guys, I have a question. when using a 18" squeegee on a window pane vs a 36" channel, does shorter squeegees do a better job of removing water or does the 36" do? Been told the only thing that should ever touch the glass is the rubber squeegee and never a rag of any kind. My guess is a shorter channel will get more water off more easily than a bigger one that may allow some water to be left behind.
Why would either squeegee be leaving water behind?
i JUST THINK THE SMALLER SQUEEGEE DOES A BETTER JOB. THE LARGER CHANNEL, USER NOT AS ABLE TO APPLY SAME FORCE, THUS SOME RESIDUE IS LEFT BEHIND
Sounds more like you need more practice with it then. Smaller squeegees are easier to use.
Do you fan or straight pull?
i feel that fanning is ok for small windows but for large car dealership size, I like the 36" and I just side pull. Even small windows seems side pulls are much faster. I think the S looks cool and can get more water off the sides, but takes longer.
… “Never a rag of any kind”…That’s just a WC snob talking. I used to do a couple of car dealerships and the control tower at the local airport.
Big panes of glass at all of them. I loved the 36". Just 2-3 straight pulls on each pane. Easy as pie.
You asked basically the same question last week, except it was about and 18" vs a 20". I told you last week that I routinely use a 30" squeegee and you said “Wow that is incredible!” The answer is still the same. If used properly, a large squeegee will take all of the water off of the glass, without chatter, without streaks or lines, without leaving “residue behind”, and without the need for a lot of detailing. It looks like you are attempting to blame your problems on the length of the squeegee instead of your technique. You need more practice.
Somewhere on this site are videos of a 96" squeegee being used to clean real windows. It was done as a promotional gimmick, but it worked. I suggest putting the big squeegees away and get really good with an 18" first. You need more practice.
Some of the other theories you are stating are just wrong: Generally speaking, it is not faster to do straight pulls than fanning. You need more practice.
Also, you keep saying you should never touch the glass with a rag of any kind. Lots and lots of scrims and hucks are used every day. You need more practice.
Best wishes,
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I think what my friend Tony is trying to say here is that you need more practice. I could be wrong though.
Thanks for the tip! I have never had problems with 36" leaving any residue as it is quick and does not leave any streaks. I did watch a video of a guy timing how fast he did straight pull downs, side pulls, fanning, and then a hybrid where he did straight pulls down 3/4 and then side pull. The hybrid was fastest. I am not disputing what you are saying, maybe that guy on Utube wasn’t good with fanning. At any rate, after doing what I thought was an “A” job, also felt the 36" did fantastic, windows looked streak free, I came back the next day and in the direct sunlight, I could see some wipe marks with the scrim I used. Reason for that was the salesman kept pointing out some tiny streaks that was barely noticable but I used the scrim to avoid doing the entire window. So as good as the scrim is which my experience has been positive, I can see every place I used the scrim you could see some dirty water mark swirls. I also notice and this I cannot figure out, on the corners of the glass, I still have to wipe using my scrim to get rid of some kind of blue film or film off of glass. Oh and one last question, I used because it was below zero, I used 1 gallon of winshield washer solvant, 2 gallons of water, and a generous squirt of Dawn 2x. I did a dry cleaners that after I done it, I found something that looked like blue haze streak marks. and one last question, do any of you use a razor to the window with long pulls? And how much pressure are you to apply when scraping? Very light? Medium? I did notice on one scrape, it did leave tiny microscopic scratches
Well if you keep going back to your jobs the next day to look at them the salesman is going to keep pionting out things to you.
Use a 24" 30" 36" to do stick work. For now use an 18" to carve with (for big glass) once you start getting better you can move
up to a 22" 24. YOU will never be faster doing side pulls than someone who carves a window properly with an 18 22 24 nor will you
do a better job . To me it doesnt look professional either. BTW what is a hybrid
Bet it was Dan W’s video.
Hybrid is what I saw a guy do pull downs 3/4 of the way only, then did one side pull. I am also learning to stay away from jobs that have too many windows and owner is too cheap to properly pay. I did a daycare center and by the time I divided my time with how long it took me, it came out to 13 per hour. Not worth my time
One problem may be that your scrum isn’t broken in. Looked like you started using it the same day you got it
NO my scrim is broken in but I don’t think it was the scrim that was necessarily to blame. I was using Joy soap and I was using about 3 tablespoons for three gallons plus I had a gallon of winshield washer solvant. I am now convinced using dish soap sucks and will stick to my unger soap. Windows Resource is sending me some samples of GG3 so will try that and then I may buy that. I think dish soap is leaving a blue hue to some parts of my windows
what the h-e-double-hockeysticks is the windshield washer solvent for? You are using WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much soap if you’re using 3 tablespoons of joy in 3 gallons of water, PLUS a gallon of windshield washer fluid???
I use Dawn, and put maybe one tablespoon into 4-5 gallons of water.
Yeah I agree maybe too much soap but am finding out Dish soap sucks. I bought Unger soap at Home Depot, yeah I know not as good as GG3 but am getting samples of GG3. I like Unger beacuse it slips easily and my squeegee glides really good. I heard GG3 does not glide very well and that will kind of suck. I refuse to use any dishsoap to use with GG3 because I think dish soap is leaving film. I was using winshield solvant beacuse it is below 32 degrees and without it the soap would freeze to glass
well you are using 3 times too much soap, plus windshield washer fluid (which you shouldn’t be using)… so don’t blame it on the Joy that you are getting residue on the glass still. No wonder! We use Dawn dishsoap on a couple hundred homes a year and everything comes out just fine.
don’t take this the wrong way. A lot of these problems seem to be isolated to you. Thousands of people use dish soap and large channels.
You keep running into problems and you blame you’re equipment. I think the issues are a little deeper than that. Reevaluate your methods. Pay closer attention to what you’re doing.
Do you know any other window cleaners near you that you can follow or have them watch your technique. Or bring someone with you to video tape you and post it up here for us to critique
I had no choice but to use winsheild washing solvant. It was either that or not do the job period. I don’t like Joy or Dawn because nither seem to really clean the glass very well. For maintained windows I think it’s OK but for really dirty windows, I think professional soap is the only way to go.
As I mentioned last night and as Tim mentioned a few minutes ago, I’m afraid you continue to cast blame in the wrong direction. I prefer GG3 but lots and lots of window cleaners use Dawn and Joy without the problems you are describing.
