Cover your tracks when you leave fingerprints on ceiling tiles
Donald Wright, Compel Corp.
Problem
Even though installers should wash their hands thoroughly before touching a ceiling tile, at some time or another most installers will leave unsightly fingerprints or other smudges on one or more tiles. And ceiling tiles are typically made of a material that is not easily washed. You will often damage a tile, rather than clean it, by trying to use soap and water.
Solution
Always carry a container of baby powder with you so that if and when you do leave fingerprints on a ceiling tile, you can use the powder to cover the prints.
Procedure
1) When you discover that you have left fingerprints or smudges on a ceiling tile, the first thing you should do is wash your hands. You don`t want to leave more prints while trying to correct the problem.
2) Once your hands are clean, remove the marked ceiling tile from the grid.
3) Lay the tile on the floor so that the side with the marks is facing up.
4) Lightly sprinkle baby powder on the marks. The oil in fingerprints will adhere to the powder and the marks will be undetectable.
5) Place the ceiling tile back into the grid.
Sprinkling baby powder on a ceiling tile with fingerprints will cover the prints so that when the tile is placed back into the grid, the prints will be undetectable.
Donald Wright, registered communications distribution designer (rcdd), is training director for Compel Corp. (Santa Fe Springs, CA). This tip was submitted for the Cabling Installer Tips` Contest at Cabling Installation Expo `98, held last October in Atlanta, GA.