[Clean Cloth]

I clean 3 bungalows in a row and one customer told me her daughter was not happy with my clean last month. Apparently I had left arc marks on some conservatory windows. I am Trad.
She came home when I was cleaning her windows today so I asked her about it.
I have been cleaning windows for 2 years 4 months and last year another customer complained of the same thing.
I do mostly check my work as I go, but sometimes you can't see any imperfections. I know because before Covid I have cleaned the outsides and insides and can only see marks from the inside.
I really do not know why the squeegee leaves these marks but I want to rectify it as I hate to think I am doing a bad job.
I do change the rubber when the ends get worn.

Any ideas on how to prevent this?

[windowswashed]

Might have had a tiny nick in the rubber and not noticed.

[Always shining]

Can only be a bit of grit on the rubber (keep the rubber clean) or most likely a little nick in the rubber (change as often as you can). Sometimes the rubber will last ages other times a new rubber can go in a day!

[nathankaye]

Keep your water clean.  Dont use too much soap and be slow on the turns.   These can lead to leaving marks on the windows.
As said, also ensure blades are in good order.  I know back in my trad days, I used to change my rubbers every 2 wks.
Im kinda looking forward to doing some work trad again, just not pleased with getting the ladders back out.

[Slacky]

Might be the water drying out leaving inadequate lubrication on the glass.

[G Griffin]

You're not breaking the dirt/grease down and then fanning it around? Or maybe what Slacky said.
Give them a good soak first or a wipe the glass with a damp cloth before soaping up.

[dazmond]

it could also be a bent channel.........but its more than  likely a nick/grit in your rubber or inadequate amounts of detergent on the windows before blading....the weather has been hot and sunny and they dry out quickly.....you need to soap up more and on a smaller portion of the window

[Clean Cloth]

Thank-you all for the replies.
Some really good ideas for me to look out for.

Nick in the rubber.
Grit on the rubber.
Dirty water.
Too much soap.
Water drying on the glass.
Not enough water/scrubbing.
Bent channel.

Today I started wiping the blade each time I get the Squeegees out of the BOAB.
Using  more water on the mop.
The channels look straight and no lines today.

[NWH]

Keep your water clean.  Dont use too much soap and be slow on the turns.   These can lead to leaving marks on the windows.
As said, also ensure blades are in good order.  I know back in my trad days, I used to change my rubbers every 2 wks.
Im kinda looking forward to doing some work trad again, just not pleased with getting the ladders back out.

Makes no difference if you use clean water or filthy water,turn marks are caused by not going back over the previous pass and lines and usually made by worn edges on the rubbber.
Years gone by we used to use water so dirty when we got to the bottom of the bucket it looked like it had sand in it.

[TomCrowther]

My take on the lines are instead of making the turn and going straight into another turn, you need to raise the edge of the rubber slightly to "squeegee" away the stop as it were. Makes sense to me anyway.

[NWH]

Always go back over the first section that you do at the top of the window,from left to right then back over the turn lines again.
It always makes me laugh when I see PolznBlades when he’s using that liquidator he never goes back over some of what he’s done on the top section of the window,with that tool I bet they look awful if they are south facing some days even if he uses a bottle of fairy on each house lol.

[deeege]

Better off doing straight pulls, that’s how the pro tradders do it. 😳

[SB Cleaning]

Better off doing straight pulls, that’s how the pro tradders do it. 😳

Better off buying a wfp system 

[Clean Cloth]

Better off doing straight pulls, that’s how the pro tradders do it. 😳

Funny you should say that, my neighbour is a domestic help and one of her customers asked if I could do a 1 off window clean of his house as his regular window cleaners had not been for 10 weeks.
That was 2 weeks ago, it took me 40 minutes and I charged £18.
I clean her windows and she knows I clean the frames, glass and sills.
Yesterday she told me the window cleaners arrived, the father cleaned the top windows off a ladder and the son cleaned the lower windows and she said he did horizontal straight pulls, no frames cleaned. They charged £12.
Some window cleaners around here who have been doing it for years charge £5 for detached bungalows and have loads of work, I charge 10 or 12 and get 95% I price for but it is hard to get enough work as the area is saturated with window cleaners.

[nathankaye]

Better off doing straight pulls, that’s how the pro tradders do it. 😳

Funny you should say that, my neighbour is a domestic help and one of her customers asked if I could do a 1 off window clean of his house as his regular window cleaners had not been for 10 weeks.
That was 2 weeks ago, it took me 40 minutes and I charged £18.
I clean her windows and she knows I clean the frames, glass and sills.
Yesterday she told me the window cleaners arrived, the father cleaned the top windows off a ladder and the son cleaned the lower windows and she said he did horizontal straight pulls, no frames cleaned. They charged £12.
Some window cleaners around here who have been doing it for years charge £5 for detached bungalows and have loads of work, I charge 10 or 12 and get 95% I price for but it is hard to get enough work as the area is saturated with window cleaners.

One thing ive learnt from this forum is not to post prices lol.  Especially if a one off trad job takes 40 mins at £18.  Although if your happy with that price, then that is all that matters.
I know going back to trad for myself, i wont (or atleast be trying not too) get any more customers and build it up more again. As these customers were on wfp their frames are always cleaned and so going forward on trad they will get a light going over just to keep them clean.  Yet if i was to do any new job, i would go back to charging higher prices than wfp as frames add a whole lot more time onto a clean

[matthewprice]

Hi if you use a bucket on a belt to hold the squeegee. I found I got a slight depression about half way along the rubber .causing lines

[NWH]

£18 for 40 minutes work eh Nathan you ain’t starting to do the odd freebie too like me are you 😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣,not even enough for a new brush that job.

[NWH]

Hi if you use a bucket on a belt to hold the squeegee. I found I got a slight depression about half way along the rubber .causing lines

You will do I would bin every other bucket on a belt there is,the best you’ll get that won’t do this is a classic Unger bucket on a belt.
They obviously won’t fit a Liquidator but that’s not a bad thing I can’t wait for the bins to be collected so they can take mine away.

[nathankaye]

£18 for 40 minutes work eh Nathan you ain’t starting to do the odd freebie too like me are you 😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣,not even enough for a new brush that job.

Mate, you need to re read the post.  It aint me whos priced up a one off job that took 40 mins for £18.

[NWH]

I couldn’t go back to traditional all the time it’s a bit like using you’re hand every now again is fine but not forever 🤣🤣🤣🤣