Hey all. Ive heard of many different ones talked about on the forums, seems like you have your likes. White pads, green, reds. steel wool, bronze wool. etc. I was wondering if you have a favorite go to pad you like and why? and also any pads you have accidently scratched the glass with?
For scrub pads I use a 3M white scrub pad on all exterior resi jobs. For the real tough stains mostly from metal screens I use bronze wool, if that doesn’t work I use oven cleaner with a white scrub pad.
I’ve never scratched glass with these techniques
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red and green pads will scratch the glass every time, white or steel/brass is the only choice
I’ve used the red for years, with never a scratch.
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Check out this thread
[URL=“http://windowcleaner.com/vBulletin/residential-window-cleaning/25360-white-pad-dirty-windows.html”]
http://windowcleaner.com/vBulletin/residential-window-cleaning/25360-white-pad-dirty-windows.html
Hi Guys,
Excellent replies. The only problem with experience in the field is the variables. Soapy water lubricates. Also pads can be a little dirty (with silicates embedded). My advice would be to pick up a small pint of battery acid from the auto parts store. A small real cheap mirror from Walmart. Then take the brand new pad/product in question and rub it real hard on a six by six inch area. Apply the sulfuric acid to one half of that area for about thirty seconds. Rinse the mirror completely in the sink with running water from the tap. Squeegee the whole surface wipe edges. Take the dry mirror into a completely dark bathroom with no windows. Then look straight down the beam of a flashlight at the surface. If any scratches have been created you will absolutely see them. I use this same test to determine if a commercial hard water spot remover will etch or scratch glass. It is very effective. Just be very careful with the acid! It is usually around 37% sulfuric. Real bad stuff. Never let it touch your skin. Wear rubber gloves every time.
I always use steel wool 0000.
Henry that is a cool test how did you stumble on that? What does the battery acid do that makes the scratches stand out more? Pretty neat.
And your right there are a ton of variables including how hard the glass is itself!
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With soap and water that is… Until it starts bleeding rust 
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We have had a lot of success with the white shark scrub pad. If there is a lot of silicon on the windows we use magic erasers.
Hi Cameron,
I use the 0000 steel wool too. But really hate it when it turns rusty red. So I am on a hunt for plastic abrasive powders and other compositionals. One of which that I call Plastee Gritt has a urea particle around 100 microns. It can be mixed with a DLimonene solvent for removal of paint, wood stain, silicone caulk, dried solid tree sap, and more. The WCR will be coming out with these two very soon. But there are many more products I am researching.
I learned about this test many years ago when I was single and had a little lab in place of a kitchen. Three old beers in the fridge surrounded by 2500 chemicals. The scratches are etched by the acid. It is a stage two static etch.
Dean,
I also like the Shark from Wiljer. Richie has many great products. I use his sleeves only. Magic Erasers are a good product. I have not put them to the scratch/acid test yet however. I don’t know if they are based on a feldspar, or a crude silica. It is rather fine. I have determined that anything above five microns and more dirty than 99.9 percent pure can scratch. The scratch/acid test is really fun cuz most times if there are different sized particles in the product you can learn this from the scratches. Its almost like a cloud chamber for locating subatomic particles.
What kind of lab was this Henry…Hmmm…JK 
Just curious, if you have to go to the oven cleaner how much xtra do you charge ?
$2-$6 extra, i can usually catch them on the original estimate so I’m not adding anything additional on the final invoice.
If it’s just a window or two that I don’t catch at the time of the estimate I don’t bother charging anything extra.
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