How long do you use a brush for??

[keir]

My gardiner sill has been used for about a year or so now, yesterday i noticed after rinsing that there was still a fair bit of sediment left on the window, just thought it was me doing a **** job, so out of interest i swapped to my slx25 which has a brand new gardiner sill brush, straight away no problems.

When i compared the two brushes the older brush is quite splayed and the corner bunch of bristles are down to 50% of the out of the box new one due to snapping or brick wear, what i was thinking is the old one hanging on to dirt and sediment like a flocked brush, or is it because of the shear amount of dirt and brick sediment on the windows due to the wind, or was i just doing a shoddy job lol

I did notice a massive difference in the way the old versus the new brush moves on the glass, the old one seems to grip the glass and doesn't glide until water gets under it, the new one just glides across it no matter whether the water is on or not, and the bristles feel stiffer.

How long do you use a brush before swapping for a new'un?

My extreme's lasted about 6 months before i decided to swap but i dont use them anymore as i prefer the sills, my old sill will now be my pvc brush, in fact thinking about it i have done ALOT of pvc with this brush which i bet has prematurely worn it.

 

[Alex Gardiner]

Whilst you can carry on working with a brush for a very long time it is a bit like the principle behind changing squeegee blades.

We all know someone who doesn't change their squeegee blades for months and perhaps we also have not changed the blade soon enough - when we put a fresh rubber in everything seems easier to clean. I know many window cleaners who change their squeegee blade after each full day of work as they reckon the small cost is worth the improved performance over the day.

With brushes they can obviously last a lot longer than 1 day, but as they age performance will deteriorate. The smaller the brush the more noticeable this will be. Even if wear is not obvious on the brush itself the end of each bristle fibre will gradually become worn and will take on a pointed profile. As this happens the bristles will become less efficient at removing dirt and scrubbing. I would recommend changing a brush every 6-12 months if being used regularly.

This principle would apply to all makes of brush as they all will experience the same wear effect on the tips of the bristle material. Just like the squeegee rubber being changed, often the benefit is only noticed once using the new brush.

 

[RiceRocket]

Yeah I would've thought the brackets + edges of gutters would wear out the bristles more. I'm planning to buy 2 Sill brushes (to get the free postage!) annually & keep the just used brush for pvc cleans.

 

[garyboy]

why not try and trim a couple of mm off the bristles as Alex says they get a pointed profile through wear trim them off square again may work worth a try

 

[keir]

Sussed it........nowt to do with my brush, i used a brand new extreme and the brand new sill today and got similar results i.e. Quite a bit of sediment left on the window

All it is, is the area my round is in is always gusty and windy due to being high up, plus the extra windy conditions over recent weeks has actually plastered the dam stuff onto the glass.

I have been doing just normal maintenance style cleans but what they actually need is an extra bit of scrubbing, the sediment i've been seeing and thinking its me not rinsing is still stuck on the window rather than what i thought was floating round in the rinse water.

Love that idea of trimming the bristles garyboy, but how are you to get a uniform length on all the bundles?

Also really enjoyed using my extreme again, tried it the other week but swapped back to the sill rapidly, but its just so accurate and light also rinsing is a doddle with it cause you can see more.

 

[keir]

I'm planning to buy 2 Sill brushes (to get the free postage!) annually & keep the just used brush for pvc cleans.

Yep sounds good to me bud

The trimming of bristles is sorted, got a biro and took the ink tube etc out, cut the plastic pen tube to length which then slips over the bristles perfectly and snip snip........job done

 

[RiceRocket]

Sounds laborious!

 

[keir]

Yep

Not ideal, got any ideas how rice?

 

[RiceRocket]

I'm a "what the heck just buy a new one" type. /emoticons/smile.png

Maybe a toilet roll tube to do bunches of bristles...?