3 to 6 parts by volume Glassite 497A microcrystalline silica powder
1 part pure glycerin
Here is a video showing how to make it. In this video I used 3 parts powder to 1 part glycerin.
I started buying the Glassite 497A from Universal Photonics years back but they recently stopped carrying it based on advice from their lawyers. There is too much of a liability with powdered silica products. It can do lung damage. This is why it is important to put it in water or especially an oil, or better yet glycerin. Anyway Even DAC doesn’t have it in the States and refuses to sample me with their replacement so I am going to go back to Unimin. I did a series of experiments with their products once and discovered a comparable replacement for Glassite. Probably at a lot less money. But if you are a really large window cleaning company that covers many States and is currently bidding on several restoration jobs you might be interested in this kind of knowledge. Otherwise it shouldn’t matter too much. I am talking about cost not quality.
While the video and source link are great, there is no price for the silica. I even put one in the cart and no price was listed. It also did not list how much you would be getting.
Maybe this is the norm for companies like this that you are buying base products to make a “product”, but I don’t like not knowing those things.
I did the same thing before posting the link. I put one in the cart and looked for a number/price. And was very aggravated that I didn’t see one. Will have to call them and see why they think this is the better thing to do. I know Universal Photonics was charging about 14 bux per pound for the Glassite. I am wondering what Dac wants. It is not the norm with the companies I have been working with. Some of them like Siltech have been more then nice and upfront with everything. I spent 45 minutes with one of their top chemists the other day on the phone. Only a few companies have been difficult. There is one right now that even had a couple of adds in the AWC but pulled out a year ago. They have been very difficult. It makes me think they don’t want to make any money. So I completely share your sentiments. I am planning to go to a show down in Boston at the end of January where they will be showing and go face to face with them.
Please know I am working at this for all of us. And I can tell you straight up there are other silica products out there like those from Unimin. https://unimin.com/ So if Dac doesn’t want to work with us then WE throw them to the side and find a company that does want to work with us. Usually they tend to be smaller companies. Not always but usually.
IMO, part of the issue we as “small fish” are going to run into, is purchase quantity. I, and most like me, would want a pound or two of the silica, not a pallet or drum of it, like a manufacture would want.
I’m sure I will find the same thing for masking scents for power washing. I don’t want drums/pails. I only want to stock a gallon or two. I don’t have a warehouse to store stuff.
No. And you also of course don’t need to buy a ten year supply of some ingredient. This is the big reason why manufacturers make out. The entire chemical/materials sales industry is based on this structure. Everything is geared toward product development and sales through a distribution network. Then everyone gets a piece of it all down the line to the end user. One way to get around this is to find a company that buys from the bigger company which will sell to us in much smaller quantities. I have located a company that will do this with my PVA powder. The only problem is they want ten times the price per pound. Which annoys me. It is all about how much money they think they can make. Another way I get around this is to look for products off the store shelf. If they are based on that precise ingredient that I am looking for and I can buy a quart;…I do. So I might have to do this for my slow release coating. Because PVA is a very common chemical. It helps to know how to learn how to source these chems in the retail marketplace. Which I have become very good at. Of course some of them I cannot do this with. So my hope is that some manufacturer will pick up on one of these custom products and bring it to market for us. That is if the product is valuable enough. But if they can’t make a ton of money off it they won’t.
Keep on talking straight with me. This is how we make progress.
There you go. Another part of the problem becomes expense. Yes, it’s true that these companies that break something into smaller quantizes, sometimes increase the price astronomically. Sure, it would be nice IF someone just made the things we want, that you are developing. But then, who’s to say price is reasonable after the fact?
Your slip chemical you talked about in another thread sounds promising. Your skrub sounds promising. Your polishing wheels sound promising. All things I believe I could put to use and make money with, provided I don’t have a lot of time and money wrapped into them.
I have tried to source some chems locally. SH, Sodium percarbonate. and oxalic acid. Our local pool place buys it from a company in a large city an hour away. The local pool place only sells 12.5 SH in 3 gallon jugs, at 4+ bucks a gallon, plus deposit on the jug. You think after searching for a week, I could find ANY company locally, that supplies any of the chems I was looking for? Nope!
I found Oxalic acid in a 55 pound bag, delivered on the net for… $200…
So, what little I have tried dealing with chem suppliers, has been NON positive. If I was a manufacter of stuff, I’m sure they’d be beating down my door to sell me supplies. But as a “small fish” and not having an unlimited amount of time to be jacking around sourcing stuff, my time is wasted in vein.
Yep. I agree. Chem suppliers have an arrogance we just can’t break through. On occasion however we do find companies like Bulk Apothecary. I will do some looking for oxalic for you. First I need to research that chem. To know who uses it. Methanol is a good example. This is also used as a fuel by racers. So I located a local race mechanic that buys ten 55 gallon drums at a time and will sell me five gallons. Usually there are several different people that buy the same chem. I am sure this is true for oxalic acid. Don’t give up hope! I know you are disturbed by it all. Me too.
I have one in my ebay watch list of 20#'s of oxalic for 48 dollars delivered. So that one isn’t a real deal. I would rather buy a 50# bag of it, and save some money. But to ship a 50# bag UPS, costs extra since it’s 50 pounds and over. No one local to buy a bag from, that I have found.
I would tell them to knock off a pound. The reduction in shipping would probably be greater than your loss of money from losing a pound of acid. Just a thought.
The few places online selling in a 50# bag, likely aren’t going to open the bag and take out a pound. They are selling something they bought by the pallet, not something bulk they bagged.
