I Have always seen the logic of comination cleaners, if you can do the job in one go why do it in two?
I have used a backflip as a combo tool since wintecs first sold them years ago. When I saw the wagtail on e-bay I thought I would give one a try, I had been told they were the dogs by a guy who had worked as a WC in Australia.
I put a 16" wag tail through it's paces today, I must say it is an impressive bit of kit. For a start it is so much lighter than a backflip and takes up no more room in the belt bucket than a standard applicator.
A first it was like having a duff shopping trolley the thing seemed to have a mind of it's own as to where it went on the glass.
I had dog eared it and was congratulating myself on not having to detail when I noticed that allthough the edges of the glass were clean I had missed a part of the glass and left a patch about 6" in diameter. I put this down to lack of technique on my part and persevered. It took the backs of 4 houses before I mastered it.
The applicator part is a pad, a bit like the paint pads you can buy, I found that the pad collected dirt more than a standard applicator, having said that a dip in the bucket and a wipe with my gloved hand had it looking like new again. It uses a lot less water than a standard applicator and I can see this tool being ideal for doing inside work. Where the Wagtail comes into it's own is when used with a poll, you can do a large shop window with a poll exactly the same as you do a smaller window by hand.
Start at the top and zig zag down, this is due to the handle being on a pivot. If you hold the blade in your hand you can move the handle from side to side. The only negative thing I can say about the wagtail is that I struggled with it when trying to clean panes narrower than it's 16"width, Again this could be down to lack of technique on my part. The wagtail uses standard rubbers. I think that for £16.50 it is an excellent buy, I prefer it to the £35 Backflip. DAI
