I have been reading this thread with interest. I am amazed that professional cleaners are just using stuff they buy off of the grocery store shelves. This stuff just doesn't work well at all. I don't do cleaning for a living, but working in restaurants, we do have to do all the cleaning around the place. Professional products work a hundred times better. I am lucky, I can order professional cleaning products for myself, for my home, through my employers account. If you have a cleaning business you can order directly for yourself. I have a friend who does have a home cleaning business and sometimes she asks me to go out on jobs with her, to help her when she does not have enough staff. She was using junk from the grocery stores for her cleaning jobs. I couldn't believe it. I showed her the products I have, and showed her how well they work, and she was amazed. Although every restaurant I have worked at may use a different line of professional cleaning products, The BEST I have found is by North Woods: http://www.northwoodstm.com/his/index.shtml Over the years I have converted new empoyers to their produsts. I even give their products to friends and relatives and they come back to me begging me to get more for them. They do appear to cost more when you look at the prices, but they are much more concentrated that the ordinary stuff you buy at the store. For instance the Dew Drop laundry detergent used only 2 ounces per 50# of laundry. Their Blue Ox cleaner is only 3 cents per GALLON (!) when diluted. AND this is some of the best stuff out there for cleaning. They don't spend money on TV commercials. They don't print coupons and send them through the mail. They don't rent shelf space in stores. (Yes, shelf space is often rented in stores.) They don't have fancy packaging. They don't sell through a pyramid scheme. The Fireball spray degreaser works like magic. I just pulled my refrigerator out from the wall the other day and used it on the back of it. The greasy dirt just ran off. I first sprayed it with some Mr. Clean that I use for quick wipes of my counter and the Mr. Clean barley put a dent in the built up greasy dirt. Fireball zipped it right off. No other cleaner can do what this stuff does. I just used it on my keyboard today and it is squeaky clean white again. None of the store bought stuff does what this does. Sure, the store bought stuff will clean things OK, but not great. The Brilliance they sell cleans glass and ceramic like nothing else and never streaks. They have a window cleaner called Clarity that beats everything. They have a hand protectanct called Force Field that is great for protecting hands when doing cleaning tasks. I have no connection to this company. All of there prodects that I have tried have surpassed my expecations. They only sell to businesses. There may be other companies who sell *professional cleaning products* that are just as good and are just as economical. I haven't tried them all. North Woods has become my preferred cleaning product. I have never used North Woods carpet stain remover, because I am rather loyal to Carpet Science, which is also a *professional cleaner* made by Johnson Wax Co to sell to businesses. I love Carpet Science and I used to obtain it through one of my employers, but I see now that office supply places online carry it. It's great for spot cleaning on carpets. I used it to clean my white linen lampshades after trying to use Tide on them. Tide did nothing. Carpet Science made them look new again. But my point is, is that if you are running a cleaning service you should be using professional products that work better and in the long run will be cheaper. Even commercial paper towels are better and cheaper in the long run, than Bounty or what ever popular brand is advertised. http://www.rightlook.com/browseproducts/Blue-Heavy-Duty-Paper-Towels.html The only gorcery store item I would recommend is the disposable toilet cleaning brushes. Sure, it is cheaper to just use bleach and carry a crusty, wet, toilet scrub brush from job to job, but it is rather gross. I wouldn't waste my money using them at home but my friend who has the cleaning service uses them because she doesn't want to carry around a smelly toilet scrub brush. And you wouldn't believe how many people out there *do not own* a toilet scrub brush. Really. She always brings one along. I would also recommend using Bar keepers Friend or Zud. These contain oxylic acid rather than chlorine bleach and will *eleiminate rust stains* and work well on grease. I think Zud is the better of the two but it is harder to find in the stores. You can order BKF cheaper by the drum 200# for $150 or 25# for $30. If you have a cleaning service you will have no problem going through tht much in a short time. An easier way to clean is to get cotton gloves and spray your cleaner or polish on them and then go over everything rather than using a bulky rag. It's a breeze to clean lamps and figurines and even mini blinds with this method. As far as hardwood floors go, the guy who refinished my wood floors told me to never use Murphy's Soap with water on them. He recommended Bona and gave me a sample with the microfiber mop. I have used it ever since. It cleans very well and does not damage the floors, after all how dirty are wood floors going to get? Kitchens, bathrooms, and entryways are going to be either tiled or have vinyl floor coverings on them, because they need to be scrubbed. Wood floors don't get filthy like they do. Any comments?

I used Lexol leather cleaner and conditioner (yes, same stuff they use on horse tack) dutifully every month for the first year we had our Bradington-Young leather furniture. Then it slipped in priority to every few months, then a couple of times a year, and now I think it's been three or four years since I've done anything to it. Looks fine, but I never had it in direct sunlight nor exposed to temperature extremes for a long time (like in a car). Now I just wipe it off with a damp cloth if it needs it. It's gotten a LOT of heavy use and often abuse over the 8 years we've had it - spills, scrapes, blood, cat "emissions" - and while it doesn't look brand new that would be a rather outrageous expectation IMO. Only thing wrong with it now is that it needs new seat cushions, the old ones are a bit flattened (but still comfortable). Now the Lexol just gets used on shoes; used to use it on my leather jacket until the poor thing just wore out (it was at least 10yo).

Dont hesitate use an oxalic prep. Just look on the back of the deck brightner product if the main is Oxalic use it.Soap and water will not condition your ipe. TWP makes Storm Shield. Water base,very long lasting finish. It will set up a lot faster than 116 so be ready for that. JonMon... Side Note>>>> dont ask for my site, pictures or in-text links none of these are allowed on this forum. This reply does not promote any product brand as a goal. I am just saying this is what I use and sometimes why. If for any reason anyone thinks I am using this site for Business profit,or have been for the last 8 years or so, be advised you are miss informed. In the past posting my site has helped a Lot of folks understand what I was saying but those days are over.

Put me in the metallic camp. I was thinking a metallic tile, not too modern, but I think sheet stainless also works. I think that you do want something uniform that won't be jarring with the pattern of the granite, but I don't think it has to be white. Here's an image with some different metallic options pasted in. These are all metal laminates from Chemetal (real metal, just laminated on to a substrate). From left to right: Satin golden bronze Polished solid brass Satin smoked chrome Oiled bronze aluminum Brushed black aluminum Satin bronze aluminum Satin gold aluminum Brushed stainless steel My favorites are the golds and the bronze/browns, and I think very favorite is the satin bronze aluminum, which is a close match to your current wall color. I think that puts me and Marcolo almost on the same page.