I’ve been watching plenty of highrise guys lately whenever I’m downtown and have noticed that many of them use brush instead of a scrubber/t-bar. Besides fitting into the bucket easier, is there any advantage to using a brush?
I don’t see these brushes on WCR store but my local WC supplier has them and they start at a whopping $70 CAN for just a 12" boars hair brush. You can go cheap and get a nylon version for $30 CAN.
I don’t see much use for inside work but I did try just using my soft ‘siding cleaner’ brush for exterior French panes and it worked great. really got into the tight corners well.
But is there any advantage besides getting into the corners better? Does it remove dirt overall better? Awfully expensive compared to t-bar/scrubber.
I would think a t-bar handle would feel nicer in the hand but I’m seeing so many of these high-rise guys using the brush lately.
Dan Fields uses them for all his CCU work.
I can see the benefit here being that it would be less likely to trap debris that could scratch the glass when being dragged across.
While I use strip washers and T-poles, I also use two brushes every day. One, by hand, and one connected to a two-foot pole. It stays in the bucket. Great for interior + exterior.
I agree that they throw a lot of water around though I must admit that when I did some Frenchies the other day with a soft bristle brush I was really happy with the results. I know with a regular scrubber you can easily leave debris in the small corners.
I thought maybe like the Scrim that there might be an advantage to some old school techniques.
Sometimes high rise cleaners run into a building that hasn’t been done in years and is simply too much for just a strip washer. The hogs hair brush can cut through the heavy dirt better. A siding brush works pretty well, but not as well as a hogs hair. But they cost $10.00, the hogs hair $70.00. The hogs hair is very hard on your wrist because of the weight so if you use one make sure you wear a wrist brace.
I learned with a hog hair. It does clean great but like anyhting it has it downfalls. it is heavy and messy. Once you use it for a while you can do it without making a mess but it is hard. I would only use it out side. The main thing I didn’t like about them was that they didn’t fit in my BOAB. For a short time I had one of the winspray soft BOAB and that was awesome! I wish I still had the Winspray. Anyway it’s something good to have. I pull it out every now and then on very dirty windows. It seems to get that 5-10 year grime off better than a t-bar and scrubber.
I went through a period where I tried to use the hogs hair brush. My thinking was in a really bad economy the brush would last several years maybe longer and be less expensive than constantly replacing sleeves when the ends bust out. It was awkward at first but I soon adjusted and got it down to where it was comfortable to use all the time.
When I switched back to using a T-Bar, I was twice as fast. Thus ending my inactuation with the brush. I still do keep one on the truck though because it does come in handy from time to time for windows that have alot of debri on them that I dont want in my washer cover. Its also good for screens.
A couple of tips for anyone wanting to use it. One cut the wood down and sand it so it is less heavy and is more contour. This cuts the weght almost in half and makes it more comfortable on your wrist. Second don’t fill it with so much water so it won’t sling water on everything else. Third you wil need some way to carry it on a ladder if you do not want to hold it the whole time. You wiil spend more time going back and forth to your bucket. Could list more but don’t think anyone would be interested as know one really posted on this topic anyways.
Scott,
I also learned with a hog’s hair brush. I’ll have to agree a T bar scrubber doesn’t hold a candle to a hog’s hair brush when the windows are really dirty. More work and effort involved so I don’t use mine every day. In the winter the hog’s hair brush is great for storefronts, the glass can get really crusty, especially near the ocean.
I saw a guy at McDonald’s yesterday washing the windows with a hog hair brush…looked cool… he was an employee so he was going really slow and sloppy, but I could see the benefit of it just from watching him
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]They come with a hole for the pole to go in. If you get one, don’t press down to hard. It’s not a strip washer. The brush bristles should not be pressed down and flattened out. With a hog’s hair brush less is more in regards to pressure and scrubbing power. [/FONT][/COLOR]
ive not seen one of these brushes , if they are solid and heavy id be a bit scared the wood might hit and break the glass . i come across quite a lot of glass thats over a hundred years old,often it has cracks in it already . are the bristles really made from "hogs hairs ?
