Very…different. Tried it on a long time customer’s 1.5 story flat windows, did all the scrubbing techniques shown in the videos and they came out nice. I didn’t get a chance to use the bronze brush as she has bird decals on the outside, hopefully I can get to a really dirty window and try it out.
Definitely have to get a hose reel, and still getting used to that univalve. The Xero Micro is nice!
Good for you. Iam still getting comfortable with mine. Old dogs and new tricks kinda thing.
Same here, 25 years in and I’m just now deciding to get one.
Iam 25 or so in as well. I’ve had the system for a year or so. Iam still sceptical and hesitant to use it on accounts that are used to getting them done traditionally.
Ditto. My long time customers expect me to ‘hands on’ everything, I’ll just have to explain that I’m no longer in my 20’s and body parts no longer cooperate when climbing ladders.
I’m wondering about what I call ‘window BS’ like silicone, mineral deposits, artillery fungus etc that normally require a scraper. We’ll see I guess.
@dcbrock You could say you no longer remove construction debris and hard water spots above a certain height. Artillery fungus you could use a razor on most 2 stories if you have too, but I wouldn’t go above that personally.
ASV, go forth with confidence and belief in the WFP. The most dirt accumulates on the edges of course, so scrub those well first then the glass and rinse real well. Just as with traditional you might have to clean some windows twice if they are particularly dirty.
Well, I made a mistake today. House hadn’t been done in 8 years, if ever and I decided to use it on the 2nd story. Silicone, fallout, general garbage only a scraper could remove.
I’m getting the impression WFP is strictly for recurring, yearly customers with just basic dust or dirt on the glass. I don’t know what is in the air here in Louisville but it’s brutal on windows. Sometimes a scraper doesn’t even get it off.
I will say however it does make it easier to get frames and sills clean with all that water running down.
Sorry to hear. We have used WFP on rough windows, but not on paint/stain overspray, silicone. I can vouch that boars hair works great on interior latex paint and bird junk. How interior latex paint gets on the exterior, I don’t know.
I have seen hot wfp get off more paint oxidation than a mop, but yes it will not remove silicon. For windows that haven’t been cleaned in years you have to scrub very good at all corners, and even then you may have to do touch up. Soak time can also help.
Hey dcbrock. I have been using a Tucker Pole WFP since 2005. In the last 3 years I got into the purification tanks and ro filters-- The water quality where I do the majority of service is in the 90-120TDS range, so we would get by without a tank to good results. Some jobs I would just use the Tucker pole to “pre-wash” the windows if they were really, really bad (Like after a hurricane, 6+ months in between jobs, new accounts) and just scrub and Tucker them—this is actually still my preferred method on any first clean…so much better than hosing the windows-- the tucker brush gets it to where you can clean with ease nose-to-glass…
HOWEVER, on ROUTINE cleans…weeklys, bi-weekly, monthly, etc…hands down if you know how to use the WFP correctly and have a tank system…you are flying. There is no comparison. I too doubted this, until I was able to start doing homes that took me 6-7 hours by hand (all cutups, entire big mccastle)…in 3 hours (with breaks!) It’s a no brainer if you have ROUTINE cleanings set up.
On the same token, I do not use WFP on big sliders or most big windows— I have a 22 and a 30 inch squeegee for that-- maybe if I was using a 12 incher it would be faster (LOL). I do big glass all day, I mainly like the WFP for ladder work and MAINLY french windows. But this is after a good first initial clean (scraping, etc)-- Although I have had GOOD results on first cleans, it is never going to be 100 percent unless you are removing the paint, silicon, fungus, bug eggs…off-- I don’t know about you but scraping with a 24 foot Garelick is not all that easy lol.
OXIDATION is an issue. The only thing I have learned is…if it doesn’t come off after a really, really good rinse and scrub— You are just going to have to do them by hand. Save yourself the trouble, if they are leakers they WILL run that oxidation down the frames to the pane below-- you have to really, flush it well. Personally, if I start seeing that I will just hose them with a regular hose very good to get that top layer off. Worst case, I tucker pole them quick and then squeegee the water off.
Also, on 3-4 story jobs it is hard to see sometimes. I was able to do 5 sets of condo buildings (1 a day, 8 hours on each) with my 40 foot XERO PRO CF pole fully extended at 40 feet-- I advise to learn at lower levels as with these rinse bars I have to re-train my muscle memory of having my pencil jets in the middle of my Tucker brush, to remember to stop 1-2 inches above the top frame so the rinse bar doesn’t pull dirt off the top frame. My friends and I agree, with traditional window cleaning you don’t have to really check your work after you clean and detail-- with WFP it IS needed to check because you could have a top frame window leaking down DIRTY salt buildup— sometimes going over it twice and WAITING FOR THE DRIPS TO STOP (sometimes its 2 minutes, sometimes its 20)-- but once you see its dying good you realize you did this FROM THE GROUND and saved slipping off a 3-4 section window cleaning ladder.
You can use a WFP in high winds. I don’t like to. But sometimes there is a 600-700 member party going on at the clubhouse and you have to make do. Careful of water buildup in bottom frames-- a high wind gust WILL bring that water down–
I know this is a big post and I am being petty detailed, but truth be told I could do it with eyes closed…It is not rocket science - once you learn the proper techniques and know when you can use it, it is one of the best tool you can have in your arsenal. You can train a worker to use this in a couple weeks, whereas a traditional cleaner may take 6 months before they are up to speed (window cleaning by hand is a lot harder to learn than this, is what I am saying)
Sounds like more of a CCU than normal or heavy window cleaning.
Initial/CCU cleaners typically don’t bother with silicone and other junk here. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen windows scratched all to heck from so-called ‘window cleaners’ using a razor on tempered glass after the house was built.
If they just scrape the entire glass on a CCU then a lot of scratching is possible. If carefully remove debris with minor amount of razor and solvent then minimal if any scratching. But to go up to a window and just start scraping everywhere? Those days are gone.
