How to Clean your Dry Erase Board
Most whiteboards are very easy to clean and maintain if you follow these few guidelines. Many porcelain
dry erase boards may be delivered with a protective film on the surface to protect it during transit. This film must be removed prior to use. We recommend using a utility knife and carefully tracing around the inside edge of the trim around the entire perimeter of the board. Once this is complete, carefully peel the film back and away from the board. In order to ensure that your surface will function properly, it is extremely important to properly clean the board prior to its initial use. Using a clean, dry cloth and a non-abrasive liquid cleanser (Window or generic glass cleaner), gently clean the entire board to loosen any residue from the board. Then use a dry cloth to wipe clean the entire surface to remove all dirt and residue from the previous step. Next, using clean water, rinse the entire board and then with a dry towel wipe the entire board dry. The rinsing and drying steps are extremely important and if ignored may cause underperformance of the product. Porcelain whiteboards are much like glass and can be maintained in a similar fashion. whiteboards can be cleaned as often as required and will not be damaged as long as the proper cleaning methods are used. Here are a few tips to keep your board in optimal condition. We recommend only cleaners that have been tested to work on our dry erase products such as our #683 board cleaner, Expo whiteboard cleaner, or Windex (or generic glass cleaner). TEMP or isopropyl alcohol may be used to remove stubborn build-up caused by repeated use (recommended to use moderately).Please note that cleaners that are not recommended may leave a residual film that may cause the whiteboard not to function properly and result in customer dissatisfaction and may also void the warranty of the product. All dry erase markers will write legibly on our board but may not erase properly due to their composition. We recommend the use of our markers, Expo brand markers, or a similar solvent-based marker. If you use your board daily, we recommend that you clean the surface at least twice per week. In addition, it is important to know that leaving ink on the board for an extended period of time can lead to "ghosting". We recommend that you erase your whiteboard on a regular basis. If this is not possible, it may be necessary to clean your board following the steps outlined above to return the surface to its original condition. If someone accidently uses a permanent marker on a porcelain dry erase board, all is not lost. One trick would be to write over the permanent marker with a dry erase marker and then erase it. Generally, rubbing alcohol also works to remove permanent marker from a dry erase whiteboard.How Cork is Made
Cork is composed of suberin, a hydrophobic substance, and because of its impermeability, buoyancy, elasticity and fire resistance, it is used in a variety of products (most common is wine stoppers). Cork consists largely of empty space because of its honeycomb-like structure. Its density is one-fourth that of water. Uses of cork consist of flooring material, shoe insoles, roofing panels, gaskets, safety helmet liners, bottle and wine stoppers, dartboards, bulletin boards, and cores for golf balls and baseballs. Cork is harvested from the cork oak tree, most commonly found in southwest Europe and northwest Africa. Cork is extracted only in summer months when the cork can be separated from the tree without causing permanent damage. When the tree reaches 25-30 years of age and about 24 inches in circumference, the cork can be removed for the first time (the first harvest almost always produces poor quality cork). Subsequent extractions usually occur at intervals of 10 years, though it can take up to 13 years for the cork tree to reach an acceptable size. Harvesters use a sharp axe to make two types of cuts : one horizontal cut around the plant (called a crown) at a height of about 2-3 times the circumference of the tree, and several vertical cuts called rulers or openings. To remove the cork from the tree, harvesters push the handle of the axe into the rulers. The sections of cork that is removed from the tree are called planks. The planks are then dried, washed, and cured over weeks or months to make the cork softer and more flexible. The best quality material is used to make natural cork products like wine stoppers. The poorer quality material may be ground and used to make composition or agglomerated cork often used to make floor tiles or corkboards.
