That might work in the frigid UK
I never seen him put any soap on anything… idk maybe I skipped that part, I really dislike videos with just crap music in them.
I honestly don’t see the need to soap the windows or your washer instead of the bucket, mix a perfect ratio and your good for the day, or have inconsistent soap results on every window.
just slows you down adds another step to process…
When using the excelerator, always apply soap to the applicator.
why?
When I use dish soap, which isn’t all the time, I do both. I mix soap in the water and apply a little on the washer to get it started and then It generally has plenty of slip.
The problems with puting it on the washer and not mixing it in the water is that you will use way more soap and your applying a lot more soap to the window and much more than necessary to clean it.
The film that is trapped in the poor of the glass has a much higher concentration of soap to water ratio. As long as your ok with that then that’s one way of doing it. For me it’s too much soap.
I once had a guy working for me who would take a gallon jug of dish soap, remove the cap, and glug it into his bucket. I swear he probably put several cups of soap into his bucket. He didn’t work for me long.
Some guys like a lot of dish soap because it give a lot of slip and makes it much easier to maneuver your squeegee on the glass. For me it’s just way too much soap. Just my take.
Because it needs a very high soap ratio to function properly. Basically it will leave edge trails on every turn unless the viscosity of the water is like motor oil.
@Trad-Man discussed this at one point and I believe he runs a solid line of soap across his washer to keep his excelerator working right.
I agree with @whatapane (as usual) in that such a high concentration of soap is less than desirable. Theoretically it will accelerate re-soiling of the glass surface due to soap residue trapped in the glass pores. Again, not a problem in the UK where glass gets cleaned religiously. But for clients who go a month or more between cleanings I would rather keep their glass looking good for as long as possible (without giving up my nice slippery dish soap).
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to knock the video or method but just giving a different perspective. In the end every one of us has to answer to our customers and our pocket books for our methods so you have to decide what works for you. I’m just offering some input to help in making those decisions.
I’ve had my fair share of bouts where I used more soap than I do now. If I had my choice I would only use Glass Gleam but I go a little quicker with dish soap. It just doesn’t look as good. It still looks good just doesn’t have that amazing gleam the GG does. I go back and forth all the time. I usually use GG4 on the outside of residential and depending on the job dawn or GG4 on the inside. If their selling the home then I just use dawn. Either way I stay away from using too much soap.
Isn’t this the same guy who did a video about not wearing out the rubber in his squeegee by not getting close to the frames? I was thinking while watching that video, ‘He can really save on squeegee rubber if he never touches the glass, at all.’
Down here in bay area of Texas that soapy solution would be baked on the glass before I got halfway down the glass. I don’t have enough time to do 1/2" swipes, back and forth, all the way down. Also, with the sea salt in the air, I still have to wipe the frames.
Totally agree.
Taken from the video comments:
I use ECover/IPA at a ratio of 70/30 great slip and a nice shine finish. I apply a small line of mixture directly to the Fliq or Scrubber and my water bucket is for dunking only. I now use less soap than I used prior (generally an application of mixture is good for a half a dozen or so good sized windows). Soupy is the answer and common sense applied I would suggest. I certainly don’t pole at real height (above 12 feet) on summer days. Store front no issues however. The video is geared towards optimising Liquidator/Fliq/Excelerator use and as such is spot on…if you use other tools? Stay with your tried and true workflows if you’re happy with them.
Your post has more words in it then his entire video does. Your post has more information than the video and the video comments on youtube. The title of the video should be what the video is about; but, it’s not. It’s just another video of someone cleaning windows with the tools they are proficient with. It’s good; he is skilled; the windows look clean.
Everyone shared their opinions, experience, and thoughts, it’s cool.
It has maybe four vague written comments about soap and tightening the pole, hardly optimizing of any tool. I took the video as entertainment…nothing wrong with that. I can respect another persons handy-work and/or opinions, without being won over to their way of doing things, or their way of thinking.
It’s cool. 
For the record. My post was addressing previous comments in this particular thread and not the video per se so this slightly contrary response is a touch confusing. but hey that’s fine. It’s all cool, right…
Hey Jordie, you been laying low?
??? For the record, the following is what you typed.
But, I’m glad you could clarify that you weren’t referring to the only video in this thread.
My misunderstanding, it’s all cool.
Well I never really found an issue, only when the rubber blows out, but by that time its normally made me a thousand or more bucks so a $5 rubber is of small consequence
I am using the exelerator and used the liquidator before that I use it daily your both from cold climates where using soap directly is probably possible, I’m in the middle of winter daytime temps are 74, while it might be what the engineer of the tool recommends he doen’t have to deal with the circumstances I have to deal with and they differ greatly to cold temps and monthly frequency.
Ok Steve, I just hit your profile and now realise you’re about 100 yards south of the Equator :-). But applying the soap directly to the pad and then dunking in the water (or vice versa) is only ensuring consistency of mix. There is no more or less total water on the pad so the challenges we all have on hot glass will be the same either way. It’s an alternative workflow, if you’ve tried it and it doesn’t work for you that’s fine but I’ve been using this system all this week on interior glass in an elderly care home/hospital that quite frankly was ‘sauna like’ and the only thing I had to do, albeit reluctantly, was move somewhat more quickly than I like and yes I was even observed doing straight pulls on a regular basis 
and on the larger panes double handing…we just make the tools work for the environment were in. Nothing’s set in stone.
As an aside I always felt the Willie’s Precision Glide with the slip strip used in conjunction with a light scrubber would have been perfect for the warmer climates.
pffft Willie and his toys…
Maybe if he learned to properly clean windows he wouldn’t need to make a tool to accommodate his particular style…
Like I have staid from the beginning why are people trying to tell people how to correctly use a tool they have already mastered without modifying their technique to the engineers specs…
I have met so many window cleaners throughout my career, most of them I saw a flaw in their technique and I corrected them and they are grateful for it several of these were guys that used to soap their mops it straight out doesn’t work here period, after 3 windows or 1 long tall 1 in the sun the soap gets STICKY and pretty much dries instantly, whats better to measure an amount of soap in a bucket that works and get to it and work til your water runs out or to bring down the 30’ pole ever dunk to re soap it…
so lets think about this every time you dunk if its only a touch or a full dunk in the fresh water you have to remix the solution on your mop, if its already mixed you ain’t gotta do shit… other than wring it out after you clean a bunch of windows.
I’ve been at this 20 years didn’t learn from you tube, was taught by actual master window cleaners who would correct my rookie technique on a daily basis and quite brutally. I have tried every method and I have also spent the past 2 days at an aged care facility.
The title of this tread is Soap the windows not the bucket and I strongly DISAGREE, and I’m always right so NUFF said…
All good. Your prorogative I will continue using the workflow that suits me regardless of the ‘strong disagreement’. Was taught by a hard taskmaster myself in the early 80’s, a couple of decades in retail and been back on the glass for 12 years this time around. Never advertised and continue to get new and repeats by word of mouth so I must be doing something right. Keep dunking…
im never convinced by these vids. what about the frames? somones cleaning them as theyre spotless but never seen cleaning them in the vid. id actually wager the windows were already clean Before the filming starts because theres never any bird plop or crud to be seen . neither is there any rundown of dirty water which id expect to see when cleaning dirty windows
Wow, I needed that! Thanks!
