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need help with squeegee

chris

Member
Messages
90
Ive been looking at the forum on and of for a while now and would like to start myself.

i have bought a squeegee from homebase and am practicing on my windows. i must have the cleanest windows on my street apart from the streaks /emoticons/sad.png

are there any videos anyone can recommend to me? Ive been looking on youtube and I'm trying to do what they do but I'm doing something wrong:(

i bought an unger pro squeegee

 
yeh try less soap, also practice with both hands, but really its just practice just stand in front of 1 window soap and clean, right hand , left hand

 
You will find not every window you will do the same technique. Give the rubber a wipe every now n again. Try not to lift squeegee off the glass until you are ready to Scrim, if you miss a bit just go back up for it.

I have never used an unger pro, getting ****** off with unger squeegee to be honest. But did you get the channel clips for the rubber?

If your constantly leaving lines then flip the rubber round or try a new 1.

It takes a while to get the hang of it but keep at it

 
I have unger pro and they seem fine but as bc said it takes time just keep practicing, are you soaping the window and just squeegeeing straight off or are you wiping the edge first? I wipe first just to stop the water dragging.


Oh and take your time speed will come with experience.

 
thanks for the quick replies.

im going to try less soap. ive been soaping the windows then going round teh edge with the squeegee to get a dry edge then doing the rest of the window. going to keep at it.

i havent got the clips i have just used it how it came. what do the clips do and what are the benifits or hard and soft rubber?

 
I dry the top and left edge with a cloth just stops water dragging


The clips keep your rubber in place and I find softer rubber help the squeegee move more, hard rubber can be quite bouncy on the glass

 
Carry an old towel, use this to go round the frames and edges, using your squeegee could nick the edge of the rubber and that will leave you lines. I also use this towel for the bottom on the frame helps keep scrim dry and for wiping sills too

The clips are for holding the rubber tight and in place, I'm not sure the pro needs them? I just googled a pic, maybe paulrods could say?

Not sure on benefits of hard or soft, I read hard works better in high temperatures? I always use soft, either unger or ettore whatever the shop has.

 
thanks for the help guys. been using a microfiber cloth to wipe the edges and less soap and its starting to look a lot better then it did. still going to work on it more though =)

 
Chris...get yourself an SPC 3 X 4. Its an excellent squeegee with interchangable blades. It made a massive difference for me. I previously used the Unger Ninja...it just doesnt compare!

 
that was a good video mark. im using a cloth to get a dry edge by going round the sides with a cloth first then doing the squeegee method that your using. making it look very easy but im getting some lines still =)

. what are you using to clean them? im using fairy but your windows are more soapy then mine. im still practising so im using a jay cloth to soap up the windows. is there any other advantages to using an applicator rather than speed?

 
It is hard to teach someone at the best of times, without trying to describe it on a forum, but I'll have a bash :)

First if all, get rid if the microfibres, buy pre-washed scrims, you buy them 1 yard by 1 yard. I personally just cut them into quarters then re-hem them with my manly sewing machine, lol.

As for soap, I buy the large contains of Unger soap, which is about £11, and use 1 cap per 1 litre of water. Too much soap and your windows will really sud up, and you could get a grey residue line around the edges, too little and the water will evaporate too quickly, and you will get squeaking noises as you try to squeegee it off. The blade should just glide over it.

Ok Squeegeeing tips

First you must cut the blade into the water, basically the first inch that you move the blade across the water, will have a little water drag mark. The guy in the video starts this at the side, notice how me goes back over that area when he comes back across. The easiest way to understand what I mean is,soak up your window, start at the side, hard against the frame, then drag your blade across. Have a look at the first inch.

Ok lines, they can be caused by a number of things, but the most likely reason is squeegee technique. When you drag your blade across the water, your blade should be angled in the direction you are travelling. For instance, if you are starting at the left hand side and moving across to the right, you want to have the top the blade angled towards the right. This pushes all the water down onto the wet area. If you do it the other way, or even just pull it across straight, you may push the water up the way, into the area you have just cleaned. To help you understand this you could clean a window in your home, open it, and drag your blade across the outside, and watch from the inside how the water is pushed down, or up if your doing it wrong :) Watch that video again, and look how he angles the blade.

 
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