On another thread we were talking about brands of rubber and who makes the best. Ettore seems to be the favorite and should last the longest. Some guys say their rubber lasts a week and others say a day. I use three channel sizes with Ettore rubber and sometimes the rubber doesn’t even last the day. How come there is such a wide difference from cleaner to cleaner in how long rubber lasts? Are you guys who use a rubber for a week doing something different? Am I doing something wrong?
If the rubber does not last a day, I am wondering why?
Are you putting a huge amount of pressure on the squeegee?
Are you doing a lot of metal wiping? Why would they only last a day?
If my rubber only lasted a day, I would suspect that the rubber was defective.
I run with Ettore rubber mostly now and I can usually about 2-3 days out of it in a hand-me-down fashion. (as soon as the corners are burnt out on both sides, I cut it down and use it on a smaller channel. Provided there are no nicks in it)
Maybe too much pressure Mike?
I do have a [B]heavy hand[/B] in almost everything I do.
Jim Willingham use to say not to dry the rubber with a towel. He would always use a sponge. I do use my huck towels to dry the blades, but doesn’t everybody?
I was wondering does using a lot of suds help the blades to last longer? 
I use very little soap.
I think the biggest reason rubber wears out faster for one guy over another is pressure on the squeegee. We are all unique individuals so we are going to use different pressure on our squeegees. I’m sure there are other factors as well (fanning as opposed to straight pulls, temperature of the glass, etc) but pressure is probably the main culprit.
I am going to try to be aware of how much pressure I am using. The least amount of pressure that works is the best. Too much pressure puts stress on your hand also.
In order to reduce the hydrocarbons in the atmosphere and slow down global warming, I vow to use less rubber while washing windows.
Perhaps there will be a new tax on squeegee rubber.
What about soft and hard rubbers ??
DW
I would have to “guess” it would be several things that could cause squeegee rubber to wear quicker than usual. It could be the holster you are carrying your tool in. Is it a Boab? Is it a leather holster? Leather is tough on rubber when they are rubbed together. If you use your squeegee to squeegee down window sills and ledges, there could be debris on there (like concrete particles) that could be nicking it up. Heat on glass I would guess could also round out a sharp edge quickly. These are just my thoughts on wear of squeegee rubber. If im going through rubber daily, its usually bad rubber that wasnt cured right from the factory. This has happened to me more than once.
I use Ettore almost exclusively, but it seems like my last 3 packs have worn significantly faster than it used to. My technique hasn’t changed so I’m not sure why this is happening, definately not the hot weather right now. I used a sample of the X Rubber recently and found it lasted nearly a week. My only complaint with it is it screeches pretty loud sometimes.
Ive found that the last 2 orders of Ettore rubber has worn out pretty quickly. I flip or switch rubber as soon as the results are less than perfect though. So that is a factor to consider. Some say you should just apply more pressure for older rubber, I dont because more pressure means rubber marks on windows. As for the X Rubber, I loved that stuff until I realized it leaves silicon on the glass. X Rubber is actually silicone. If you clean a window and then wet it again you’ll see that where the squeegee overlapped the dry glass is now highly hydrophobic. We did a beach house last year a few times with X rubber. As the ocean air put moisture on the windows, tic tac toe lines appeared all over the windows(criss cross lines from squeegeeing). The windows looked horrible and we had to spend about five hours(for free) scrubbing those windows with steel wool to remove the silicone. My worst window cleaning experience to date. If youre going to use X Rubber dont use it anywhere near the beach.
Consistency is an important factor when choosing rubber. Every rubber should perform like the others.
If this does not happen, the rubber has to be downgraded in terms of value.
The manufacturer of the rubber needs to put a lot of attention on quality control. If they do not do this, they should expect to lose sales. Once a window cleaner discovers that they are wasting their money on inferior rubber, they are likely to look elsewhere, and they may stay away for a long time if not forever. I guess that is why the rubber business would be a difficult one.
As for the X Rubber, I loved that stuff until I realized it leaves silicon on the glass. X Rubber is actually silicone. If you clean a window and then wet it again you’ll see that where the squeegee overlapped the dry glass is now highly hydrophobic. We did a beach house last year a few times with X rubber. As the ocean air put moisture on the windows, tic tac toe lines appeared all over the windows(criss cross lines from squeegeeing). The windows looked horrible and we had to spend about five hours(for free) scrubbing those windows with steel wool to remove the silicone. My worst window cleaning experience to date. If youre going to use X Rubber dont use it anywhere near the beach.[/QUOTE]
Good to know about the X Rubber. You got me wondering about the few houses I used it on now. As for the Ettore I just got a new pack this week and if it still doesn’t last like it should I plan on switching to Pulex. I liked Ungers before they switched to their new formula (I think that may be silicone as well).
makes sense. less soap, less glide, more friction, more wear on rubber.
When will we be able to recycle used squeegee rubber?
Yeah, I wonder the same thing.
I would like to recycle used rubber
if youre using sorbo you can use the rubber cutter thingy.
Yeah, the rubber cutter thingy. I think it’s called a docket. It runs a couple hundred $ +or- but you can renew your rubber about 12? times. Cool.
What is the X rubber y’all are speaking of?
If you’re into recycling, you might want to start by checking if you city has a local rubber/tire recycling center. I found mine.So I’ll start by doing that. Its crazy that we throw away. I wonder if window cleaners can get Ettore or S-bo to by back used rubber for pennies to be recycled. I dont want the money, I just think there is a better way to manage what we waste.
yes ,i too think the unger maybe silicone . the silicone looking rubber looks darker,shinier ? definitely best to avoid the silicone,it leaves a fine trace on the glass definitely
