[jo5hm4n]

So basically guys this is a bit of a weird one, unless i am the only person this has happened too before!

About a month ago or so i noticed on certain windows of my customers the soap i put onto the glass with the applicator started to expand as soon as you put the squeegee through it.  Wherever you cut the water it starts to expand.  At first i thought i was going mad, because i can literally clean a piece of glass down the sides and finish at the bottom/side of the window.  Within 10 seconds there is tons of soap there, you can actually watch it expand from the rubber seals where the water stays until you detail it.  I have never had a problem like this before, i usually never have much detailing to do, but ive tested this and it only happens on certain windows and its random too.  Sometimes i clean a window at a customers house, it's perfect i squeegee it, quickly detail and done.  However the window next to it, or round the side of the house i could clean that and straight away i can see the soap actually expanding in every direction.  It doesnt even run down the window, it expands sideways upwards and diagonally too.  I should point out this is now happening to me at least 1 out of every 5-10 customers minimum with some days as many as half.

Unless i am going mad, please somebody reassure me this has happened to them and there is an easy solution

I thought it could be the cold weather, as i was cleaning in 1C the other day and that day it was happening to me every other house....

I tried several types of soap solution Fairy. Ecover etc... on a piece of glass and no change at all.  I even used bottle water to try that and it was still expanding on the glass.

What can i do to solve this, in the summer it didn't happen which is logical as it's to hot for soap to expand as it will be drying.

If none of you have any answers i can make a video and upload it to youtube to explain it in full detail as i thought this was a funny problem to be having as a window cleaner.

[Tadgh O Shea]

Find a janitorial supplier who promotes micelles based cleaners, use a micelles based cleaning solution instead of traditional based wash up liquids, you will never look back.

[rosskesava]

Weird. Never come across that.

Yup, a video please.

Tadgh, I hope you had a good Christmas and New Year and I really must order some cleaning stuff off you. Micelles based cleaners, I must try them.

The theory about how they work is so sound.

[G Griffin]

It's probably the weather. When it's cold and damp the solution isn't evaporating. Even the glass is cold and damp and the solution 'spreads' more easily.
Wipe the edges, first, with a sill cloth before blading. It'll get rid of some of the excessive moisture and solution.

[C o z y]

It's probably the weather. When it's cold and damp the solution isn't evaporating. Even the glass is cold and damp and the solution 'spreads' more easily.
Wipe the edges, first, with a sill cloth before blading. It'll get rid of some of the excessive moisture and solution.

Done that in the past, saves a lot of time too.

[Darranvps]

If you squeegee properly you will not have to detail 

[dazmond]

If you squeegee properly you will not have to detail 

doesnt matter how good you think you are at squeegeeing.you always have to detail a bit round the edges.

must admit ive never heard of the soap expanding when cleaning trad and its never happened to me.

maybe try and use less soap?

i use gg3 and squeegee off together for the bits of trad work i do

[ChumBucket]

It's the cooler weather. I refer to it as "bleeding". It's almost like a "capillary action", the liquid kind of expands & creeps back out of the edges/seals etc and happens before you can even detail. I don't know the physics/science behind it but it happens in cold weather. I use ettore squeegee off- a professional liquid & it happens with this too.

[G Griffin]

It's the cooler weather. I refer to it as "bleeding". It's almost like a "capillary action", the liquid kind of expands & creeps back out of the edges/seals etc and happens before you can even detail. I don't know the physics/science behind it but it happens in cold weather. I use ettore squeegee off- a professional liquid & it happens with this too.

That's what I think.
Water will travel more easily on a cold, wet surface and then bleed back from the frame, even after blading. If a window is already cold and wet, you add solution to it, and then disturb it with a squeegee it has to go somewhere and seeps back in from the edge. It can't go past the frame, so travels inwards.
And the edges of the window are where moisture gathers; look at condensation.
Conversely, soaping up a window on hot glass- or wfp'ing it- is harder because the solution doesn't travel as easily.

[Elfyn]

If you squeegee properly you will not have to detail 

+1

[jo5hm4n]

Thanks for the feedback, i definitely think it is the colder weather and as you say the moisture that gathers in the edges and seals.  When i get some time i will make a quick video and upload it next time it happens, for those that maybe don't exactly know what i'm talking about.

[Tadgh O Shea]

Weird. Never come across that.

Yup, a video please.

Tadgh, I hope you had a good Christmas and New Year and I really must order some cleaning stuff off you. Micelles based cleaners, I must try them.

The theory about how they work is so sound.

Hi Ross, thank you yes had a great break over Christmas, have been working with micelles technology for many years now and would recommend to check out these amazing little work horses, good to see many janitorial suppliers are now promoting the technology. wishing you a prosperous 2015.      Regards Tadgh