Hi everybody. I’ve been thinking about starting to get into storefront to get my feet wet. I’ve looked into a lot of stuff but for the moment my question what size should I start with with a squeege?like i see the packs that they sell at lowes. Which I’ve been practiing but what would be a good squeege to get. Or both that and mop. I know you need to have a few( feel free to suggest must have sizes as well)Like knowing what you folks know now what do you think would be good? Open to anything.
Where are you out of… area of the country at least state?
Michigan!
We learned on storefronts and did well with a 14” channel and sleeve. Not all of our windows are large glass so the 14” is versatile. Given the high level of dirt that we have in our area, the Ettore porcupine sleeve works well. We have some Maykker sleeves coming that we are eager to try.
For tall commercial glass, we use the Moerman FLIQ pad with Ettore brass and Moerman ends to help deal with the sun’s heat before the solution dries. That setup is a little more than a newbie’s kit, not sure how much time you have behind a handle.
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Get an 18", 12", and a 6"
Then you can cycle the 18" used rubber cut down to one 12" and one 6"
Gives you a total package for big, medium and small glass, without buying odd rubber lengths.
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Get a 20” Squeegee and an 18” t-bar and scrubber. This will tackle most commercial. Use the search bar and learn everything, and I mean everything you can! Charge rates that will make sense when you have employees, don’t think only about your current personal situation. You will do great!
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Oh… and get into pure water as quick as you can!
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I’m with endless, 18 12 and 6. Once you master the 18 then you can move on to bigger channels. I like the stainless channels. The 6 is used for sills.
These are also the standard sizes for my residential.
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How often do you from your own experience reuse the rubber? Like how long After a changing one do you decide it needs to be changed but Good enough for a 12 and 6? Sorry if that this wasn’t asked right.hopefully you get what I’m trying to ask.haha!
I’m sure everyone has a different preference; depends on the condition of the glass as well. But for me, generally, I keep an eye on the corners of the rubber, (where the rubber will sometimes rub the frame) when they start getting tattered I cut em down, recutting the corners so they’re fresh.
If im cleaning glass in rough shape though, lot of dirt, I’ll sometimes skip the process and grab new rubber all around; if you try reusing rubber with a dulled edge you’ll often get rainbow streaks. Sharp edge, un-tattered corners, that’s the winning combo.
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Thank you everyone for the responses.there are a lot of things here to research for sure but some fresh responses are always nice.
If you’re just starting out the pulex brand has an angle that is very forgiving. I like the ettore, but the angle on it is a lot more strict in how you use it. I personally don’t like unger because it’s a little small for my hands, but if you’re not a gorilla, then it’s very popular as well.
I like stainless over brass because I kept dropping my brass pulex and they would keep warping. Stainless is pretty tough.
I also like swivel handles. Ettore Pro is my go to. I don’t like the zero degree, but that’s personal preference.
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that happened to me a little while ago…suddenly i was in their account
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i even sent myself a dm from their account!!!
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What sizes. Of the ettore pro do you go with?
Thanks for everyone still chipping in here.this is helpful.
18, 12, and 6. The 18 is the main so you’ll need to keep fresh rubber on it. Keep an eye on the ends of the rubber and when they start to round off, you can cut that rubber down for the 12 unless you get a nick in the middle of the rubber. You can sometimes flip the rubber (like if you get a small nick in it), but if the ends are rounded off don’t bother. The 6" is mainly used for sills and when the 12 wears you can move it to the 6 since the 6 can be beat up and will get completely trashed on the sills.
The 18" and 12 should last 1-5 days depending on how much work you’re doing. If you’re doing a lot of houses, you can get a lot more life out of them. If you’re doing route, the life is going to be a LOT shorter. You should be getting anywhere from $500-$1000 per rubber so don’t worry about changing it.
The 6" can last forever since it doesn’t matter what shape the rubber is in. Change it when you want to.
If you’re doing a LOT of route, you might want to look into the wide body channels. I don’t like them, but you should try them to see if you do. If you have a lot of cut ups in houses, buy a bunch of channels and cut them in 1" increments so you can just grab one to fit.
You can also do a search for “dog earring” your channels, but that’s also personal preference.
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