
Is all Science Conclusive?
While I am in favor of the IWCA and its Glass Committee doing glass research I do find some of its science and conclusions drawn to be premature at times.
While I am in favor of the IWCA and its Glass Committee doing glass research I do find some of its science and conclusions drawn to be premature at times.
Jeff Klass co chairman of the IWCA Glass Committee was quoted at this years 2019 IWCA Convention as saying- “Safety saves lives Glass Research saves livelihoods”. That’s such a true statement. The issue of glass damage and window cleaners being blamed for it, can have very serious consequences on the bottom line of a business.
When contracting to clean glass a contractor must understand the type of cleaning that they will be performing in order to protect themselves from liability.
SACs are Polishing Compounds which are based on a homogenous mixture of certain super-abrasive dry powders and a thick liquid carrier...
Whereas soft coats are applied after the glass comes off the ribbon and has attained room temperature. Soft coats are created "offline" in a vacuum. Hard coats were historically first, and are still more durable then soft coats. Although the latter is much less soft these days, the name has stuck. Many different formulas have recently been used.
What are coatings made of?
If we look closer at coated glass we learn that it is a rather finely tuned masterpiece of metallic compounds. Which are sprayed on when the glass is moving down the bath of molten tin, or evaporated on in a vacuum.
The IWCA Glass Committee has taken on a new project for 2018 called “Window Cleaner Chronicles”. It will be a complete database of glass related surface defects and contaminants that window cleaners see in the field, complete with photos, and a brief description of the field observation. The list of field observations however is not brief. Here is a list the members of the committee has gathered so far.
It is a familiar scene to window cleaners everywhere. After receiving a request for a post construction window cleaning job and visiting the job site, it becomes quickly apparent that the glass surfaces were never protected by neither the window installer, the general contractor or the various trades working adjacent to glass surfaces.
Through the years the IWCA and the Glass Committee have been very dedicated in their pioneering efforts to educate and support our Window Cleaning Community/Industry. The benefits of membership include the immediate benefits of the practical information uncovered by true scientific research.
The IWCA and the Glass Committee have learned from the studies done by Penn State that the surface of window glass is very different from other glass. This matters to us as Window Cleaners because as it turns out window glass surfaces are much more prone to mechano-chemical wear.
An Update on IWCA/Glass Committee Funded Research Conducted by Penn State University
Have you ever cleaned a window and then lightly ran a dry fingertip across the dry clean glass? If you make a practice of doing this in public you will definitely get attention. But you will also learn something. You will discover how the surface of even brand new glass can be quite different from one window to the next.