I am looking to increase our WFP efficiency this year. Currently, we are usually faster cleaning windows by squeegee unless there is a lot of ladder work or obstacles. Most of our work is residential but we do have a few larger commercial jobs.
Most of our WFP jobs are bi-yearly so some pretty good scrubbing is required to get the stubborn spots. Our current process is to brush and wet the windows with a dual trim brush. We then scrub the windows with a bronze or white pad. After scrubbing with the pad we give the windows another quick scrub with the brush and water and then a rinse after that. So basically we are doing four passes on every window to make sure we get everything. Sometimes we will skip the scrub pad if I know the windows are in good shape and we can just get away with a brush scrub and rinse.
Are there any brushes on the market that will allow us to eliminate scrubbing with a bronze or white pad? I would like to use only a two step cleaning process of brushing and rinsing.
Things we usually have issues with are bird poop, screen oxidation built up on the windows, and the upper corners on the bottom sash of double hung windows.
We use a lot of the Vikan brush heads. Preferably the 16". Good scrub on those and a lot of bristles.
Really if you are looking at efficiency, I would say a bigger indicator than brand is probably size. Yes, you don’t want to use a really crappy brush head but I think size is equally important.
Thanks @mshramek. I was looking at the WCR store. I would say the one we use now looks a lot like this. https://shopwindowcleaner.com/dual-jet-brush-for-plastic-gn.html
It came with our Gardiner pole 4 or 5 years ago. It does a good job for the most part but does not always get everything which is why we use the scrub pads too. Ours is a 12", maybe we need to jump up to a 16".
The constructor brushes look kind of interesting but the reviews sound kind of mixed on them.
Which Gardiner brush do you have as far as stiffness?
I use about a dozen brushes for different applications. Often we’ll even use several on the same project because of differing factors.
I’d say you’re not using a stiff enough bristle brush. Aside from construction debris, there’s nothing I couldn’t get off glass with the right brush. Show me a photo if you can of the brush and the splay.
@Pure_Water_Window_Cl Thanks for the reply. I would say our current brush looks exactly like the picture in the link I posted above. The bristles are fairly soft around the perimeter and shorter and a little more firm in the center area.
I would agree we probably just need a stiffer and maybe larger brush. Any suggestions?
I’d highly recommend trying the Gardiner “stiff” brush. They come in either Super Lite or Supreme versions. Very aggressive scrubbing power while still very light. I’ve put mine through their tests and they are still in great condition.
Many have also had success with hot water for extra devolving power. Have you ever tried hot water wfp?
@Pure_Water_Window_Cl Cool! I’ll look into one of those Gardiner stiff brushes. Sounds like that could do to trick. Anything to eliminate the extra scrubbing with the pad would be a big improvement.
No, I have read briefly about hot water WFP in the past, but have never tried it. I could see how it would help though. Something else too look into…
I’m interested in the constructor brush but having employees doing the work, it’s just too many parts, too many options and its hard to streamline something like that. That’s why I won’t use them. I’d love them for myself but that’s it. Whatever I use I have to make sure it’s a one size fits all model or its just too crazy.
Agreed! I am hoping my employees can get the hang up operating our pure water system by themselves this year. We have an older EZ Pure and the way I have it set up they get intimidated by the valves and flushing it correctly. Simpler is certainly better when it comes to employees.
The thing to understand in cleaning a peice of glass is there are two parts. Agitation and rinse. There are multiple brushes on the market, single trim dual trim monofilament boars hair and even combinations of both. Single jets dual jets pencil jets fan jets. The bristles do the agitation to lossen the dirt and the rinse removes it. The only part of a monofilament brush that agitates the dirt is the tips of the bristles so the more you have the better the brush cleans. The shorter stiff bristles clean better than the long soft bristles. The dual trim brush has both. A boar hair bristle will agitate the dirt on the tips and the sides of the bristle.
Most wfp brushes come with 2 jets and you can add more to the brush. The newest addition to the rinse factor is the rinse bar. This is a hose build into the brush block with pencil jets every 1 inch apart. Giving you a perfect wall of pure water to remove the dirt. This gives you a even rinse all the way across the brush. You can have the rinse bar in the center of the brush or above the brush or both.
I carry multiple brushes with me. I have a Unger Nlite boars hair brush, a Constructor Industrial brush, a Tucker dual trim brush and a Wagtail Jetstream.
Also I add a few drops of Ecover to the brush when the windows need more scrub.
To answer your question the most efficient brush is the Constructor brush.
interesting, i have only ever had the wash it pro and anyone can be taught to set it up in seconds.
re hot water: many brushes are suitable for use with hot, gardiner is the only company i have found that actually has a chart of what temps their different brushes are suitable for.
Thanks for all the help everyone! I decided to give the Gardiner Super-Lite Medium Mixed brushes a try. (Sorry did not see them available on WCR…) I got one in each size. I think the brush will scrub better that what we have and the bigger size will help on some of our jobs too. The style is similar to what we are used too also. I will keep the Constructor in mind for the future. Just not sure we are ready for all the parts and pieces yet.
I have to add my +1 for hot water. Bird poo, other organic solids, and even light to moderate oxidation just melt off the windows and frames. I like it hitting the glass around 120°F or so in the warm weather, and a little lower in the cool weather (to avoid thermal shock fractures).
