[Mike George]

This may be a stupid question, but why do applicators have all those grooves in them?

I assume it's to form a reservoir for the water, but I find it hard to get the excess water out of the cover, so wouldn't it be easier if the grooves weren't there?

[Ian_Giles]

I kind of agree with you there, its a nice idea in theory, but in reality it just runs out of these grooves anyway, I supposes it'll hold a little more water for a few seconds.

I've certainly never noticed the remotest bit of difference myself.

If you are doing the ouside of large plate glass then you want your applicator to hold as much water as possible, so a big, fat, fluffy sleeve is ideal.
There are other times when you wring out the sleeve because you don't want to be mopping up the water that sloshes all over the place

Ian

[windows_chepstow]

This may be a stupid question, but why do applicators have all those grooves in them?

I assume it's to form a reservoir for the water, but I find it hard to get the excess water out of the cover, so wouldn't it be easier if the grooves weren't there?

I usually dip my applicator into the bucket and then using my other hand, run it along its length; so the excess water runs back into the bucket.

One bucket of water can last us a whole day!