[paul alan]

could realy do with some help speeding things up,i been cleaning windows now for around 10 months and have self taught and been watching vids on youtube. im quite happy with my technique so far but am still experiencing quite a lot of detailing which is slowing me down.im probably doing 2-3 an hour on average but woulkd like to be doing more.i think most of my time is lost on chasing water around windows and sills after squeegee'ing.and now the weathers getting hotter my scrim is making a right mess on windows in the sun.i use a bayersarn squeegee with a dogear on each end,scrims and some microfibre cloth's which also leave what looks like small fibres on the window in the sun.ive just started using ecover soap wich seems fine,and buy good quality rubber which im starting to change more often but still get streaks when fanning the glass.ive tried loads of different fanning technique's but am still getting thin semi circle streaks with 12" and 14" squeegee.its driving me mad,would love some advice!

[Richard Shepherd]

Change to wfp.

[bobplum]

the dog ear?,is this the type were you insert a metal piece or have you bent the channel down,either way i would remove them/re bend the channel,i always found they put a dimple in the rubber and this left a water trail
are you leaving about 3mm of rubber protruding from the edge of the channel or have you cut it flush
i would would change to a wagtail whirlwind
and i would go for hard rubber for the summer,i found the wagtail rubber to be the best
i would change to gg3 and maybe add some sorbo glide
this is what suited me but everyone's different

[Frankybadboy]

dont soap right up to the edge of the frame,leave about 1/2inch between soap and frame,and a bit of dogear and your be ok,

[paul alan]

cheers guys! i have cut and bent the edges of the channel to point forward,this pushes the edges of the channel into corners and works well"in the corners",i did have my suspicions about it though. so should i take it back altogether or leave it slight? i leave the rubber to protude around 3-4mill i dont cut flush. although i find that my rubber bounces off the glass rubber seals which doesnt help with detailing.    and when you say leave the edges by about 1/2" when soaping,do you not find that you get dry smears around the edges which need detailing anyway? or is it just me? wagtail sounds good to me but do they take much time to get used to? and anyone got any advice on cloth's? ive got scrim and cheap microfibre but am leaving a smears on detailing. theres plenty of competition in my area so i want to be better than the others and am aiming for as near perfect windows as poss,whilst aiming foraround £20 per hour which i already do some hours.but i know i can be faster,how many house are ppl doing on average?wahts a good routine for approaching a house and having it done asap? realy need to improve my speed,all help greatly appreciated.

[Jackal]

your speed will get better and better with time if you try to speed up before your ready you'l end up making a mess of the windows or missing bits it took me a year and half before i was at my peak with speed and quality,i soap the whole window aswell as if you miss the edges by 1/2 inch they are dirty so need wiping anyway,

i tryed the dogearing but wasnt happy with the squeege then so went back to a normal 12" one,as for cloths cheap microfibre are no good for glass you need unger green microfibre leave no bits but get wet quicker than a scrim so i use both,scrim are only a problem if you miss a bit on the glass in the sun and try wiping it off thats when they leave bits behind,the unger mirofibre is needed then,eventually you'll just click and wonder why you found it so hard

[Window Washers]

could realy do with some help speeding things up,i been cleaning windows now for around 10 months and have self taught and been watching vids on youtube. im quite happy with my technique so far but am still experiencing quite a lot of detailing which is slowing me down.im probably doing 2-3 an hour on average but woulkd like to be doing more.i think most of my time is lost on chasing water around windows and sills after squeegee'ing.and now the weathers getting hotter my scrim is making a right mess on windows in the sun.i use a bayersarn squeegee with a dogear on each end,scrims and some microfibre cloth's which also leave what looks like small fibres on the window in the sun.ive just started using ecover soap wich seems fine,and buy good quality rubber which im starting to change more often but still get streaks when fanning the glass.ive tried loads of different fanning technique's but am still getting thin semi circle streaks with 12" and 14" squeegee.its driving me mad,would love some advice!

have you tried gg3 or gg4 ? this helps with less edging, people say there is not enough slide when using it, I just added a little more to water and never had a problem. 

[bobplum]

YOU SEEM VERY WORRIED ABOUT SPEED AND TIME,do a good job first then build it up slowly
 if your in this job for the long run then think long term use different products,like gg3 and sorbo glide,try the wagtail,what difference does it make if it takes a little time to get use to it

WALK THEN RUN

[paul saunders]

 

Change to wfp.

There's always one!

[squeegee master]

someone called me? 

[paul saunders]

No, the goon who said "go WFP".

[Small but perfectley formed]

Buy syr rubber and use 12" squeegy cut the rubber so only 1-2 mm longer than channel use the fan or rainbow technique to remove water  from glass.

[paul alan]

could realy do with some help speeding things up,i been cleaning windows now for around 10 months and have self taught and been watching vids on youtube. im quite happy with my technique so far but am still experiencing quite a lot of detailing which is slowing me down.im probably doing 2-3 an hour on average but woulkd like to be doing more.i think most of my time is lost on chasing water around windows and sills after squeegee'ing.and now the weathers getting hotter my scrim is making a right mess on windows in the sun.i use a bayersarn squeegee with a dogear on each end,scrims and some microfibre cloth's which also leave what looks like small fibres on the window in the sun.ive just started using ecover soap wich seems fine,and buy good quality rubber which im starting to change more often but still get streaks when fanning the glass.ive tried loads of different fanning technique's but am still getting thin semi circle streaks with 12" and 14" squeegee.its driving me mad,would love some advice!

have you tried gg3 or gg4 ? this helps with less edging, people say there is not enough slide when using it, I just added a little more to water and never had a problem. 

no i aint tried it! been using fairy then just switched to ecover,i once tried a designer detergent but didnt notice much difference,is there a difference between hard and soft water detergents?

[stuart mc]

dont soap right up to the edge of the frame,leave about 1/2inch between soap and frame,and a bit of dogear and your be ok,

and I bet after a few months there is a visible white line round the window

a lot if is do with angles, if you hold a squeegie with to shallow an angle i.e handle to close to the glass this will happen

there is about another million reason as well right enough, I couldn't really say without watching you to be honest

[jim bean]

dont soap right up to the edge of the frame,leave about 1/2inch between soap and frame,and a bit of dogear and your be ok,

and I bet after a few months there is a visible white line round the window
a lot if is do with angles, if you hold a squeegie with to shallow an angle i.e handle to close to the glass this will
there is about another million reason as well right enough, I couldn't really say without watching you to be honest

Take note of that advice, there's always a reason for it il name a few;
Too soapy
Too much water within the squegee needs banging off
Little bits on your blade.
Fanning too close to edge of soapmark.
I learnt the hard way through trial an error, I change my rubber every week as I do a lot of olden wooden frames etc and that wears them down quick.
I've been experimenting with amounts of fairy, the perfect amount iv found is very very little in the sun, bit more in winter.

And whoever said don't touch edges oh my god ull be left with a smear where ur blades half onthe water and half on dry.done it seen what it does from the inside and I won't be doing it again. I find it best to soap it all up, let it drip down A bit off top frame(can do frames in this time) detail one side and top corner before squeegeeing, then fan it down and pull off at bottom. I never detail the bottom frame unless the soap is littlerally an inch up the window.
Hope that helped a bit!!

[dazmond]

dont use too much soap in your bucket

DONT soap up right  to the edge of seal esp the top seal.leave a around 2-3mm.

change squeegee rubber often or turn it round and use the other side

use flatweave microfibre cloths for buffing and detailing

use the towelling variety of microfibres as sill cloths(from the pound shop!!)

i never bother with dog earing.no need IMO

make sure your t mop is not too wet unless its a hot sunny day.

fan most windows and cut down that mountain!!

[bobby p]

wagtail takes a while to get comfy with but its worth a million dollars once you have the wag
 if you are doing houses only,id say get a 12" blue wagtail

[carl stanton]

wagtail takes a while to get comfy with but its worth a million dollars once you have the wag
 if you are doing houses only,id say get a 12" blue wagtail

ditto, even if you only use on occasion,

as said rubber over hang 1,2,3mm find which is best for you,

not to soapy, test detergents that work for you and do the job 

skill first then speed, no point being fast and getting a rubbish job done fast

scrim have you really washed them, boiled, use as cill cloth to break in first, i don't like to wash micro cloths with scrim will poss leave lint

well done for trooping on chap

[andyM]

dont soap right up to the edge of the frame,leave about 1/2inch between soap and frame,and a bit of dogear and your be ok,

and I bet after a few months there is a visible white line round the window
a lot if is do with angles, if you hold a squeegie with to shallow an angle i.e handle to close to the glass this will
there is about another million reason as well right enough, I couldn't really say without watching you to be honest

Take note of that advice, there's always a reason for it il name a few;
Too soapy
Too much water within the squegee needs banging off
Little bits on your blade.
Fanning too close to edge of soapmark.
I learnt the hard way through trial an error, I change my rubber every week as I do a lot of olden wooden frames etc and that wears them down quick.
I've been experimenting with amounts of fairy, the perfect amount iv found is very very little in the sun, bit more in winter.

And whoever said don't touch edges oh my god ull be left with a smear where ur blades half onthe water and half on dry.done it seen what it does from the inside and I won't be doing it again. I find it best to soap it all up, let it drip down A bit off top frame(can do frames in this time) detail one side and top corner before squeegeeing, then fan it down and pull off at bottom. I never detail the bottom frame unless the soap is littlerally an inch up the window.Hope that helped a bit!!

I can't walk away without running the scrim along the bottom of the glass. Maybe i've got OCD but to me it looks terrible leaving a thin layer of soapy bubbles on the botton seal of the window.

[jim bean]

Yeah I know what ya mean I don't leave it all the time but sometimes in hindsight it's better to as sometimes it goes wrong and takes long to sort out!