Glass cleaner VOC cap

Definition

Glass cleaners face a federal VOC cap nationwide, and California sets a tighter limit.

Why It Matters

The federal cap on a glass cleaner is twelve percent volatile organic compounds for an aerosol and eight percent for everything else. California caps the same products at ten percent and three percent, so the solvent-heavy products a crew might reach for cannot lawfully be sold there at all. The limit binds the seller, so it reaches a cleaning business through its supplier and not through an inspector, which is why an operator can be out of step without ever meeting one. Ask what the crew actually buys, and ask hardest about restoration work on hard-water staining, because that is where somebody is most tempted to reach for chemistry the state has priced out.