thick organic stains from atmospheric pollution.  But the Envirosafe Spot Remover will take this off too.  There are many different stains on vehicular glass that should be removed.

The Envirosafe product sells for 15.95 per bottle.  But you can check out their website and order direct.

WATERSPOT PRO

Sold By Envirosafe Inc.
61535 S Hwy 97 suite# 5-415
Bend, OR 97702

www.envirosafeinc.com
800-856-7233

Written by Henry Grover Jr.
henrygroverjr@gmail.com

         Envirosafe Waterspot Pro 

Exposing The Secrets of Hard Water Stain Removal

So many people think all they have to do is spend the money and buy a commercial system for doing this type of work and they will be all set.  After buying the system they just have to call the manufacturer if they have any questions and problem solved.  Well friends and readers this is simply not the case.  In fact and I mean this completely, there is absolutely no commercial system out there that you can buy that will adequately work on every job.  Some will even do worse damage.  I am talking here about polishing systems.  I will not even mention acid based products.  These annoy me to no end.

If you choose to buy a commercial system just know that you are also throwing money away.  The better way would be to link up with a professional who does this every day and work side by side with them.  Buy a polisher and a grinder, along with various pads, and mix up your own compounds.  But still know that every job is different.  Some will be like eating cake.  Others will be impossible without as Marc Tanner calls it, "cutting glass".  You will need as your first step a method for cutting through all of the stains and even some of the glass.  This first step must leave the window with an even white haze.  Which will during the second step come off with a cerium slurry or compound.  Such will remove the haze rather quickly compared to the first step of grinding.  But you must know that there is also the question of what type of surface you are working on.  If it is a low e metal then you will end up stripping it right off.  That is damage.  So use caution.  There are many complications when doing this work.

One complication has to do with surfaces.  The same exact atom for atom stain will come off a low e coating much easier that from a transparent glass surface.  But the same exact stain will also come off a transparent glass surface much much easier that a dark surface.  Where the window plate has been tinted all the way through.  This type of window can be virtually impossible to clear without cutting.  

Another complication results when you discover that someone has been there before you with an acid.  Especially a hydrofluoric acid.  Certain acids have the tendency of removing only some of the stains but leaving maybe 20 percent.  Which can still be seen.  Such acids also will eat into the glass making the surface like a "sponge" so it will soak up any new stains and hold onto them with incredible power and strength.  You will then need to cut the glass and polish with a cerium.

Now while the quality of the cerium is not extremely important, the type of superabrasive used for cutting is.  Don't get me wrong.  The quality of the cerium is important.  And I wrote a post about this which you should find very interesting.  But the cutter is really critical.  This is because it actually sets up the surface for the cerium.  This is a two step, maybe even a three step procedure.  With the first step being the most important.

Every job will be completely different from the job before.  In fact, and this is where it gets really wacky, the windows on the same building can be very different from other windows on the same building.  If for no other reason than who was on that building before you.  Because you have no idea who it was and what they did.  Most of the time no one is going to tell you too.  So once again use caution.  These are the things the manufacturers will not tell you.  They just don't know.  The glass restoration professionals out there like Marc Tanner do not use commercial hard water removal systems.  They have been there and did that and have moved on.  These are the people you need to communicate with.  I have talked with several.  Marc of course is King.

Now finally you absolutely need to seal off the new surface with a hydrophobic product when you are done.  Only for just two very big reasons.  First the window is now extremely susceptible to very difficult stains.  Second every square inch is also now very susceptible to scratches.  Using the product NG1010 from Nanovations USA takes care of both of these problems.  So again;...never perform any stain removal procedure without using NG1010.  Do it EVERY time!

Written by Henry Grover Jr.
henrygroverjr@gmail.com

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Windocoat Paint

Windocoat paint is a water based art paint that dries completely water proof.  It is a great splash paint for several different reasons.  First it takes longer to dry than acrylics.  This gives you more time to work with it.  You also get more depth because you can come back and apply more paint so as to vary the darkness or lightness of the color.  Once it dries it is completely waterproof so the window can be cleaned with soapy water and squeegeed without stripping the paint.  It can be used both outside and inside.  Its most amazing property is that it can be peeled off dry when it is time to remove from the glass.  This is really important because there is no sloppy mess at all.  Also windows these days (especially tempered glass) are very easy to scratch with razors.  Considering the cost of replacement you would definitely NOT want to scratch even just a few windows. I have done a two month experiment with the Windocoat paint on the inside of some windows that do see the sun.  Expecting the results would be as incredible as the video I did entitled Peal Paint.  Unfortunately I had to use a scraper to get it off.  And it was not easy since the paint did not soften with water.  My opinion is to first test it out on your window and for the amount of time you intend to leave it on for.  I do believe it is a good product.  But like any product it has limitations.  Here is the Peal Paint video that plainly demonstrates how fantastic the performance "can be"!

The business and art of painting storefront windows and car windshields (otherwise known as "Splash") for advertising purposes has been around for a very long time.  It definitely has evolved over the years.  But in recent times it has waned somewhat because of technology.  Vinyl cutting and computers have taken over so much.  However the versatility of temporary art and the rather low cost compared to computer work are both high incentives for the customer to adopt this older much more personal and specialized service.

Written by Henry Grover Jr.

henrygroverjr@gmail.com

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

Peel Paint can be applied directly to any window without any prior prep.  It goes on smooth and easy.  I have been working with the lab to develop the three primary colors including black and white.  So there will be five different "colors".  At the time of this writing I have red, blue, and yellow.

The coming videos will use local artists to demonstrate how Peel Paint is used.  Once applied it requires about 45 minutes above freezing temps to dry completely.  Otherwise it can be applied inside also.  It is resistant to the effects of water as demonstrated here.  The first showing of how it stands up to soapy water "froze" in the video so I showed this again.  But it is very compelling to watch.  There is absolutely no sign at all of dissolution of the paint in the water.  This is great for us because it allows us to clean the window after the artwork is done.  We can continue with the frequency of our window cleaning without any interference.  It doesn't matter if the paintwork is on the inside or the outside of the windows.

Another fantastic advantage of Peel Paint is as demonstrated here it is very easy to remove.  Just start it with a single edge razor blade then gently peel it right off.  It can then be thrown away dry.  No soapy wet mess.  Or paint flakes all over the place that must be vacuumed up. But as has been discussed in the above post you will want to test it on your window ahead of time.  Also test for the full amount of time that you will be leaving it on.  Simply because it can be very difficult to remove if too much time passes.  Requiring the aggressive use of a razor scraper.  I had this happen to me after leaving it on for only two months.  So again testing is critical.  Yes the video demonstrates how incredible the results can be.  But that paint was only one hour old.  

As the seasons change people always paint their storefront windows.  Which always creates a problem for us.  Now it doesn't have to be that way.  Just show them this video and get them to change their paint.  Another problem is For Sale signs that are painted on.  Usually sales only last for a week.  So Peal Paint might be best for that application.  Again you should always test it first.

Written by Henry Grover Jr.
henrygroverjr@gmail.com

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

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