Fight stains, the right way
Jagvir Goyal
Every house builder wants to prolong the new look of his newly built house for as long as he can. Newly built houses however begin to lose their new look soon after their occupation. The floors and fittings, the adornments and accessories lose their glitter as the hot and dusty environment of our country lends harsh treatment to these provisions. At such times, the house owner looks around for such ready-to-use materials which are easy to apply and ready to use to regain the lost glitter and newness of these provisions in the house. Some such products are available but not so well known to the house builders. Here, have a look at a few of them:
All-in-one product: For the first time perhaps, a product has come to the market that serves multiple purposes. This product is suitable to remove all the scale that gets deposited on the chromium-plated sanitary fittings as well as that deposited on the ceramic tiles. Water contains impurities and often it leaves deposits on the fittings and tiles. This product also removes soap marks and hard water stains from the tiles. Not only that, it can be used to remove water stains and scales from plastic. Acrylic and stainless steel items also. Many people choose to use acrylic material accessories in the washrooms and provide a combination of CP fittings and acrylic accessories. While the faucets, mixers and showers are CP items, the shelfs, towel rails, towel rings, toilet paper holders are often in acrylic. In such cases, this product is suitable both for acrylic and CP fittings. Any scale deposits on stainless fittings can also be removed. The product is available both in can and spray bottles. In case of surfaces, one has to just spray it on the affected area, wait for a minute and wipe. In case of CP fittings, it should be sprayed, left there for 2 minutes, then rubbed with a soft tooth brush that doesn’t leave scratches or marks on the fittings and then washed. The fittings begin to look new and shining. This product called Tap and Tile scale remover is available for about Rs300 per litre. It is not to be used on marble, granite and chips or mosaic flooring.
Cement film cleaner: It has often been seen that while fixing the granite slabs in position, the masons leave some cement slurry marks or layers on the polished surfaces of these finishing materials making them look ugly and unfinished. Rubbing off such cement layer tends to damage the polish of granite surface. No attempt should be made to remove the cement layer by using a sharp-edged steel plate or such things. A cement film cleaner is now available in the market. It needs to be applied on the affected portion of granite slab, rubbed with a soft cloth and then washed. This cement film cleaner costs around Rs400 per litre and available in 1 litre plastic cans. Care should be taken that it is used only on granite surfaces and not on marble surfaces. The polish and gloss of granite surface remains intact after use of cement film cleaner on it.
Paan (Betel leaf) stain remover: A special paan stain remover is now available in the market. Its application removes even deeply penetrated paan stains. It can be used on marble, granite or any other kind of stone. Apply on the affected portion, leave for a few minutes for it to act and wash off. It removes the paan stains without affecting the texture of marble or granite or other stones.
Wood & iron stain remover: It has often been noted that when a piece of wood or iron keeps lying on the floor for a long period, it leaves an ugly stain. Such stains are often deep grained and hard to remove. Rubbing them off damages the floor and still, the stain doesn’t go. Such stains can be removed by using wood and iron stain remover, now available in the market. This product removes the deep-rooted stains from the flooring without any damage to the floor. The stain remover needs to be applied, left there for few minutes and washed off. It can be used on marble flooring as well as granite flooring.
Paint stain remover: Though the painters take due care that no paint drops are spilled over the floors during painting work and they often spread newspapers or cloth sheets on the floor yet some staining is common. A paint stain remover helps in the removal of such stains. Even if the stains are deep rooted, these can be removed by using the paint stain remover. Like paint, varnish stains can also be removed. Follow the instructions of the paint stain remover manufacturer printed on the can and get rid of all such stains. Paint stain remover is equally good for granite as well as marble or even any other stone.
Scale cleaner: While the all-in-one product explained above is a multi-purpose product, a cheaper product called water scale cleaner is also available in the market that is suitable for specific purpose of removal of white scale caused on the surfaces due to impurities and hardness of water. It is suitable both for granite as well as marble. The granite countertops used in the bathrooms often go white in certain portions due to deposit of salts present in water. These whitish portions of granite countertops look ugly and spoil the beauty of vanity area. Just apply this solution on the whitish area or spots and rub softly. You will find the white salt coming off. Leave for 2-3 minutes and wash off. The polish of the granite remains unaffected and scale and whiteness goes away.
Tiles joint cleaner: It often happens that the tile joints grouted with white grout or matching pigment go brownish black in the bathing area of the bathrooms of the house. If noticed closely, it will be found that while the tile joints in all other portions of walls are unaffected, the joints in bathing area, especially in the lower portions of walls have gone brownish black. These joints look ugly. These joints can be cleaned by using the all-in-one product explained above to regain the original look of the joints.
Floor cleaner: Daily mopping of floors is generally done in the houses to keep the floors clean and shining. Only disinfectants are added in small quantity to the water used in cleaning of floors. There are floor cleaners available in the market that can help in retaining the polish and gloss of floors for a much longer than usual period. Floor cleaners are neutral solutions having a balanced pH value. These cleaners have different fragrances also. Lemon fragrance cleaner is most prevalent. These floor cleaners can be used on all types of floors such as marble, granite, tiles and other stones because of their neutral characteristic.
Addition of just 20 ml of floor cleaner to a 12 litre bucket of water proves sufficient. A litre of floor cleaner costs around Rs150 only. In addition to normal floor cleaners, heavy duty floor cleaners are also available. These cleaners should be used when oil stains on the floors need to be removed. There is another variety called premium floor cleaner which is best suited for Italian marble. Premium floor cleaner helps in maintaining the high gloss of Italian marble. This is a much concentrated solution than normal floor cleaner.
LCD TV Screen cleaning: House owners often want to clean the LCD or LED TV screens of certain spots or marks. No liquid should be used for cleaning these screens nor anything should be sprayed directly on these screens as no wetting is permitted. Micro fibre available in the market should be used to gently wipe these screens of any dust or wax spots.
— The writer is HOD and Chief, Civil Engineering Department in a Punjab PSU
Wood & iron stain remover: It has often been noted that when a piece of wood or iron keeps lying on the floor for a long period, it leaves an ugly stain. Such stains are often deep grained and hard to remove. Rubbing them off damages the floor and still, the stain doesn’t go. Such stains can be removed by using wood and iron stain remover, now available in the market. This product removes the deep-rooted stains from the flooring without any damage to the floor. The stain remover needs to be applied, left there for few minutes and washed off. It can be used on marble flooring as well as granite flooring.
