Hi all,
I am fairly new to window cleaning and have only done a few jobs so far. I’ve been having trouble with extension poles, as I can’t find an effective way to get off tough spots whilst using it. I use steel wool by hand usually which works well, but can’t figure out how to scrub things properly when the pole is the only way for me to reach. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Bought one of these. It’s great, used it on pole work. It screws on. My pole has threads on the end. Also bought a case of 10 inch blue pads. Worked a huge house with them. Had to search for pads, this site does not sell them. (Hint, Chris)
https://windowcleaner.com/xero-bronze-wool-pad-4-inch-x-9-inch
That don’t have to be blue. This site sells bronze wool pads and steel wool pads that work great.
Ah yeah i’ve looked for these. Ill have to see if theyre available here in australia. For longer polework can you still put enough pressure to really scrub something with one of these? I have an 18ft pole.
Sorry, did not know or realize you were Down Under! And yeah, I bowed my pole scrubbing with these, and on the low, put scary pressure on glass as I was trying to get ahead of water spots. Basically I used for initial scrub/clean. A lot of pressure should not be required. But, I first scrubbed with mop/scrubber to remove, wash away sand and grit. If that gets caught up in the pad, it could scratch the glass. Here’s a pic from inside the window I cleaned outside with blue 10 inch scrub pad on the Aluminum Pad Holder.
Edit: Here’s some links Down Under for you.
https://windowcleaningsupplies.com.au/product/unger-hiflo-pad-holder-with-22mm-euro-thread-2/
There ya go. 
Lookin good! Yeah ive just noticed myself some spots caked right on that take some serious scrubbing even by hand with steel wool just to get them to budge. I don’t want to use a razor at this point either. Maybe some bronze pads would be more effective. Ill still try and see if I can pick up some of these, ill have to keep looking though! Thanks for the help mate.
You might be dealing with water spots. Then it’s into the chemical realm to remove. If it’s silicone, caulk, sap, you are still in the chemical realm. Always try to analyze what spots actually are, then go from there. At height, may be difficult…go nose to glass, or, perhaps same spotting occurs at low windows also. That’s why I usually have a set of stuff that works from one job to another. Case in point, this shown house, all windows had aluminum framing with off white paint, so I did not use Ammonia. Everything I used was non Ammonia. But I did use blue pads with CLR and Bar Keepers Friend to address water spots. That’s all I had to work with. Am now looking into a hand grinder, pads, and things like cerium oxide, de spotter liquids, and glass sealer. The learning continues; I used to think I knew a lot about cleaning glass, but I’ve only “Scratched the Surface.” 
Liam this works good on a extension pole for bird droppings, bug spot and such.
You can apply force to remove stubborn organic material.
You can also throw a towel over it to wipe frames and wipe the top edge of the glass to get drip, towel won’t move.
If you’re going to buy pads I would suggest the bronze over the steel. Steel will rust soon after getting wet and theyre kind of pricey.
hahaha! Wow so sounds like there’s a lot more to learn in the way of chemicals, time to look into that! Thanks so much for all the tips
This sounds perfect, what are these called? I have trouble finding such products here in Australia as we often have less products to choose from and sometimes under different names. Thanks!
It’s just a window scraper with the blade cover on it, then I just zip tied the blue pad to it. It a simple DIY tool.
Oh! Didn’t see that. Perfect, I already have a cheap scraper so ill do this asap.
