Plastic Abrasives For Sale

 This is the very next step for IGSA.  The sale of specialty products for the safe maintenance, restoration, and preservation of different glazing surfaces.  There are many plastic abrasive products out there.  Which I have been working on over the last several years.  There is one in particular that I am offering to the window cleaning industry.  It is softer than glass and most coated glass surfaces.  The angular cut is very good for digging through silicone caulk and paint.  It can be blended with different organic solvents that help by chemically softening silicone.  It is available at 15 USD and shipped by USPS.  I will be doing several videos on what I am calling P-Polish 1, or PP1.  If you want to try this out just send me your email address since I bill by PayPal right now.  Also your mailing or shipping address.

There are many different abrasive products out there.  They are based on several different types of plastic.  The shape of the particles are different too.  Some are round and quite smooth.  Some are angular and course for cutting.  The different plastics are of different harnesses too.  Some are very hard, whereas others can be rather soft.  The greatest advantage of plastic over organics such as walnut shell or corncob is that they will not absorb water and certain other fluids.  Water will soften organics making them very ineffective.  So plastic is definitely the better choice.  It is softer than glass and so is much less likely to scratch the window.

Another interesting product is what is called synthetic steel wool.  It is made from plastic fibers instead of steel or bronze fibers.  So again it is less likely to scratch!  I would classify the green, red, white, brown, and other colored pads as synthetic wool.  They are all different because of the design of the filaments, the size of the filaments, the type of plastic used, and especially whether or not the plastic filaments have been "loaded" with various mineral abrasive particles such as silica, silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, and even diamond.  If these particles are too large then the pad will scratch the glass.  Further if you use a pad that has not been tested with a restoration product, and scratches result, you will have no idea what caused the scratches.  The loaded particles or the superabrasive particles in the commercial hard water spot removal product.

All this is really just a continuation of other articles in this blog.  The major difference is that I will be doing much more testing and making available special products/ingredients that you cannot get from any other source.  Since I will not be identifying such products if a manufacturer decided they would like to pickup any of these products to sell they will be able to.  Since they will be able to own what we have discovered.

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Written by Henry Grover Jr.

 henrygroverjr@gmail.com

    

Commercial Products Verses "Home Made" Products

 The very first failing some have identified with commercial products is bias.  Everyone that has a commercial product believes they have the best.  They also usually never see any direct or potential problems with their product.  The latter can be quite dangerous for the user.  Simply because such a product can easily cause harm to the glass or health issues.  Both could result in lawsuits that could cost the company tens of thousands of dollars.  I have run into both of these issues many many times.

Another glaring inadequacy is the matter of cost.  I do remember discussing this issue with manufacturers over the years.  Most window cleaners do know about the "formula".  That is all of the expenses to bring a product to market must be added up and multiplied by a factor of 4.5 to 6 to get to the end retail price.  So a product that cost 2 dollars to bring to market would cost the customer 12.  But if you could get that product for 1.50 you would save a lot!  This is why I am always looking at material safety data sheets under ingredients.  It is also why manufacturers try very hard to cover up this information.  Water is the greatest "filler" and way of hiding the main ingredient.  If the product can be made at 99 percent water, then the main ingredient does not have to be listed by law.  It can rather be explained as a proprietary ingredient.  I have seen this many times.  Laws are being passed now to make MSDS's much more transparent.  Which does make it much more difficult for manufacturers of chemical based products.

Don't get me wrong however.  If it were not for manufacturers we wouldn't have most of the products that we do.  Never underestimate the power of greed!  So many times I have located via the MSDS the key ingredients of certain products but could not source them.  Simply because the chemical was so rare that the companies that sold it would ONLY SELL quantities that were way too large for anyone to buy.  Lets say you only needed a quart a week.  But the company "needed" to ONLY sell four 55 gallon drums at a time.  It then becomes unavailable.  That same company might sell to another that sells to smaller companies.  But such smaller amounts might still be way too much.  Also the cost in these smaller amounts might be SO extreme that it cannot compete with any other chemical or product out there.  So again it is not available.  This is a VERY large problem when trying to source specialty chemicals of even powders.  So the manufacturer steps up and purchases the greater quantity to get the price down.  Knowing they will be selling to thousands and thousands of very small companies through their very large distribution networks.  Some companies have worldwide networks.  They buy the chemical, bottle and label it, then send it out.  It is also insured.  Plus they must write up an MSDS for it to comply with OSHA law.  And more.  So YES we do need manufacturers!

This is a very complicated problem.  Added to it is the further concern that manufacturers have of other manufacturers discovering their "formula" and "stealing" it.  Such companies will come up with their own product based on this formula, cut their cost somewhat, and sell it at that reduced cost.  But only for a short time until they can bring you over to their side.  Then they will jack the price until it is way over the original number.  Tricky yes.  But it does work!

When I discover a particular product and tell everyone what that ingredient is and where we can all get it, I actually take this away from the manufacturers.  Because none of them will be able to own a product based on that ingredient.  They cannot keeep the formula secrete so they cannot own it.  They will not put out the money or spend the time on such a product.  This is something I absolutely MUST consider when I do my research in developing products.  If I start bringing you a certain product at a cost, and do not tell you what exactly it is and where I got it, just know that I am protecting it FOR YOU.  At a future time a manufacturer might pick it up and begin selling it at a reasonable price.  But if they cannot own it they will not even want to touch it!

So many angles, so many problems, and so much greed.  The bottom line is that product development and manufacturing is not simple.  It takes much hard work.  Further those who are in this business deserve what they get for their efforts.  I certainly don't work for nothing;...do you?!

Written by Henry Grover Jr.

henrygroverjr@gmail.com

 

Product Development and Availability

     Products are really the key to accomplishing non-routine window cleaning.  Whether that be stain removal, scratch removal, or concrete, silane, silicone, paint, or wood stain removal.  Especially if we are working with a coated surface.  They are products already available on the open commercial market that need to be explored for different applications.  So they need to be further "developed".  These products I definitely need to look at for this purpose.  I will be writing about these different applications and endorsing such products.  A case in point is Water Spot Pro by EnviroSafe.  Mike created this product for removing hard water spots from glass.  But did you know that it is also a safe product for most coated surfaces if used correctly?  It is an excellent product for converting phobic glass to phylic too.

There are other products available that are not too well known.  These need to be discovered, tested, and revealed.  Then there are others that are pure ingredients whether these be powders or chemicals.  But they are very difficult to get.  The manufacturers sell them in lots of ten 55 gallon drums at a time to sales companies that only sell one drum.  So if a window cleaner only needs a gallon how does he get it.  My plan is to find a way to make these available at a reasonable cost.  

Products need to be tested against other products to see which ones are best.  Two other considerations must be longevity and cost.

Henry Grover Jr.

henrygroverjr@gmail.com