[jo5hm4n]

Okay, so i know there is a lot of people on here that are WFP only but for those that are Trad i have a question.  Today i have done 1 of my regular 4 weekly customers.  Bungalow all trad and every time i go back it is always pretty well clean with a slight buildup of dirt.

The last few cleans i have noticed the squeegee has started to drag on the glass and does not feel very smooth.  Initially i thought maybe i hadn't enough soap solution on the applicator or the windows had not been wet enough. 

Today however the applicator was dripping with soapy water(i use Ecover) and as i tried to squeegee it off the glass it was almost impossible on a few of the windows.  If i tried to squeegee on any part of the glass that was wet or even worse when dry(as in to collect water on turns) it would not glide at all, it was stuck to the glass and if it did move it jumped and left marks all over the place.  I've also noticed that even when you apply soap to the glass it almost looks as if the glass is causing it to be diluted.  It looked as if i was just applying water to the glass even though it was full of soap.

I have no idea what this could be so i thought i would ask some advice off some of the veterans on here as i'm still a bit of a newbie when it comes to Window Cleaning.

Thanks!

[G Griffin]

Is it possible that they might have cleaned them themselves, between cleans? If so, they might have left something on the glass, so to speak.
I'd give them a good scrubbing with a sill cloth and put a blob of neat Ecover on your applicator sleeve.
It'll give you suds and slip and hopefully break down what's on the glass.
And keep topping it up if you need to.

[rosskesava]

Silly question maybe, but did you try changing the rubber?

Or maybe try a bit more ecover.

I'm a recent convert to ecover from GG4 or GG3, I can't ever remember which - the orange coloured one. Brilliant for trad. Cheap too.

And if you use it via a trolley and a barrel to scrub stuff, it washes out dead quick unlike virosol, G101, etc and seems to do just as good a job.

[pure tech]

Ecover does settle to the bottom of your bucket so remember to stir it up at times to get the soap mixed.
I have identified four main causes of squeegee drag.
1. Not enough soap
2. Badly hard water stained glass.
3. Aftermarket coating ie. Rainex
4. New squeegee rubber can drag a little for the first few windows.

[Richard Shepherd]

Is it just the one of four or all of them??

If it is just the one have a word with the custie and ask them if they have had a go at them for some reason.

[dannymack]

If they've cleaned them with polish that will kill the soap and make it hard to squeegee. Also is there a build up of calcium on the glass where they may have watered plants and gone into the window or water leaking from the gutter dripping on the glass, if the window looks mottled white then it's scrapper time but make sure you use brand new blade or you will scratch the glass to bits.

[SeanK]

Have they been sprayed with anything like spider repellent, there's a guy going about this year offering
this to some of my customers its a nightmare to remove from the glass.
It nearly looks as if the glass has been splashed with grease, I'm water fed pole and I can even feel
the brush dragging.
The only way I got round it was to give the glass a good manual scrub with a wet microfiber and then clean as
normal after.

[gregmyster]

I know it won't be at this time of year but it sounds like when they have had a bbq next to the windows you could try a bit of kitchen de greaser on it or just say to them something has appeared on the windows and see what they say.half the time you will be more bothered about it than them

[tonycarr]

one of my customers used to clean her own windows between me coming round, with what im not sure? but the symptoms were exactly as you describe, would`nt soap up and rubber would drag and jump all over the place,  i decided to give her a small bottle off diluted (squeege off) to clean her windows with as that was what i was using at the time, no more problems after that, iv since converted to wfp and dont seem to have any problems now as they tend to stay cleaner for longer.

tony 

[jo5hm4n]

Thanks for all the messages guys!

To answer most of what you guys have said.  I used a brand new rubber that day Unger soft works like a treat no problems before.  The windows are perfectly clean, no grease no buildup i asked if they clean inbetween me going there they said they would not dare do that!  The only thing i have noticed is that on 2 conservatory windows the gutter leaks water onto them and that causes white dot stains on the glass but i dont think that is related as those windows are better and easier to squeegee than the ones im struggling with!

I definitely had enough soap on my squeegee as i made sure this time round.  I will try and scrape 1 pane of glass next time and see if that makes a difference, other than that i am completely stumped.

One thing it could be is as you say is aftermarket coating Rainex(never heard of that before though).  Will try to add a lot more ecover next time on this customer to see if it makes a change.

This isnt the usual problem you get with squeegee drag on windows guys, this is so bad on 1 window i almost considering cleaning the entire window with a microfibre as it was almost impossible to clean it.

How much soap do you guys use?  I usually fill my squeeze my ecover to cover most of the bottom of an unger 20L bucket i then fill to 10L, is that enough soap or too much?  Usually i can last a whole day on about 5L worth and its still really soapy and works like a treat!

If this problem does persist i will have to just clean their windows WFP as the job is worth £9 discounted from £12(good customer of mine) and it takes me about 20 minutes tops but this time round it took me 40 minutes!!!

[Ian Lancaster]

I had one house where this was a problem.  It was caused by the proximity of a railway line - the train wheels gave off fine particles of steel which settled on the glass, especially if it was raining, then rusted and etched into the glass surface.

Not much I could do about it, the glass was ruined.

I also did a sewage pumping station - there was this thick brown film all over the glass every time I went there - had to scrub with steel wool to get a half decent result.  Never did find out what it was

[Johnny B]

I've had this on isolated windows too. Not sure why it happens either (the glass looked and felt clean). If the squeegee drags excessively/grinds to a halt, I wipe the glass with a damp microfibre cloth, then finish off with a dry one.

John

[dazmond]

I had one house where this was a problem.  It was caused by the proximity of a railway line - the train wheels gave off fine particles of steel which settled on the glass, especially if it was raining, then rusted and etched into the glass surface.

Not much I could do about it, the glass was ruined.

I also did a sewage pumping station - there was this thick brown film all over the glass every time I went there - had to scrub with steel wool to get a half decent result.  Never did find out what it was

this happens also if someone has been using an angle grinder near the windows!quite a few of my customers have ruined windows due to sparks flying and embedding into the glass.

[Mick Kent]

Just use plenty of soap and you will be fine,

[jo5hm4n]

Thanks for all the feedback guys, i will keep you posted next time i clean their windows in 4 weeks and see if i notice a difference, hopefully for the better!