saw some window cleaners at the outdoor mall today and had a friendly chit chat.
I noticed that he didnt have any rags on him like some microfiber towels or a scrim, I would have like 4 or 5 hanging around my waste.
asked him if he detailed the windows because when i walked up on him he just finished squeeging this one outdoor pane. I looked at the left and right edges and noticed all the water running down.
He pulled out a terry towel from his pocket and said he comes back to the window after the water dries. This way his towel does not get all wet and have to recycle it for new drier ones.
made sense to me. I have never done this or even thought about it, may have to try it on my next job.
anyone else do this?
From my experience this works fine in the cooler months. But when summer hits and your chasing your tail around hot windows…not quite so cut and dried. Also, ground level OK, but jumping jack on a ladder?
Tried this on a job with 26 doors with fake divides, (9 panes each side). I used a skrim. At first I thought it would work well. Spray foam Zep, and then wipe clean and polish after it was dry. But, I think the Zep foam and Zep liquid both leave a haze after drying that is a real pain to remove. Not sure that there was a better way to do this job, as water runs behind the fake divide and down on the glass you just cleaned. Needless to say, my arms were falling off by the end of the day from detailing after it was dry. Maybe a terry cloth would have worked better than a skrim.
I use spray foam zep on some of my storefront nasty interiors.
Unless you are careful it will leave residue.
Try sprayway foam window cleaner
(lowes, homedepote, HeB, wallyworld)
Or D.G. Foam window cleaner
( dollar general)
Both work better than zep in your situation as I have windows that do the same
Pax
Like evgilliand mentioned. Hot, try not to let it dry. Depending on your mix that day it can be an easy wipe or a royal PITA. I had a dawn mix yesterday. Never again. Did not want to come off and left a shiny smear. Pulled out the denatured alcohol and it made it go away. It also evaporates clear. Use it with touchups but leaving out of the mix because sort of takes some slip away. If in shade and maybe new const windows will let drip a bit but not from top. Wipe that ASAP. You don’t want a drip down the middle. Will let dry on new const because the vinyl frames holds a lot of liquid under the edge of the frame. You could be there all day. Wipe drip, wipe drip.
Just know your slip. If easy to wipe when dry ok, usually with a lighter mix. Soapier mix, dish soap, I tend to wipe ASAP like in hot weather. Dont go to close to edges unless really dirty with the mop, and if too hot 1 hand fans the other hits the edge if needed. My .02 cents anyway.
@Jackllfixit
My friend…
Drop the dawn and get some ECOVER Dish Soap available at
any local heathfood store or maybe the HEEB will have it.
I get mine from sprouts here in Round Rock.
Best switch you will ever make… GUARANTEED!!!
My mix is 1 capful per 2.5 gallons.
If more slip is needed then i’d add a tiny splash of Winsol SuperSlip,
Never really often really needed the extra slip, cuz i am a straight pull type of guy
pax
I don’t use it but had a crack in bottle so leaked out my slip. In the kitchen of a place I clean had some dawn so might as well. Forgot it was in the bottle. Luckily a cleaning wipe spray I use had alcohol in it so was able to use it to get the crap off the window. Tried Ecover once. Mostly use slip and maybe a bit of GG3/4. There is one store that sometimes has it. Have occasionally used the 7th generation all natural stuff but only a few drops. If not really dirty, slip is all I use.
OH, BTW have you checked the TDS after the rain? I was at about 188 and my house is at 220. After the rain I made water and it started out at 152. Guess the longer it sits in Belton reservoir the worse it gets. Ran both DIs together, (the old one 's resin went thru hell but kicks out 8 ppm. My little one at 1 ppm. Cranked out 100 gal 0 ppm. The RO/DI aquarium filter 0 ppm all day every day. 7 stage filter plus can filter out remaining silica. Much better quality water.
No i havenot checked my taps tds after the rain.
My tap is 400 plus, soo…
my merlin pushes out .01 from my 400 tap.
I knew that you could make the aquarium r/o work!!
job well done!!!
pax
I do this also on any windows i can (ground level of course).
I only use 1 touch up rag per day at times this rag will last me several days.
Here most of the year the average temp is between 70-90 anything dries quite fast by the time i have cleaned 4 windows the 1st is dry.
very interesting and informational thanks for the feedback guys.
even after 4 years I thought there wasnt much more to learn about window cleaning but it has been a humbling experience and reminder to never get too comfortable at your trade.
[SIZE=2][FONT=arial]@pagliachi. No Ecover dish soap around here. Found a lady at a shop that will order it. She has other Ecover products. Going to try the delicate was soap.All they had. Both contain water and sodium laureth sulfate.[/FONT][COLOR=#222221][FONT=arial] [/FONT][/COLOR][FONT=arial]The difference between the 2 is Ecover Dish contains sodium chloride (salt) and The laundry soap contains lauryl glucoside (fatty alcohol which reduces the surface tension of water. non-ionic surfactant). [/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=2][FONT=arial]Lest see if it works. If not, can use it to clean window wags.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Another new const home and the sun was out full force. Its really not the slip but the heat. Back was shady no smears from drips, wiped right up. Ones in the sun, forget it. Tired of messing with it so before left, WFP brushed them down. Definitely will get a new lighter pole. Opti loc is good for a few things works ok but does get a but heavy. Just keep arms low and let the weight on the brush. Wasn’t until I was finished I realized I didn’t need the base section. Would have been lighter. LOL[/FONT][/SIZE]
Use less water, do a couple panes at a time… Use a smaller squeegee and two swipe it to the side.
I can’t believe I hear some guys using sprays and foams instead of squeegees and detail rags, I would never clean a regular piece of glass any other way than squeegee or WFP (aside from stained glass windows or some crazy front door glass)
Mike Radzik Pro Window Cleaning
Central, Mass
Sent from my iPhone using Window Cleaning Resource mobile app
Damn… Some of you guys take your soaps VERY seriously, I have used joy for years up until last week. I ran out of joy and could only find dawn, been using that and I really like it on my storefronts so far
Tryin to keep it simple and not complicate something so easy as cleaning windows
Mike Radzik Pro Window Cleaning
Central, Mass
Sent from my iPhone using Window Cleaning Resource mobile app
I thought about trying that, but they seem too stiff to work with that way. And they aren’t very absorbent until you get them a little damp. Love them for inside skylights on the swivel holder though!
Maybe I’ll give it a shot. If its good enough for John lee…
"[QUOTE=ProWindowCleaning;262252]Use less water, do a couple panes at a time… Use a smaller squeegee and two swipe it to the side.
I can’t believe I hear some guys using sprays and foams instead of squeegees and detail rags, I would never clean a regular piece of glass any other way than squeegee or WFP (aside from stained glass windows or some crazy front door glass)"
I hear what you are saying. I tried a 5" squeegee and the side swipe, but it kept running under the fake divide. Just looking for a faster way to do 468 panes. Hate being there all day for short money, as the person I took over this bid from, (my sister’s janitorial business) bid it WAY too low. Now I am looking to shave off time to make it worth it, but still do a good job. I think next time I will break out the fire hose and be done with it in 2 seconds!
