Cleaning pollen residue on skylights

Residential
1

Hey all,

Had a job a few days ago and am looking for advice on cleaning these skylights. There are three 10’ panels side by side, and were covered in pollen. There’s no access to them except from above or below to hit with a pole.

I scrubbed them 5-6 times, rinsed, and then squeegeed, and they came out pretty good until the sun hit them, and there are a bunch of microscopic white dots from what looks like reside from the pollen. It doesn’t seem to come off with just a brush, and no way to get close enough to use a pad.

It’s a problem for the lady having the spots there. So, i’m wondering if anyone has any suggestions… maybe there’s a solution to break it down?

Here’s a few pics from the inside with the sun on em.

Thanks in advance

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3

I really question if it’s pollen. It might be something that requires more than liquid and light agitation.

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4

not much shows up from farther out, they are basically specks. This is with the sun directly on them, otherwise it’s pretty much unnoticeable.

5

It almost looked like some kind of stain that got sprayed somewhere, as it’s clear. She said nothings been done since last year though. The reason that i thought it might be pollen is there was a lot caked on… thought maybe it scrubbed down to these spots… and they aren’t coming off for some reason.

Any ideas beyond scrubbing and liquid?

6

clamp or rubber-band some 0000 steel/bronze wool to the pole, or a squeegee handle. I’ve found the wool works best on a wet window vs. dry.

Either that or look at some chemical solutions, assuming it isn’t pitting in the glass.

7

Is it pollen residue or tree sap?

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8

Just be sure it is glass. Many skylights can be plexiglass.

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9

Quick follow up on this project: it was tree sap, almost positive.

Coated the entire pane of each skylight with goof off, and then used the white pad with pole to scrub. Worked like a charm and even got some paint over spray that was lurking around.

Thanks for the help.

10

If you are ever out of Goof-Off then peanut butter will remove tree sap. Just clean it like regular afterwards and on to the next thing.