How much time does using a spray bottle inside a home save you?

Residential
21

Chad,

I read a post post on here where someone said they don’t use a bucket anymore and that got me thinking…

Recently, a good bit of my business has been CCU re-fits - lot’s and lots of drywall dust. One job that I am cleaning is a total remodeling of a hospital, sometimes endless processions of the same sized pane, plus glass walls, etc. My mops were getting muddy, and my solution dirtying quite fast, and even with frequent changes of water and mops, I was still putting white water on the glass.

So I tried a sprayer a few weeks ago: SHAZAM!! The biggest revelation to me was that the solution was always clean on the glass, no need to change water, no need to change mops, etc. I use a doodlebug to agitate and distribute the solution evenly over the pane (I use Wagtail pivot control handles and they don’t much cotton dry glass), then squeegee.

As far as productivity - I have become about 20% more efficient (average 27 windows/hr from 22) on commercial jobs like I described above. I use a hiking waist pack for my belt, so I can carry lots of hucks for rough work. I can do about 25 windows (a little less than an hour) with one quart of water before having to refill, or return to my tools. I just plod along with my 2’ step ladder, my henry handle with a swivel pad holder for the doodlebug, a dirty rag bag, and because EVERYONE is doin’ that rag - some gnarly 70’s era Dead show wailing in my headset. With residential, I carry less paraphernalia into the house, and I am able to work much neater without the drips or splashes from the solution sloshing around in the bucket inside a home.

My bucket, btw, is now my tote.

For CCU, or very dirty windows, I use the gray professional sprayers that Ace Hardware sells. Really good volume per spray and the pump can get a spray pretty high with good variation on the nozzle. For residential or clean glass I use the average household clear (or translucent) plastic sprayer, the mist is finer and doesn’t spray as much onto the glass, making clean-up and detailing easier.

Stihl makes a handheld pump sprayer that I am thinking of trying, they are not that much money and the controls might be better for volume and mist.

22

I have used the spray bottle for cleaning my window glass. For cleaning purpose I have used all-natural, homemade cleaning solutions. This saved us about 10 - 15 min per home.

23

I use a spray bottle. The thing is is saves times on the corners of the sill. I forget who told me about this, I think it was Larry years ago. But if you put it on the stream setting you can blast the corners with as much solution as needed. It will get 99% of the junk out. No real need to use pointy tool. I do at times use a tool on really dirty windows sills corners to loosen the debris but then squirt it and wipe. It’s very quick. I would recommend buying the best spray bottles you can because they will break easy with all the movement in the handle. Home Depot sells these big gray bottles with blue letters on them. They have a 5 year warranty on them. Cost about 5 bucks each. They have massive stream power. I have had a couple break over the years. I keep all my receipts for tax reasons and have walked into the depot and got an exchange on the bottle. Also part of our tools we use inside is a BOAB, we do not fill it with any cleaner. It’s there to just catch solution dripping from the strip washer. We walk into a home, take a strip washer to the customers sink, wet it down and put it in the BOAB. We then clean the glass with a spray bottle. I would never ever walk into a customers home with a bucket of water filled with cleaner. It’s an accident waiting to happen.

24

Update: My new friend is the SprayMaster spray bottle. I used it for the first time today and cut an hour off my time. This house normally takes me 7.5 hours. Amazing!!!

I wish I would of started using a spray bottle years ago. Thank you everyone for the advice!!

25

Plus less chance of spills in the home :slight_smile: You would have to be a whole different level of clumsy to spill a spray bottle. :slight_smile:

1 Like
26

Used my canister sprayer today on a professional buildings outside windows that were filthy. Sprayed them down ahead of me as I went along. They were so dirty that my Ecover/GG4 solution was turning brown as I scrubbed with a white pad. I sprayed them down again, then squeegeed and detailed. All first floor and the frames and sills came out real nice.

27

Hey Chad, Have you tried SprayWay glass cleaner for indoor cutups that are just a light clean. This will also blow your mind and save you time. It save me two hours on one of my biggest homes a few years back and we now go through 6-7 (12 can cases) per year.

28

[COLOR=#333333]One less thing to bang into gee gaws.[/COLOR]

Ha :slight_smile: That’s what I like about my rolling cart. When I have too many things on my belt, I may accidentally send some gee gaws flying.

29

I have some interest in this. You, Herman, Willy, have had some good ideas lately. I have always used belt systems in my previous work, but I was for the most part not working in finished, lived in space. Nothing wrong with a belt, when you have the room to maneuver.

30

I have never tried SprayWay glass cleaner. Where can I buy it? Before you know it… I will be getting off early everyday and taking naps in the afternoon! Old people like myself love naps!

31

The best price by the case I have found is through Home Depot Online. They even have free shipping over $50.00 everyday. I just ordered two more cases from them and am awaiting delivery. Let me know how it works our. You can also ask the other Chris from N.J. about SprayWay. He uses a lot of it also.

32

Do you just spray it on and squeegee it off? I will give it a try.

All of my houses are maintenance cleans (every 3 to 6 months).

33

Yes sir. For your maintenance cleans it will save you more time to nap in the afternoon. I also spray it onto a mopped window and scrub it in to get extra dirty windows clean. The kitchen sink window would be a good place to do this.

34

Thanks Randy! I saved 30 minutes on the job I had today.

35

I also give a can to every inside customer. That way they don’t use Windex, Cowabunga Tea, frog urine, or some other magic cleaner for dog noses and such that I would have to deal with later. Also, it’s just a little extra something for them.

36

Great idea Dale!

37

I started using a sprayer very recently, and I have to say I like it! Today I did a job in 5 hours that used to take me at least 8. at least 1 hour was saved by using the WFP, but the rest of the time I saved by tweaking my work-flow.

This Job has all casements and sliders with mullion inserts. I used to remove the screens and mullions first, then clean the window, then wipe-down and replace the mullions, and wash the screens all together at the end.

My new work flow for these windows goes like this:

  1. Spray down entire unit (2 or 3 casements together) with screen and mullions installed
  2. Scrub screens in place
  3. Remove screens and wipe with towel
  4. Wipe mullions in place
  5. Remove and set aside mullions
  6. Wash window
  7. Replace mullions and screens

If it weren’t for using the sprayer, I probably never would have come up with this new method. It’s saving me so much hassle!

1 Like
38

You saved a lot of time! That’s great! Thanks for sharing

39

[I]I also give a can to every inside customer. That way they don’t use Windex, Cowabunga Tea, frog urine, or some other magic cleaner for dog noses and such that I would have to deal with later. Also, it’s just a little extra something for them.[/I]

Cowabunga Tea. Wow, just wow, Dale!

I like Sprayway a lot. Started using it for frenchies, storms, and the interior side of skylights - it’s dry, so to speak, so - not as much liquid to cry from the frames upon drying especially with old storm frames that are loose. Skylights I use the Spray Away on the thick nap Unger pads with a swivel holder and my Mini. Buff with the new microfiber pad - they come out very nice without no drips, don’t have to move furniture, and no bigass ladders inside.

Leaving a can is a great idea, gonna start doing that, too.

1 Like
40

They will love you for it and if you get some labels made up to put on the cans it’s better than refrigerator magnets. I think. Sprayway will privet label but it ain’t cheap and you have to buy a large qty. Also keeping in mind that the two main ingredients in Sprayway are pure water and alcohol so I thought that I would use up some solution that I had made with alcohol for working in 20 deg weather last winter. I’m convinced that it helps with things like finger prints. Can’t hurt to try.
I’m gettin’ me some of them Unger pads.
Happy window cleaning, Shem.