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It’s amazing. There actually is a way to clean tile and grout with out breaking your back scrubbing on your hands and knees.

Warning! The information I’m giving here is meant to be used on man-made tile only. Please do not use the process on Natural Stone.

The first secret is in the process. Most professionals, probably 85% or more, don’t clean tile and grout the proper way. That means they don’t get the results they should get. Most professionals buy cheap chemicals and expect their high dollar equipment to do all the work for them. The truth is that results are not in the equipment. True genius lies in the details, even when it comes to cleaning floors.

The Process:
If you’ve ever had your tile professionally, did they do all these steps? Probably not.

1) Apply Step One Cleaner (an Alkyline) liberally to the grout lines. Every cleaner has a “dwell time” this is the minimum amount of time the cleaner is formulated to need to do its job properly. Most will require at least 5 minutes. Apply enough of the cleaner that it won’t dry before you get to rinse. If you have a large area, I would suggest doing about 8 to 10 sq ft at a time.

2) Using your long handle grout brush, scrub the Step One solution in to the grout lines. The harder and more aggressive you scrub the better results you will get.

3) Using clean water, rinse step 1 solution off the tile and grout. Then towel dry.

Most of your floor will be now be clean. There may be random places that are not as clean as the rest. Generally these will be high traffic lanes and probably the kitchen. You will proceed to step 4 only for these random dirty places. Step 4 is not meant for all areas of grout, just the one’s the alkyline didn’t clean.

4) Acid Wash. This is not to be used on Natural Stone. Also be careful not to get the acid on other surfaces. It will damage natural stone and metal and stainless surfaces. So, cover your stainless appliances! If you do happen to get acid on something by accident, it’s ok. Just rinse the surface then wipe it down with a rag that has the diluted alkyline cleaner on it. Acid and Alkyline are exact opposites on the acid and base scale, so the alkyline will neutralize the acid immediately.

So, same as step 1, apply the properly diluted acid wash to the dirty areas of the grout. Again, just do one small area at a time. Leave the solution down for about 5 minutes. If you’re using a good acid wash you will notice the acid bubbling as soon as it comes in contact with the soil in the grout. Don’t let it dry!

5) Using your long handle grout brush, agitate the acid in to the grout lines. Rinse the brush first. You don’t want the left over alkyline on the brush to neutralize the acid to soon. You should see results as you scrub.

6) Rinse with fresh, clean water. I actually pour a little of the alkyline concentrate in the fresh water for the acid rinse. This helps with the neutralization of the acid.

7) Neutralize Acid. Using your step 1 Alkyline cleaner, spray the areas you just cleaned with the acid. Quickly agitate it in to the grout lines to get the acid residue deep down, and then just rinse with fresh water.

Towel Dry and Inspect. Your grout should be completely clean. Depending on how dirty it was to begin with, it may even be a different color!

9) Now, using a Quality solvent based sealer, protect your grout lines and they’ll stay clean for years. not months.

Now you know the process that IICRC teaches in its Certification Classes. What’s really sad is that even most of the Firms that are IICRC Certified don’t do the job the right way.

The next secret is finding the right chemicals to use that will require the least amount of agitation.

At home or at the office, there might be instances when you may need to drill glass. You know how brittle glass can be. That is why there is a need to specially and specifically be careful and light-handed when drilling through glass. You may be unfortunate and unlucky enough to incur cracks or worse, ruin and break the entire glass structure.

When the glass has a thickness that is hard to cut through, you may also find it hard to drill glass. That is why you need to know and practice several specific and recommended techniques in drilling. There may be other techniques around, but so far, the following procedures are considered the most useful and reliable. Here are the recommended steps for you to drill glass effectively and ideally.

Choose a glass sheet that will be most suitable and fit for your purpose. You should at the same time consider and take note of the size and the thickness of the glass sheet to be used. It is important to remember not to select safety or tempered glass as drilling and cutting through it may be significantly harder. Also, tempered and safety glass should be only drilled by seasoned and expert craftsmen who may have the necessary and costly equipment.

It is time you invest in glass drill bits. This equipment can serve as potent tools in creating holes and drills in glass. Buy glass bits available through the local home keeping shops or centers. Hardware stores may also sell them. Glass drill bits are made with spade shaped points that are made of no other than tungsten carbide, or they may be diamond coated core drill bits, adapted to glass drilling purposes.

Drill glass only with such drill bits, which could withstand the friction produced by the drilling process.

Before you drill glass, you should cut the glass sheet to the size needed for your particular project. You may also have the glass sheet cut and the edges finished or beveled right from the shop where you bought it. Some glass shops and hardware stores offer free or low cost glass cutting and resizing initiatives based on the request and requirements of clients.

Before you drill glass, plan out well where you will put the holes. In doing so, remember that it is not advisable to drill glass near its corners and edges. The ideal distance any hole should be from the edge is about of an inch. If you can drill the holes farther from the edge than that, it will be better and safer.

During the process when you drill glass, put it in a secured and flattened surface where it could be completely and properly supported. You could also put the glass for drilling on top of a rubber pad or some other cushioning, yet firm material. However, make sure the glass is put on a flat and supported material, which can actually be anything to your comfort.

As you drill glass using drill bits, control the speed at variable. Doing so could help maintain the tightness of the motor run. Start using a small drill bit and drill slowly. The application of constant pressure as you push when you drill glass should be maintained.

When the drill is already near reaching the opposite side, reverse the glass sheet. Drill glass at the back and meet the hole you already make. This is a better technique to prevent chipping, spalling and cracking.

As you drill glass and aim to make holes with different sizes, drill holes of the same size first before proceeding to drilling the next hole size.

There is a selection of alternative green energy systems available. Each are deemed renewable and can produce electricity. However, they are not all equal in their impact on the environment. Some are considered more sustainable than others. Commentators have divided the various options into two types. Solar energy, wind energy and hydro energy form one group while so called earthly sources like biofuels and geothermal energy, constitute the second group.

The alternative green energy that uses windmill technology is called wind power. The force of the wind against the blades of a mill is powerful enough to turn electricity turbines. Windmills do have the disadvantage of being unsightly when they are sited with enough density across open terrain. People living close to them have also complained of their noise. Despite these drawbacks, wind power is still classified as a very efficient green energy.

Solar energy is a popular alternative green energy system. The energy of the sun could potentially be harnessed to power every home on the planet. Solar power is used to heat water that is fed into pipes for heating and hot water supply. Solar heated water can be transformed into hydrogen gas which is used for driving turbines. Solar energy can also be converted into direct electricity with photovoltaic solar panels. It is often argued that the production of solar cells is expensive and creates its own environmental problems.

Hydroelectric power is the alternative energy system that has seen the greatest degree of implementation worldwide. This is because it is relatively cheap to install and many countries have the resources needed to operate it. Energy is generated through the action of moving water through turbines. The main criticisms of hydro power are that the dams necessary to create them often disrupt natural waterways and fertile lands are often flooded to create the lakes required to implement this technology, thus displacing local people.

Deep below the earths surface molten rock known as plasma. This plasma heats all rock close to it to tremendously high temperatures. The alternative green energy solution that taps into this heat source is geothermal power. By drilling bore holes up to 3 miles deep, it is possible to send water down to make contact with these sizzling temperatures. Water is forced back up through a second bore hole. As soon as it makes contact with the air it is vaporized into steam jets that drive generating turbines.

Power plants can be operated using the steam generated by geothermal power, Geothermal power is an alternative green energy solution that is yet to see widespread implementation. This is because of the extremely high costs associated with drilling water holes. Further, it remains unclear what implications exist for causing earthquakes by geothermal power drilling.

Oil rich plants like rapeseed can be processed into diesel for powering engines. Likewise, plants with a high sugar content such as sugar cane can be distilled into ethanol to run cars. The alternative green energy that makes use of such fuels is called biofuel. Although biofuels are completely renewable they have come under heavy criticism because of the amount of agricultural land that is needed to grow them. Critics further argue that biofuels still produce levels of carbon emissions associated with global warming. However, supporters of biofuels claim that biofuels are carbon neutral because growing crops generate carbon and at the same time, consume carbon dioxide.