Tools-Plus Tool Talker Blog

We are always getting questions about what HEPA actually means, especially since the new EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule came into effect. Here are some of the questions and answers,

What are the new EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting regulations?
If you are doing work in a house, apartment or child occupied facility like a school or daycare built before 1978, and you may be working with painted surfaces you need to be lead safe certified. More info here.

What can I do to stay lead safe while working in those situations?
Some of the regulations that we can help you with are dust containment as well as using tools with HEPA exhaust control. We have ZipWall dust barriers which are a quick and easy way to contain any airborn lead to minimize the possibility of it’s spread. Also we carry the Fein 9-20-25 HEPA Dust-Free Turbo II Wet Dry Vacuum.

What is HEPA Filter?
HEPA Filter stands for High Efficiency Particulate Air Filter. A HEPA filter needs to be able to catch at least 99.97% of the particles(dust, dirt, spores, mites and whatever else is flowing through the filter) 0.3 microns is size.

How do I know if a HEPA Vacuum meets the requirements of the Renovation, Repair and Painting rule?
You will want to look for a Wet Dry Vac which is made to be HEPA compliant and has the HEPA filter as the last filtration stage before the air exits the vacuum. A great choice would be the Fein 9-20-25 HEPA Dust-Free Turbo II Vacuum

If I already have a Fein 9-20-25 can I just buy the parts to make it a HEPA Vac?

Yes. If you purchase the TIIKIT filter mount, 913049P01 HEPA Vacuum bags and a TIIHEPA Vacuum Filter your 9-20-25 will be the same as the Fein 9-20-25 HEPA Vacuum.

Kompressor Pads Caress your car’s every curve!

Lake Country Kompressor Foam Polishing Pads with hook and loop backing are perfect for your favorite polishers and buffers. Kompressor pads have a slotted face which conforms to the curves and contours of your car giving you more surface contact than is available with other pads. Lake Country manufactures these pads to have a compressed “Sweet Spot” holding polish longer along with extending the life of your . Get the best results possible by using Lake Country Kompressor Foam Polishing Pads!

If your car is worth buffing and polishing then chances are it has sexy curves. Standard pads can do an ok job of polishing curved surfaces, but Lake Country Kompressor Pads are engineered to caress these curves, working the paint evenly across the whole surface. Flat standard pads don’t adjust to the various contours of your car, over corners and areas like the fenders and bumpers you need a pad that will adjust to the shape of the car. Kompressor polishing pads glide over and shape themselves to the contours of your car preventing the polish or wax from flying all over, ensuring more even results.

Top Quality Construction.

To make the Kompressor Buffing Pads Lake Country starts with some of the highest quality foam in the industry. This premium foam is shaped in to a convex pad and then is slit horizontally and vertically. When affixed to a backing plate the convex polishing pad compresses at the center producing a the “sweet spot”.

Advantages to this Sweet Spot include:

• The greater density towards the center holds polish on the pad longer than flat pads do.
• The Sweet Spot also extends the life of the pad by reducing foam breakdown.

Advantages to the Slotted Pad Face are:

• The slots allow the foam to constantly adjust to even the smallest surface contours providing a superior even finish.
• All of those tabs made by the slots greatly increase the usable surface area of Kompressor pads, holding onto more polish and also getting greater contact with the surface being polished.
• Slotted pads are easy to clean.

Designed for use with the 7424XP and other polishers.

The perfect accessory to go along with your Porter Cable 7424XP with a 5” hook and loop backing plate! Simply stick it to the plate and you are ready to go!

Two different brushes give you the optimal brush for the various needs of car care.

Upholstery ROPB-5L

The Long Bristle Brush ROPB-5L is meant for cleaning car upholstery, carpet and the various surfaces in your car that need a lighter touch. Whether your seats are leather, vinyl or fabric, with a the right cleaner this brush will give you awesome results easily and quickly. The longer brush bristles flex more to provide delicate cleaning on the parts of your car that require more gentle care. The car is not the only place you can use this brush, boat decks, boat hulls, vinyl siding, RVs, window casings and anything that you would normally use a light brush for.

Carpet ROPB-5S

The Short Bristle Brush ROPB-5S is exactly what you need to work out the toughest of stains in carpet and more durable fabrics. This short brush has the stiffness that it takes to really power through stains in carpet along with cleaning up floor mats. After vacuuming your carpet to pick up any loose dirt and debris, and spray it down with a good coat of carpet shampoo. Then using this brush attached to your random orbit polisher just let the brush do all of the hard work for you. Other places this brush can help make shine are tile, grout, outdoor furniture, decks, garage floors, seatbelts, bathrooms, porches and anything that you would normally clean with a stiff brush can be cleaned much faster with this brush attached to a buffer.

The Porter Cable 7424XP combined with a hook and loop backing plate are hugely useful and these brushes only make them more so. There is no need to break out your wrench to undo one pad and then put these brushes on. Once you have your hook and loop backing in place simply slap on whatever pad or brush you need, then peel it off and swap it out for a different pad or brush. Check out our great selection of Lake Country Buffing Pads that will also work with the same backing pads as these brushes do.

These high quality brushes won’t disappoint. If you are worried that they will wear out too quick well you can rest easy knowing that they are made from high quality polypropylene one of the most durable material used in brushes. The backing in these are made from very tight and durable loops meaning that you get a firm and secure attachment to the buffer and you won’t have to worry about the brush coming off while you are using it.

Tools-Plus’ Carpet Brush and Upholstery Brush with hook and loop backing are the perfect solution to speed up the normally tedious and time consuming task of detailing car interiors. Simply attach the correct brush and then let the car buffer do the work of cleaning upholstery or carpet for you. Their durability and utility ensures that you will get a ton of use out of these awesome brushes.

Porter Cable 7424XP Car Buffer/Polisher Only: $119.00

Meguiars 105 Ultra Cut Compound Only:$27.49

Snap-On 93050 4 Gallon Wet/Dry Vac Only:$69.99

Lake Country 78-2165-152M Orange Buffing Pad Only:$9.95 2 for:$8.99ea. 3 or more:$8.49ea.

Klein 98222 BBQ Tool Set Only: $14.99

Klein 98005 Insulated Drink Hauler Only:$29.98

Klein 98002BT Bottle Opener Only:$6.97

Carhartt B147 Canvas Work Short Only: $21.88

Carhartt K87 Workwear T-Shirt Only:$11.89

Carhartt B160 Straight Leg Jeans Only:$26.00

Carhartt A122 Leather Utility Gloves Only:$17.99

Hitachi T-Shirt* Type FREESHIRT in the comments box while placing your order.

Hitachi NR90AD Pneumatic Framing Nailer Only: $169.00

Worx GT WG151.5 Cordless Grass Trimmer Only:$139.00

Milwaukee 49-17-0190 Tool Belt Only:$25.00

*While supplies last get a free shirt with every order that has FREESHIRT typed into the comments box.

Simply order Two of the same tool and we will give them to you for the price of one!

DeWalt DW5586 Diamond Tile Core Bit Only: $9.99

Porter Cable 12057 4-1/2″ 120 Tooth Plywood Circular Saw Blade Only:$7.95

Porter Cable 12870 4-1/2″ 20 Tooth Carbide Circular Saw Blade Only:$13.99

Porter Cable PAS6 Compressor Gauge 300 PSI, 1/8″ NPT Only: $3.99

Porter Cable PAS5 Compressor Gauge 2″ Back Mount, 300 PSI, 1/8″ NPT Only:$2.99

Porter Cable PAS4 Compressor Gauge 1.5″ Back Mount, 300 PSI, 1/8″ NPT Only:$3.99

Simply order Two of the same tool and we will give them to you for the price of one!

We only have limited quantities of free items. Once these sell out that is it. Limit one of each item free per order. Must place 2 of an item in the cart to get one of them free. The two items will ring up for the price of one.

Summer is around the corner and it’s time to spruce up your yard and create the look you’ve been dreaming about. I know, what you are thinking…..who wants to use a gas or corded weed wacker or hedge trimmer. Thanks to WORX Trimmers you don’t have to worry about filling up a gas tank, or dragging around a long extension cord when working in your yard or doing some garden landscaping. The New WORX Edger/Trimmers use the latest in cordless technology, lithium ion batteries to provide you with long run time without the weight associated with older NiCad batteries.

What could be worse on a hot day than running out of gas for your gas sting trimmer and then having to drive out to get more gas to fill it up again? Well if you get the WORX GT WG151.5 Trimmer Edger with a ½ hour charging time you won’t have to worry about this problem ever again. Rather than spending that time driving out to get more gas you can just stick your battery on the charger, sit back, grab a drink and then 30 minutes later your trimmer is ready to get back to work… if you really want to. But don’t think that this is just for a small yard, the long lasting batteries combined with the quick charger make the WG151.5 a great trimmer/edger for yards of any size.

Bonus: All WORX cordless outdoor yard tools are far quieter than traditional landscaping tools. The electric motors on WORX trimmers, blowers, edgers and chainsaws won’t bother the whole neighborhood or ruin anyone’s picnics, can’t say the same thing about loud gas motors. Cordless Landscaping tools are also much better for the environment thanks to their zero emissions and there being no risk of spilled gas or oil.

Best of all is that all of the WORX Cordless tools ship for free! When you order any WORX tools from Tools-Plus everything in your order that ships standard ground gets free shipping. While checking out enter the coupon code SHIPWORX and we will deduct the $6.50 shipping cost of standard ground shipping.

Hitachi NR90AD

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to get a Hitachi NR90AD for the low low price of $169. The NR90AD is a light weight, easy to use framing nailer. At just 7 pounds this 3-1/2-inch nailer won’t wear out your arm through a long day of nailing. The tool drives 2-to-3-1/2-inch (.113 to .148 mm), paper tape, clipped head nails for easily tackling the most demanding framing jobs. A FlipFire switch lets you choose sequential or bump fire modes depending on how fast or how carefully you need to work. A tool-free depth-of-drive adjustment means less downtime and more productivity. Hitachi has improved the NR90AD’s magazine with a new, 2-piece anodized aluminum design for maximum durability. Innovative vibration reducing pads extend magazine and tool life. An aggressive, carbon-steel, toenail push lever provides a sure grip when nailing at odd angles or toe nailing.