November 20, 2013 AsktheBuilder Newsletter & Tips

You can't be serious. Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK?

Where has 2013 gone?

I wanted to share a photo I took last week. What a way to start the day and what a treat as we get close to the end of 2013. The photo has NOT been enhanced using software. What you see is what came out of my camera.

Everyone in my family makes fun of me for going to bed early. I love mornings. I love to get up before sunrise. They're all sleepyheads and get to miss things like this.

It was just me and a flock of ducks out on the center of the lake. They were floating in awe while Mother Nature took my breath away - again.

This is going to be a VERY short newsletter because we're now close to the time where most put off opening my newsletters because of the Christmas season rush.

I get that.

You just need to know this. The next issue, next Wednesday, will be loaded with cool gift suggestions.

That's all next week's issue will contain. Watch for it as there are some great new tools out there for men and women! And great work clothes too!

TIP OF THE WEEK - TOILETS 101

Toilets are pretty important in most houses. They may rank as the most important plumbing fixture in the house next to the kitchen sink and faucet. You have to eat and drink and then you go to the bathroom. But I digress.

Here are two past columns of mine that will help you fix minor chronic problems with toilets and another one to help keep your toilet clean if you have hard water.

NEW TREASURE HUNT!

I wanted to let you know that in two months we'll be doing a new Treasure Hunt!

Remember the one from last year? My *great* poem? The tiny clue? Okay, I'm not a good poet. Enough said.

This year we'll be expanding the hunt. It's going to happen over a period of DAYS. I'm going to amp it up.

Fifty people are going to win a huge assortment of prizes. Last year there was just one winner.

You do *not* want to miss the 2014 Treasure Hunt!!! You'll have FUN and you have a great chance of winning a prize.

If you're a new subscriber, here's a link to last year's hunt. Remember, it's OVER, but this will give you an idea of what happened.

HAZY CERAMIC FLOOR TILE MYSTERY SOLVED!

I received a mild complaint from a very nice man early last week. He was using Stain Solver to clean a huge ceramic tile floor in his home. But each time it dried, he was left with a dingy film.

He's used Stain Solver before, and knew it worked. So he reached out to me.

After a few back and forth emails and a phone call I solved the problem.

Guess what was causing the dingy film AFTER cleaning?

PINE-SOL

My customer had used Pine-Sol for years to clean his floors. He never realized it *might be* leaving behind a film, one that could attract dirt causing him to clean more often than necessary.

I told him he could have layer after layer after layer of Pine-Sol on his floors because he mopped with it but never rinsed the floors. He said after mopping, his tile floors looked nice and shiny.

No doubt! They were coated with oil!

Pine-Sol, years ago, used to be made primarily with pine oil. But now the only thing the manufacturer will tell you is what's on their MSDS sheet.

Here's what I found out at Make-Up-Your-Own-Reality.com. Many call this site Wikipedia.com: " ...As of 2008, the currently available original formulation lists 8-12% pine oil, alkyl alcohol ethoxylates, sodium petroleum sulfonate and isopropyl alcohol as reportable ingredients on the MSDS sheet."

My customer was mopping his floor with the Stain Solver solution and not rinsing. The Stain Solver solution lifted the pine oil from the floor and put it back into solution.

But after the Stain Solver DRIED, the pine oil and other ingredients in the Pine-Sol were left on the floor.

While I don't operate an official multi-million dollar testing lab, I maintain MANY cleaning products you buy are like Pine-Sol. After you use them they LEAVE BEHIND a film or invisible coatings that can attract dirt faster than if the coatings were NOT THERE.

There's a blue liquid that some use to wash windows. I believe that leaves behind a film.

There's a floor mopping system that is very popular with perky happy moms with big smiles shown on TV commercials mopping their floors without water. The women in the commercials put a pad on the tool, squirt this magic fluid on the floor and wipe the floor with this pad. I'm convinced in my testing this product leaves behind a film.

The bottom line is Stain Solver WILL CLEAN and produce amazing results. Click and see for yourself.

However, if you use products like Pine-Sol, you must rinse the floor and change the rinse water frequently to get film-free results.

My customer did this after we talked and his floor looked like new.

Gift suggestions next week!