The Orbital is not a slimline channel, it was the wide bodied channel. The rubber is held in with a dent (with a punch) in the center, great idea, but was harder to change out the rubber.
The flippers have a thinner pad , great for getting in the sides. The first ever range of flippers were called the “blue ribbon” with the standard profile squeegee channels. I think if you buy a flipper now it comes with the micro pad.
Whirlwinds onwards have a micro pad. The prototype of the Swoop/one pass also had a slightly different set-up which was similar to the Wagtail scrubber with a squeegee.
There was also a squeegee before all these - the name I forget (think it was just Wagtail), but the whole channel head spins round between pad & squeegee. I still have it!
It’s nice to see all this excitement over wagtails. I think they are a great tool to have in your window cleaning tool box. Maybe it would be cool to have some videos detailing all o the differences of the line. They are so well equipped and capable. The design is just another in the line of simple effective design. Pioneered by Braun perfected by Apple.
on the Blue wagtail ,if you take out the small screw that holds the channel/rubber and Carefully file the end tip of said screw by 1mm, make the tip of the screw round and smooth, then replace the screw into the channel.
now the rubber can be changed by simply pulling it in or out (you do not need to loosen the screw anymore with a screwdriver
I use the Swoops all the time now. Had a week or so of changing between the two, but once I sorted out the technique I stuck with the Swoop. If you really want to fly with the Wagtails - follow Willies examples instead of starting at the top left or right. It’s possible to clean so fast that the Wagtail is a blur to the eye…one of my mad moments.
What is the advantage of using the flipper?
To me the advantage is being able to wet the window with a light and flexible tool.
I do not see much advantage in flipping it over to use the squeegee. I find it tends
to leave splotches or lines on the window. The separate wagtail squeegee is a lot easier to
use.
FLIPPER is faster than using a seperate scrubber. ive heard it said loads of times too. BUT and its a big BUTT ,i stopped using a flipper after several months of continuous use it almost messed up both my wrists. Due to the extra weight of the wet pad when fanning the window
I don’t see how it is much faster. It flops around and gets in the way. You have to keep on getting it in position or it
doesn’t wet properly. If you flop it too much it can throw water onto a clean window. If I pull straight down, it often leaves lines.
If I snake it ,it often leaves water.
I can use a squeegee alone with a lot of speed. The sleeve slows me down.
I don’t see the great value of have the squeegee and washer together. Maybe there is something I don’t see. If so, let me know.
I would like to have the light washer without the squeegee.
It’s a knack - like all stuff, it takes a little while, but if you’ve used the flipper for a whole day & still have problems it’s probably not for you. If you find the pad over extends the squeegee by too much, you may have to trim it down. I also cut a 45 on each end to stop any tell-tale trails. But to give you an example: a job that took 5 people by hand a whole week - I do in 2 days. It’s versatile like no other tool I’ve had. The scrubber to window, then squeegee to window wastes a lot of time & tires you out more especially if you are using a two handed method. The flippers pad also is designed to get into the edge of the window where there is a frame, detailing is reduced by the action. I’d also suggest watching Willies videos again - it’s a slightly different action, start in the middle & swing down on each side.
Thanks. Trails are lines. I will have to try that. Are you talking residential or commercial? Big windows are quite a bit
different that small windows. On a commercial job you can wet the tops of many windows and squeegee them all
at once. I can’t see that much time difference happening. Would the savings be on the tops or the bottoms?
The pad seems to wear down fast and doesn’t hold enough water.
I will probably have to try the whirlwind if I can find one.
