Hard surface cleaner

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Hard surface cleaners is a category of specialty chemicals.

Light duty hard surface cleaners would include products like Windex, which is not intended to handle heavy dirt and grease, but only to remove light loads of dirt and oil films on surfaces that are already fairly clean. Generally, these products are expected to clean without rinsing and result in a streak-free shine.

Medium duty hard surface cleaners would include products such as Formula 409. They are expected to handle fairly heavy deposits of grease or dirt, and may require rinsing.

Dishwashing liquids would include products like Dawn. They are expected to handle fairly heavy deposits of grease or food, and in addition, need to be high-sudsing, so that grease floating on top of the water doesn't redeposit as a film as the dishes are removed from the dishwater.

Dishwasher cleaners such as Electrosol have similar requirements to dishwashing liquids. Unlike most hard surface cleaners, they can be very harsh as they do not come in contact with the skin. However, they must be low-sudsing.

Heavy duty hard surface cleaners such as Comet cleanser include abrasives.

Toilet bowl cleaners such as Sani-Flush are not primarily for the removal of organic material, but for the removal of hard water deposits. Generally, these products are acidic in nature, something that in the United States, the Consumer Product Safety Commission discourages in other cleaners.