Picked up a new brewery that was just built in my area - whoever did the CCU on the windows did a terrible job, and now I have inherited their mess (by my own choosing of course) - I don’t mind CCU and can look past the first clean as it will be a regular stop.
Today I cleaned the windows for the first time and all was good until I got to some of the big panes - it felt like my squeegee was “caught up” on something, not gliding at all, weird feeling. Looking up close to the glass it looks like some major damage on a micro scale. My first thought was someone used a harsh solvent on these to clean them maybe?
Does anypne have any experience on glass like this? Feels like your squeegee is dragging ass and its tough to make good turns while fanning because there is too much friction and not enough lubrication.
By the sounds of it , it might have film on it. Even with extra solution most older films just dont allow squeegee to slide n turn. And the up close damage you see could likely be the film, cracky Orange peel look? If youre not familiar with tint, its easy to miss. Look very closely to the edges to see if theres film
I just had a clothing store on my route last week, they had 3 companies there prior to me attempting to clean this horrid glass. When i got there i saw right away it was old and abused security film on the exterior. I stripped and retinted, crystal clear now.
I have a store on my route with this problem. For like 25 years no problem. Then one day I did it and sticky glass on the in only. And only half the in. I think someone used a solvent/floor stripper of some kind that left a deposit. If I were to micro-lap with a cerium I can slide and turn with a squeegee with nothing but water. In this video I used my product SKRUB to micro-lap.
It takes about 30 seconds per square foot for the process. And you can squeegee off using pure water. You will notice how the random oscillator doesn’t throw the slurry all over. It is very neat. This demonstration was done to show the difference between the hydrophobic nature of brand new glass compared to a hydrophylic micro-lapped surface.
If not in one piece, then a 6" inch scraper and your soapy water. Alot of guys suggest a heat gun to loosen the adhesive but its very time consuming with not too much help on older films that just crack apart. A great much faster trick,(if you have sunlight directly on glass)is cut open black garbage bags, spray the window, lay bags on the glass, spray outside of bag. Wait about ten min, then scrape off the film. Saves alot of elbow grease! I also use Rapid Remover. A spray on adhesive remover, only good for the glue though, does no good to spray on the film itself.
It sounds like you have encountered an exposed side of Low E coat glass, you can not use any metal on it or it will leave a black mark which you will not be able to remove thru any cleaning methods you will try.
