Although we consider it to be a typical metropolitan phenomenon, there is almost no municipality without one or two sprayed messages, doodle, or, in a better case, a truly artistic mural. Graffities are subject to controversial perception and they certainly leave no one indifferent. Some are shaken by their existence, while others by their removal. But if they need to disappear, it does matter what mark they leave.

Polluting graffiti?
The first graffities appeared in the 1970s. With a varying intensity, it continuously walks its way on subway trains, railway vehicles, escalators, on the walls of towers and buildings or on outdoor sculptures – provoking strong (either positive or negative) feelings almost from every passerby. Suffice it to mention Banksy, the British graffiti artist who has become notorious for their absolutely creative and witty artistic works and concerning whose identity no further details have surfaced during their “work” of 30 years. To this day, a particular myth surrounds the identity and activity of the artist and political activist. Anyway, their works speak for themselves, and due to their unusual and thought-provoking artistic works, they have become a prominent figure of global street art.
 
We could have a long discussion on whether graffiti, as a genre, has a destructive or value-creating effect, and whether – regardless of all this – it is worth removing graffities that are constantly created. But, since a portion of these artistic works contains obscene observations or statements that are offensive to certain social groups, it is beyond debate that there are cases when you have to simply remove them.
 
Environmental-friendly graffiti removal!
And if you need to do something, it does matter how you do it. Although sanding technology is eco-friendly, it is not gentle to the treated surface of wall. During chemical removal, mostly mixtures containing NEP (N-ethyl-pyrrolidone) or NMP (N-methyl-pyrrolidone) are used that are expressly harmful to health.
 
On the contrary, the special, gel-form 3M ™ 1500 Graffiti remover will not go easy on graffities, but it is absolutely gentle and careful to the environment and to those conducting the cleaning process. Due to its liquid state, it enters the paint more quickly, but it evaporates slower than usual into the air. This increases the product’s efficiency and also reduces total costs. Another advantage is that it is almost odorless, and no harmful fumes are generated during use. The 3M ™ 1500 Graffiti remover distributed by our company is especially environmental-friendly because it does not contain aromatic, aliphatic, or chlorinated solvents.
 
Due to the practical dispenser design, it can be quickly and easily applied onto any surfaces. By cleaning the surfacewith a high-pressure cleaner after a short time to take effect, basically any type of paint can be completely removed.

It has a clashing and clanking sound when it gives itself to violence. For this reason, most of us think of window glass as a transparent, fragile, thin material. It is not exactly a material to serve as the door of a bunker, which is the reason why burglars tend to pick it as the weakness of the apartment or house. Is it worth accepting that? By no means! There is a solution even to this problem: security window film that can provide a protection against damages caused not only by humans.

First reason to use security window films: burglary

Our home should remain the place where we feel safe and comfortable. In Hungarian language, we have a separate word for this feeling: homelike. Unfortunately, events of the world behind the door sometimes flow through walls and make unsuspecting citizens realize that it is better if they are prepared for dangers.

The first such threat is caused by burglaries mentioned in the introduction. Did you know that in the US, such unexpected event occurs every 18 seconds? We can easily ignore this because we are talking about a country of the size of a continent. Yes, but another statistical data can be more expressive: according to this, 20% of the population in the US inevitably becomes victim of a burglary at least once during their life. But the situation is not better in Hungary. Although criminal statistics in Hungary have had a decreasing trend for years, 200,000 crimes are still committed in Hungary annually. (If you live in Budapest or in Heves or Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén counties, we have bad news for you: you have the highest chance to become a victim of a crime in these regions.)

Do something against burglaries!

Of course, the revival of active and passive systems protecting homes is due to this phenomenon. Today, installing motion-sensor lamps and cameras is not considered to be a privilege anymore, and houses can be easily “wired” even to the police. But most of these will activate when damage is already done, and there can be only compensation.

It is important to know that burglars are usually not the calm, cool-headed executors who are usually depicted in movies. They need only a noise, an unexpected event, and if they feel that circumstances started to deteriorate, they immediately stop what they started. Due to this psychological fact, the security window film is an effective way of protection: according to calculations, it can slow the mean-spirited intruder even by two minutes, and as time passes, and they are still not close to the loot, the burglar tends to give up their intention and leave the spot.

Second and third reasons: weather and unexpected events

Researchers say that in Hungary – probably due to climate change – more and more extreme weather conditions are to be expected in the following years and decades. If this is true, it is better to get prepared against an earthquake or an extremely heavy windstorm.

But if no unforeseen events occur from the outside, household accidents can still affect window glasses, and the sight of dangerous shards of glass scattered around the floor is not a nice sight. There is a better reason if we have a child at home: they can be easily injured by the sharp shards scattered around – a little distraction and we can easily find ourselves going to the general practitioner on duty at night with a crying and frightened child instead of participating in a cheerful family program. Is it not better to prevent this by using a window film?

This is how security window films work

Window films – applied onto the windows from the inside by a professional in order to have documentation that can be useful in case of a possible damage later – hold broken glass pieces together, therefore shards of glass can be prevented. So, first, there will not be a hole in the window large enough to allow a burglar to intrude into our home; second, we do not have to expect pieces of glass scattered around. It is an important fact that these window films have an invisible effect. So, we can reinforce our windows without making an unacceptable compromise. Furthermore, some of these products even have a heat reflective function. For this reason, the use of versatile films is strongly recommended.

Getting an “A” in the range of films

It is good news that more and more types of such products are available – some of them even have more functions than we have originally thought of! For example, in addition to having a high level of tensile strength and tear resistance, the 3M™ Safety S40 security window film significantly reduces incoming UVA-rays as well, preventing color fading. The specialty of the 3M S70 security window film is that it is extremely thin but strong, while the 3M™ Safety and Security Window Film Safety Series is comprised of weatherproof stable polyester films and has an anti-scratch surface.

In addition to these, there are security films available that are proven to resist gusts of wind of even 270 km/h and high wind. (Although sometimes banal everyday situations can also be sources of danger – such as the case of football kicked from the garden and accidentally landing in the middle of the window…)

It is better to be prepared than to be scared! Everyone is much smarter once damage has occurred, but the truly wise step is to get a step ahead of dangers. We can have more to gain than just calmness. Material damage caused by a burglary can be several times heavier than what the damage prevented by the film and the window glass broken but held together mean.

Sealing seems to be an everyday activity until we see the rich and diverse range of sealants. From this universe full of adhesives, we will now become familiar with the possibilities of the acrylic adhesive.
 
Why exactly acrylic?
Acrylic adhesives are prepared with a chemical procedure that make them facilitate strong strength and quick adhesion. They are especially useful when joining work pieces of different surfaces, like plastic, aluminum, steel, and oily metal surfaces. Due to their structure, they better resist extreme weather conditions and they are resistant to impact and aging. Single- and bi-component types are also used. Compared to other adhesives made from silicone, their huge advantage is that they can be subsequently painted with any paint that will stick to the surfaces of sealants. To create a safer working environment, non-flammable products are also available; such acrylic adhesive is the bi-component 3M™ Scotch-Weld™ DP810, which is a more comfortable solution also due to its lower level of odor. A product with a similar name and purpose of use but with a different packaging is 3M™ Scotch-Weld™ DP810, Low-odor Acrylic Adhesive containing doses of 48.5 ml.
One of the most important tasks of structural adhesives similar to this one is to replace welding, screws, and screwing. Thus, they make work easier and they literally create more flexible procedures. While spot-welding requires skills and longer practice, they use of acrylic adhesives – such as grouting in the bathroom – requires only a little bit of dexterity and attention. The omission of screws has a number of advantages: load will be better distributed along the entire binding area, there is no need to drill holes and distort the surfaces, we can use lighter materials, while all this reduce the cost and time of work in addition to facilitating a unique design and better appearance.
 
Types of acrylic adhesives
While almost every acrylic structural adhesive on the market today contains the same material (active monomer), the end user actually has three big families with different properties to choose from:

• MMA (methyl methacrylate) acryl, which is characterized by excellent adhesion and resistance to impact, especially in case of metals. A strong odor and flammability are also the features of MMA.
• Low-odor acryl. It also has an excellent adhesion and impact resistance, especially in case of plastics. It has low odor and non-flammable.
• LSE acryl – worthy of its name – excellently adheres to plastics of low surface energy (LSE) (polyethylene, polypropylene, thermoplastic olefin (TPO) and PTFE).

The use of acryl
According to experts, the use of acrylic sealant shall be primarily restricted to indoor use. Around fifteen minutes after its application, water evaporates from its material (and it seems that its mass collapses a bit at the grout), and a protective layer is created on the surface where we applied it. This thin film ensures protection against heat and UV radiation. Since acryl preserves its flexibility for a long time, and it can be even sanded – it is ideal to fill cracks with it that are slightly deformed because it easily fills them and it can even reach places and cracks that other materials cannot.
By the way, cracks: in case of acryl, you have to look for less expanding gaps, for example, flexible parquet grout can be perfectly used to fill the cracks of parquet and floorings: they do not fall out from the flooring, they resist well the demanding use of the flooring and parquet, and they can be used independently from varnishing – even before or after that. The acryl put into the cracks from the injection gun can sometimes flow to the wrong place but this can easily be cleaned or put into the correct place with an appropriate tool.
The question may arise: how much time do you need for acryl to solidify? Based on experience, this depends on temperature and humidity. It is worth keeping in mind that acrylic adhesive is usually recommended to use around between 5-35°C.
 
Types of acrylic adhesives
Knowing the purpose and location of use, we have several types available to choose from.
Liquid acrylic adhesives are rather common, and they can be applied either with a brush or with a moist cloth. Tools used to apply the adhesive must be thoroughly cleaned before and after each use. Liquid acrylic adhesives are commonly used in upholstery, decoration, and carpentry.
Acrylic adhesives are most common available in the form of cream, and they can be squeezed from an adhesive gun or they can be spread onto the material with a brush. Acrylic adhesive cremes can be used practically for any purpose, but they are most frequently applied onto wooden, glass, metal, and waterproof objects. In addition to this, acrylic adhesive cremes work very well even with liquid acrylic adhesives, and they are usually used together to “sandwich” two objects.
In addition to liquids and pastes, another form of acrylic adhesives is tapes. This form is often used for clothes and for purposes related to other types of fabrics. Tapes can be one- or two-sided.
 
Here we can find them
Due to their good product properties, acrylic adhesives can be found in an amazingly high number of places; their usage is almost universal.
Although – as we have mentioned – they are rather recommended for indoor use, some types of acrylic adhesives are doing well also outdoors. If, for example, the aim is to bind billboards, various signs – typically thin materials, like prepared or unprepared metals, plastics –, then we are immediately in place and we can forget about mechanical fixing that is not even possible to implement everywhere.
The production of various sports tools, like golf clubs or soccer goal nets, includes the adhesion of strong solid materials, like aluminum and steel. During use, these binds are subject to extreme stress and wear. This is the reason why acrylic adhesives are good for such purposes, because they provide a high resistance to impact, they easily bind these materials, and any small but complex component can be attached to sports tools without limitations.
It says a lot about the role of acryl that they have an essential role also in the production of airplanes, which is a field full of extremely intensive forces – they are used for the adhesion of external components. In everyday life, it is often used also in the building industry, for example to join and seal window frames, because the phrase “gone with the wind” can be excluded in case of acryl.

Office is our second home with work, and our time spent in the office is of crucial importance in our lives. For this reason, it does matter in what conditions we spend our working days. Who says that the word “comfort” can relate only to recreation? Now is the time to make the office more comfortable and to favor our own health!

Ergonomics in the office: let us optimize!

Workplace is full of everyday challenges: deadlines, moody colleagues, unexpected tasks to solve immediately, “firefighting”. But there is at least one factor that we can change. The task of ergonomics – which means something like “the study of work” in Greek – is to help align the working environment and work equipment to human demands, requirements and abilities.

An ergonomic environment marks a space where people work and live with objects, machines and tools in harmony. As a result of efforts toward manageability and human friendly- and easy use, such conditions can be created. The best part is that sometimes very little changes can even have significant results – this only requires attention and careful planning. For example, the correct setting of office furniture, desk and chair, as well as the screen can do wonders. Let us take a look at what problems can efficient ergonomics solve!

Move!

As one of the most popular sayings of our age say, sitting is the new smoking. And it is true, because people working in the triangle of chair-desk-computer (laptop) must bear the associated discomfort. The main victims of office work, which includes relatively few and unnatural movements, are muscles, tendons, muscle attachments and nerves and even blood vessels. Pain in the fingers, tingling or numbness and arthritis are all hungry for change.

Solving the first problem

Although it is more comfortable to sit than to stand, our body does not tolerate involuntary sitting. For this reason, according to experts in office ergonomics, we should take a break every hour, during which we can resolve the monotony of sitting with leg lifts and shoulder stretching. Even standing up or taking a walk every half-hour can help a lot if others found it strange to do some exercise at the workplace.

Working in the office while standing is more popular, so it is recommended to combine sitting and standing. But if we need to sit, the correct placement of the keyboard is important: for a healthy working, relaxed shoulders and conveniently held elbows on both sides are required during typing. Although mouse is a small device, it is still important from the aspect of ergonomics: we should hold it loosely because a strongly clenched hand can later result in problems.

Everything for the eye?

Due to the illumination of the screen that is not always optimal, our eyes are forced to do extra work on many occasions, which can result in damage in the long run. In addition, it has been found that the blue light emitted by screens are downright harmful.

Solving the second problem

Ophthalmologists recommend staring at an object about 20 feet (around 6 meters) away for at least 20 seconds every 20 minutes. By complying with the rule of 20-20-20, we do our vision good, if we work in eyeglasses filtering blue light.

According to the approach of ergonomics, the situation can be improved by placing the monitor. We should place the monitor to be within arm’s reach. In addition to this, it is favorable if the top of the screen is at the same level as the eyes. The screen needs to be placed perpendicular to windows – otherwise light is either blocked by the user or the light coming through the windows and reflecting on the screen forces the eyes to compensate.

Our breath can be taken away

Those operating offices – especially if several people work in the same volume of air – often face the problem of air circulation. The optimum level of humidity and temperature is different for each person and it often can be a source of conflict. Operators of buildings try to set a median value, and the presence of HEPA filter is also a requirement (especially for people being allergic, as this device also filters pollens). Bad air can cause breathing problems, and even human eye does not tolerate bad indoor air either.

Sitting and posture

Before an office worker sits in their chair, it is recommended to empty their pockets because, for example, no one will think of the word comfort by sitting on a set of keys or wallet in the back pocket. (Furthermore, these items usually put extra pressure on the gluteal muscle). For this reason, it is worth complying with the advice of professionals: sit with a straight back, bending our knees at a 90-degree angle and the feet should sit comfortably on the floor!

Making the workstation more comfortable

For the mouse, we usually need a flat surface. The self-adhesive notebook accessory of the 3M optical mouse pad meets this demand.
Now, let us look toward the screen and ask for help! Here is the 3M™ Notebook stand, which lifts the screen to an ergonomic position, has an adjustable height and anti-slip surface, and it is possible to connect even a sheet holder. The 3M™ Notebook stand with adjustable angle is also suitable to create a more eye-friendly situation.

And if someone does not find the appropriate conditions for work either in the office or at home, they still can decide to go to an external location – such as a café or a library. In such cases, however, protection of sensitive data on screen is of crucial importance. The 3M™ privacy screen protector can be an ideal product, as it allows only to the owner and user working at the laptop to see the screen, while it darkens the screen for others standing back or to the side.

Ergonomics in the office is an essential aspect which can help significantly improve the well-being of employees if consciously managed.