Hi there - I know that this has been covered before, and I’ve been dealing with stains using Safe Restore which is great, but is somewhat pricey and not locally available for me, and smells terrible, which doesn’t work well when your scenario is a shower door on a master suite for example.
I was thinking cerium oxide, have used it before with success, but takes a lot of elbow grease and after I’m done I feel like my shoulders don’t belong to me anymore and considering the time and effort involved I price this kinda job on the high side and find my self closing only a small % of those jobs.
Finally, my question :
How do you go to add a mechanical device ( drill in my case) to speed up the process ? What attachments would you use/recommend ?? where to get them ? And, ohhh … without spending a lot.
d water stain remover or the stuff in the yellow bottle(forgot the name right now). This works great for me…but not sure how many windows you are talking about…if you have a lot this could be a workout too.
What about drill attachments to speed up the process ?
What do you use ? Where do you get it ?
Drill, buffer, sander, polisher, orbital or what ?
I do have a drill and a sander that I’d like to start using with the proper backing plates and applicators, but I’m looking for suggestions based on experiences, to risky to go “experimenting” around until you get the results you want.
You’ll need a buffing (felt pad) wheel that attaches to your drill to use with the Cerium oxide. You can get a buffing wheel at J **********'s for about $45.00
I bought a bottle of Glasstastick at the trade show and it worked really well on a shower enclosure at one of my customer’s homes. I didn’t have time to do the shower enclosure so I demonstrated it for the lady and let her use the Glasstastick and white pad to do it herself. It worked like a charm.
I think Glasstastick is much better than Bio-Clean.
Since you already mentioned J ********** I was looking through their 2009 catalog and saw several products for stain removal and for sealing/protecting too. I’m not doing any of this things right now and fell like I’m leaving money on the table when I’m done with the windows. I’ve done a couple of shower doors, but my arms hated me the next day, so there’s my need to get a mechanical device and a better system down to improve time and effort involved, hence lowering the price to making more appealing to the homeowner.
Field’s scale remover ? anyone got some more info on that product ?
Felt pad for $45 … maybe. What about some white scrubber pads for the drill ?
I have access to carpet cleaning/janitorial supplies and was thinking the other day if a white pad for floor buffing will work for this … anyone ?
I’ve used the Spot-X and it works fairly well, too me is not too much different to the rest of the powder products. But again, if done by hand is really hard on your arms and on your customer’s pocket (if they decide to do it)
One thing I found out the hard way (about shower enclosures) is that you need to test the stains and see how easily they come off and with which method or chemical before you give the customer a price. It may even be best to charge by the hour so you will be paid for your time.
Sometimes the stains come right off and sometimes it’s a much more involved and time consuming process.
Do yourself a favor and always test the stains first before quoting a price.
I did and will keep doing it, but I disguise that test by telling them that I want to show them what is the best I can do and if they like the test spot, we have a deal.
Kepp looking for information about drill sander or buffer suitable for this kind of job.
In the past, I have purchased directly from Dan (manufactured for him by his cousin (?), who owns a nearby chemical company.) He may have decided to only market it through JRC, due his CCU business has taken a sharp downturn.
This is used to remove construction debris such a stucco and mortar – it releases the bond that holds the sand and allows for responsible razoring. Use with a hogshair brush to avoid scratching the glass prior to final cleaning.
I prefer SafeRestore to this product for HW stain removal, but sometimes one product (or combination or products [always rinse well between]) works better and who knows why. I’ve also use tile-specific HW stain removal chemicals, for example.
I have been looking for some answers to this question as well, I have tried some of the brand name products out there for window cleaners but it consisted of a lot of scrubing, my arms were dead afterwards.
I need something you can wipe on, let it sit and wipe it off. I did some looking online and I see people recomending Oven Top Cleaner for glass top stoves. I also saw mentioned using pure vinegar. Some others include a product called Bring-It-On and Safe Restore, and some Boat cleaning product called Hot Sauce. I have never heard of those before. And lastly Lime Away.
I went to a house where a lady had hard water on her window and she had used the Lime Away on part of the window and it looked like it was taking it off pretty good, but then I hear others saying that it can etch the glass.
Does anyone have any input on any of these products.
Hey Carlos, I personally do not go very far with glass restoration yet but have been poking around and learning more and more. Probably the biggest factor that I have come to learn about glass restoration is to first get educated on what type of stain or corrosion you are dealing with. Kim Little talked about it at the MWCoA Seminar and I’ve seen Dan Field’s video on glass restoration and have seen it talked about a thousand times on forums. I think learning to gauge what is causing the stain will allow you to know what type of stain thus the proper method to remove it if possible. I’d get real up to snuff before I started to break out power tools on someone’s expensive shower glass.
I use Safe Restore, Sorbo Powder and a few other remedies and I never make promises to my customers when it comes to restoring glass. Often I end up making it look good, I just think it wise to not get the hopes in the event nothing can be done. There is a guy on AUWC Dave that uses power tools with glass stains all the time. Perhaps you could have some dialogue via e-mail with him.
You need to know what you’re gonna be fighting, then pick your weapon.
I worked for a glass shop for almost 2 years as a helper and we dealt with scratch removal sometimes, but kinda ghetto if I’m allowed that expression. Didn’t learn a lot and that was one of the reasons why I left, and I’d never have imagined that I was going to end up cleaning windows
You’re dead on about setting expectations, that’s step #1.
I’ll be investing on some of Dan’s DVD’s as soon as soon as I get back on my feet, training and marketing you cannot go wrong with those.
I’d love to hear some more about the pad and sander.
Did started a thread asking about the proper equipment for it but didn’t have much luck.
I’m planning on using cerium oxide basically since I know it works, but using just elbow grease is not profitable.
Gbrad if you don’t mind sharing about what will be the basic equipment and links and brands will be appreciated.
and considering the time and effort involved I price this kinda job on the high side and find my self closing only a small % of those jobs.
