I have a problem with fanning, that my squeegee will sometimes leave fine lines of water, either in the middle of the squeegee or at the tip. I use an unger ninja squeegee. I have tried different rubbers to no avail. Sometimes I do better and sometimes have more problems. I think I have less problems on a newer glass, but not necessarily always. I have watched a lot of videos and tried different techniques. I use dawn soap in my water. About a tablespoon per gallon. I’ve also tried applying dawn directly on my squeegee. What am I doing wrong? Also I average about 8 hours to do a house with 20 windows, inside and outside. Don’t laugh! How long should it take?
With a newer rubber, a piece of glass that is free of debris and mop water is not too dirty, are you still getting lines? There are several threads about this subject.
Is there pet hair in your life or at that job? (That can get stuck in the rubber and leave a tiny drag lines.)
Regarding the time, everyone is different, don’t stress. Compare you with you.
Are there areas where you are spending too much time trying to be extra thorough maybe? If fanning is giving you issues, there’s nothing wrong with straight pulls, especially if it’s faster right now. There are a few threads on here about how to cut down the time at the job too.
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Thank you for the reply. No pet hair as far as I could see. Thanks for the tip on straight pulls, as a backup. Been on a winter break for awhile, so that will be a good alternative if I have problems starting back up
The fine line in the middle has me confused… The tip means that your rubber is worn out. Look closely at it and you’ll see the edges rounded down. In the middle… I’m guessing either a hair or a nick in the rubber.
If it was a lot of water in the middle I’d say the squeegee is too big or warped somehow.
Have you tried using regular channels? I’m not sure how many use ninjas on residential glass.
20 windows… Depending on the level of clean maybe 2 hours. You should shoot for at least $100/hr (If 20 windows=$200 depending on level of clean and your area).
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Sounds like you may not be cutting in correctly.
here is the correct method to clean a window:
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Thanks for the video. I believe you’re right that it’s my technique. I will try to copy the technique from video.
Thanks for the tips. Maybe I need to try a different channel. Also, I appreciate your guide to pricing. Thanks!
If you’re just starting out don’t stress out about fanning , straight pulls from left to right is just fine . The fine line in the middle means there’s a nic in the rubber or maybe you have the channel in the wrong way . Double check that the lower side of the channel is facing the glass . Also don’t add dawn to the rubber , that might be part of the problem
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I actually do use a couple ninjas on residential… Extra detailing but there is something about that squeegee I just like the feel of…
Im not the most experienced myself compared to most on here but a few things come to mind: Have you tried simply giving the rubber a quick whipe/clean? Sometimes I find dirt can get stuck to the rubber and create lines, I assume you repalced or flipped the rubber already? Are you for sure using the correct angel and pressure? Also look down the rubber from end to end, it could be it got wavy/wonky when you engaged the clips. I presume It’s one of the harder channels to bend but if you tried everything else, it’s certainly a possibility…
Ps, if straight pulls get the job done and look as good, the customer doesnt care what technique you use if h results are same 
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Thanks for the suggestions. I really appreciate it.
Thanks for the suggestions. I feel that my problem has something to do with pressure and angle.
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I did a job last week and I noticed that fanning the inside was pretty ok, but when I cleaned the outside I had an issue with leaving a bead at the tip of the rubber. I put a new rubber before the job and cleaned the windows with quad zero steel wool and scraped if needed. If I did straight pulls I did not leave a bead. Any ideas of what my problem could be? The rubber looked fine and was new for the job. I tried real hard fan as what I’ve seen a number of videos, but still I seem to be leaving that bead at the top of the rubber. Other than that, the customers loved my job
On your fan you’re probably either having the squeegee vertical or the top edge is behind the bottom edge.
You need to lead with your top edge and this forces the water down. If you lead with your bottom edge, the water will walk “up” the squeegee.
It’s part of the technique that most people don’t notice but it’ll make a huge difference in not leaving lines.
The other part of this technique is not to lead with too much of an angle or else your 18" squeegee will only clean 12" with too much angle. So there’s a fine line in maximizing your squeegee length and not leaving tip water.
Note, this is also true of using a pole. The edge “facing the water” needs to be higher than the edge facing the dry side of the window. Then when you go back up you turn the squeegee with the rubber facing the dry side. It’s counter intuitive but you need to learn to push the water where you want it to go.
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Thank you JaredA1
Great explanation, I really appreciate you taking the time to explain it. That will really start to make a difference for me, knowing what to look for as I’m fanning. Thanks!!!
I had same “problem”, - check if those smears/lines are visible after they’ve evaporated. When fanning, I noticed that I leave faint, very thin humid smears/lines that rather quickly evaporates and I did a lot of unnecessary extra work trying to “fix” them. As it turns out, when they evaporate, they don’t leave any visible film/smears (sometimes they evaporate instantly and you don’t even notice). I stumbled upon some videos where traditional window cleaning pros were leavening the same faint lines/smears when fanning, but they were never trying to “fix” them, like I did, and you can clearly see that they evaporate very quickly and doesn’t leave visible marks on a glass. Maybe you and I were stressing about something that is normal “phenomena” when fanning?
These marks/streaks/smears might evaporate, while at the angle and lighting situation it might appear that there is no visible streak you can see, wait until the sun is shining thru those windows at certain times of the day and those windows will looks like a dogs breakfast.
That being said buffing those will only result in the window looking worse once the sun hits at the dreaded angle, I can’t speak to other so called professionals making videos leaving streaks.
At the end of the day the technique of cleaning windows isn’t something you copy, you understand what is going on whether or not if you are using traditional tools or water fed, firstly you agitate the glass loosening the debris then you remove the debris when using a squeegee the method most used is fanning this is where you manipulate the squeegee in a fluid motions while keeping the rubber intact with the glass as you work the soapy water to the bottom of the frame any soapy water that is missed or streaks off the squeegee will be visible from the right angle.
