[C-Thru]

Can some one tell me why when we clean sash windows with pure water some windows are perfect other window dont come out well.  Al i can think of is it is reacting to the paint or led in the paint.

[marcinos]

hi ben
what i observed is that regular white painted sashes are no problem. mine nightmare was another day. sash painted with varnish.such a pain. i ve done it 3 times - pointless. with regulars i got problem with reaching top part of bottom window, but as karl said its good to change gle(verticle) your brushead and then sweet , no problem . dont rinse frames to much though

[choice.clean]

I have found that sadolin is a problem on some windows as it is an oil and people tend to put it on too thickly. purified water will not dissolve oil.
also if windows are not well maintained the paint will emulsify and send white onto the glass I have found when quoting for wooden windows it pays to lick the finger and wipe on paintwork as white will come off if emulsifying is a problem. went to one house and did this on a coloured paint and it came off they were quite idignant 'we've just had it painted it's a reproduction paint' I didn't get into the argumanet that they had been ripped off but I might pop by next year to see how much has washed off especially as it is a clifftop seaside location.

[Ian_Giles]

Sadolin isn't an oil! But often the problem with windows painted in Sadolins is that the window panes are not held in with putty, but instead wood beading is used.
Nothing wrong with that of course, but depending how thewindow pane has been bedded in, and how the decorator has painted it makes a big difference to them being cleaned with WFP.
Often, between the window pane and the beading there can be a gap, a very small gap, so small that you may not even be able to work your fingernail into it.
If the windows have been cleaned regularly before then soapy water will of course work its way into these gaps, your squeegee or scrim can't get at this, and in fairness it makes no difference to the quality of the work done.
But when the water dries out, soap residue is left behind, and over months or years this builds up.
Even after being repainted, if the decorator hasn't ran a bead of silicone around the beading, or coloured putty, this residue is still going to be a problem for the WFP'er
Whenever you wash the windows, pure water will get at this residue and disolve a tiny amount of it, this will then dry out on the glass and make it look as if you have done a crap job
Dirt and other muck can also work its way into these gaps and ruin your handiwork
The emulsification that choice.clean mentions is oxidized paintwork, and this one is a real pain, getting these windows to look spotless is a thankless task.
After a few cleans you can do a fair job, but it will not be as good as you could do with traditional methods.
I do as Choice does and lick my finger to test for oxidised paintwork and always inform the customer, sometimes they say go ahead, sometimes I just refuse the work
So it won't be the lead reacting with the water, it will most likely be oxidized paint
Another thing to beware of with sash windows is the gap between the 2 sashes, when you are washing the lower sash, try not to allow water to splash or spray up between the 2 sashes. On traditional sash windows this gap is always mucky, clean water sprayed into this gap will always result in dirty water being left behind on the glass below


Ian