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[et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]The best facility managers know the importance of maintaining their properties’ interiors and exterior, especially the metal surfaces accenting their building. Well-maintained bronze, stainless steel, brass, and other metals create the better impression that adds value to a building and its tenants. However, most people know very little about metal and the best way to care for it. Managers are often dependent on their janitorial team to clean, trusting they are using the best products. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case, so KC Restoration is often called to refinish and repair damage caused by well-intentioned but uninformed staff.
These lacquered stainless steel elevators were cleaned with an ammonia-based product or harsh chemical that breaks down lacquer and causes the streaking you see in these photos.
Here is what you and your team need to know about the cleaning products and maintenance options that will keep your metal at its best. We want to share these tips so you can avoid unnecessary damage and make the best choice in caring for your metal and your property.
WINDEX
Good: This inexpensive product is a favorite of janitorial staff. It can do a good job on mirror-finish stainless steel when used with a soft cotton cloth, not paper towels as they will scratch the surface.
Bad: Do NOT use on satin-finish metal, bronze or any lacquered surface. Windex contains ammonia which is corrosive to many types of metal.
Ugly: Windex will break down lacquer and discolor metal.
A SATIN FINISH is less reflective and has a silkier look much like the satin it is named for.A MIRROR FINISH on a metal surface is more reflective just like a mirror and has a more brilliant shine.BRASSO
Good: May work on unlacquered mirror-finish bronze for the short term (not recommended).
Bad: If used, it only works for a short period and therefore needs to be applied daily. Brasso also contains ammonia.
Ugly: Leaves residue, breaks down lacquer, and causes discoloration.
WHAT IS LACQUER?This protective clear coat provides a barrier between metal and the oil on fingers, or stains and minor scratches.
STAINLESS STEEL CLEANER
Good: Can work on stainless steel if applied with a microfiber cloth wiped in the direction of the metal’s grain.
Bad: May cause build up or be runny.
Ugly: Some aerosol cleaners are not oil-based and will remove the oil barrier leaving the metal surface very streaky.
WHAT IS A MICROFIBER CLOTH?These ultra-soft cloths are made with synthetic fibers that are finer than a strand of silk or a human hair. They can be found in stores from Walmart to Home Depot or online at Amazon.
METAL HAS A GRAIN?If you look closely, you will see a uniform pattern of lines or striations much like you’d see in a plank of wood. When cleaning, your back and forth wiping should “go with the grain” and match the motion of those grain lines.
ABRASIVE CLEANERS OR PADS
Good: There is NOTHING good about ABRASIVES on metal.
Bad: Abrasives will damage finish and can cause scratching
Ugly: It will cost you money to refinish unnecessarily.
PROFESSIONAL REFINISHING
Good: It keeps your building looking new and well cared for. A refinish is a service where professional technicians restore the finish of the metal by cleaning, removing scratches that went beyond any protective lacquer, and realigning the grain giving that fresh appearance that equates to a property’s better impression.
Bad: It is more expensive than cleaning products, but less expensive than replacing your metal.
Ugly: Don’t let a sales person tell you every metal surface should be refinished annually. Pieces that are constantly touched, like handles, may need more frequent refinishing, but other surfaces that aren’t touched, like entrances, could last up to two years or more before refinishing.
PROFESSIONAL MAINTENANCE
Good: A maintenance visit by technicians from a refinishing company ensures the metal is getting the proper cleaning and wax needed to maintain its appearance between refinishing services. It also delays the need for refinishing. Maintenance is often scheduled quarterly. However, annual contracts can divide the cost into monthly payments, which can be easier on your budget.
Bad: It’s a win-win situation: nothing bad about it.
Ugly: Beware those vendors who make promises but don’t complete maintenance appointments as it hastens the need for a more expensive refinishing service. A good refinishing partner knows the value of proper maintenance.
We hope we have cleared up your questions about maintaining your metal, but if you have any additional questions, we’d love to discuss them. Always feel free to email us at contact@2024.s1049332946.onlinehome.us or call us at (913) 766-2200.
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Accessibility
Accessibility modes
Epilepsy Safe Mode
Dampens color and removes blinks
This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
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Accessibility Statement
kcrestoration.com
June 25, 2025
Compliance status
We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience,
regardless of circumstance and ability.
To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level.
These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible
to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific
disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML,
adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email
Screen-reader and keyboard navigation
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with
screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive
a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements,
alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website.
In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels;
descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups),
and others. Additionally, the background process scans all the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag
for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology.
To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on
as soon as they enter the website.
These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside it.
Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Disability profiles supported in our website
Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments
Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over seven different coloring options.
Animations – person with epilepsy can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.
Browser and assistive technology compatibility
We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers).
Notes, comments, and feedback
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs. There may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to