There were many factors involved in determining what capabilities would be delivered in the STARPOWER formulation. We sought to provide an all-purpose cleaner/degreaser, knowing that it needed to be capable of performing consistently, at an optimal level, while meeting a wide range of difficult challenges. We succeeded.
Fundamentally, key elements that needed to be addressed in achieving high performance were:
- THE NATURE OF THE SUBSTANCE OR CONTAMINANT TO BE CLEANED
- THE CONDITION OF THE WATER
- THE TYPE OF SURFACE TO BE CLEANED
How these and other objectives were met
WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE SUBSTANCE TO BE CLEANED?
Usually soils or contaminants are classified as either particulate (organic or inorganic), oily, starchy, fatty, or proteinaceous. STARPOWER’s water-based formula delivers a blend of ingredients in a cleaning system that breaks down all such targeted contaminants into small particles, scattering and temporarily suspending them in solution so that they can easily be rinsed away. The formula also has excellent anti-redeposition properties, which prevent the redeposition of this grime. Redeposition is one of the persistent problems faced in cleaning all kinds of substances. This result is achieved without sacrificing environmental concerns, which typically is not the case with solvent-based cleaners.
HARD WATER
One of the persistent challenges faced in cleaning is that most of the water in the world is “hard water.” This term refers to water with high in mineral content, primarily consisting of calcium and magnesium compounds. These substances greatly reduce the effectiveness of cleaning products. This is why STARPOWER is formulated to specifically counteract the presence of such compounds. The result is a product that delivers outstanding performance with either hard water or soft water.
ADDITIONAL CLEANING PROPERTIES
STARPOWER is also excellent for removing deposits of rust, oxidation, scale, and smut (sooty matter) from ferrous and nonferrous surfaces. You will also notice that the redeposition of such materials on these surfaces will be greatly reduced, if it occurs at all. This is especially true of oxidation. Furthermore, in many cases, painted surfaces from which oxidation has been removed have actually gone for years without the recurrence of oxidation.
Environmental & Safety Considerations
The Hazardous Waste Screen Bioassay for STARPOWER
This United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) performs a test to determine the toxicity of any given product. Before deciding to use our solution, one of the world’s largest multi-national oil companies performed this test to see the effectiveness of STARPOWER. We went head-to-head with some of the best-known cleaning and degreasing products in the world.
The bioassay, determining the strength of our solution, was done using fathead minnows as the test subjects. For four days, the minnows swam in a solution of STARPOWER at the various predetermined EPA dilution rates. The objective of the test is to see how many minnows are affected by the solution and die. Note that even if 40 percent of the minnows die, a product could still pass this toxicity test.
There were four different STARPOWER tanks with 20 minnows in each tank. That meant 32 of the 80 minnows could have died and STARPOWER still would have passed the test. Yet, after four days, not one minnow died!
None of the other products in the competition came close to those results. Of course, STARPOWER won the competition and is still in use today by this oil company. They order it by the tanker truck load. It is a solid confirmation of STARPOWER’s safety and its strong environmental credentials.
Click here to see the results for yourself: Hazardous Waste Screen Bioassay
Surfactant & Emulsifier Free
It is common today for industrial cleaners to contain these chemicals, which clean by causing oily materials to chemically bind to water. This bonding can be detected by noting the milky-white color of the cleaner’s residue when it comes in contact with water. While some of these products clean very effectively, that milky emulsion wreaks havoc on oil-water separators. Oily materials will not separate from the water because they are chemically bound to them. This milky emulsion will defeat the action of the separating units.
STARPOWER provides its superior detergency without the use of surfactants or emulsifiers. If you use an oil/water separator system to capture your runoff, this is a huge benefit. When you use STARPOWER on an oil-based substance, as the residue is cleaned from a surface and rinsed into the separator, that oil-based substance will separate from the STARPOWER inside the unit and can then be easily removed.
(NOTE: To test this feature of STARPOWER, pour it and some oil into a clear container and shake it vigorously. Let the solution settle for a while. You will observe that the oily phase will completely separate from the water-based STARPOWER phase. “Seeing Is Believing”™.)
Safety & Performance
A major challenge for Paradigm: Create a high-performance cleaner/degreaser that produces outstanding results without causing harm to the environment and won’t “cost an arm and a leg.”
STARPOWER’s environmentally responsible users have been deeply satisfied with its potent cleaning and degreasing power, delivered in a formula that withstands the close scrutiny of regulatory agencies.
Our corporate and government customers alike have found that as they face ever-stricter environmental codes and regulations, the switch to STARPOWER has been well worth their investment. In fact, it has been determined in many cases that the product actually exceeds the strict requirements of the environmental standards they must meet.
STARPOWER is such an environmentally responsible product that no special safety equipment is required for use.