Newbie struggling with rubbers

[TradMatt]

Evening all, after a bit of advice please…

I’m new to window cleaning and I’ve been going with traditional a few months now. I’ve been having problems with squeegee rubber leaving lines of water/soap on windows and I’m not sure what’s causing it.

I use a liquidator with unger black series power rubber (with unger clips to hold it in place). I started getting a line from one part of the rubber, couldn’t see any imperfection but flipped it anyway and I’m getting the same issue on the other side in exactly the same place. I swapped that rubber for a new one and it’s happening again…

Has anyone experienced this or have any tips for what I can do to rectify? I’ve just ordered some pulex soft rubber to see if I get on any better.

Cheers in advance ??

 

[spruce]

Evening all, after a bit of advice please…

I’m new to window cleaning and I’ve been going with traditional a few months now. I’ve been having problems with squeegee rubber leaving lines of water/soap on windows and I’m not sure what’s causing it.

I use a liquidator with unger black series power rubber (with unger clips to hold it in place). I started getting a line from one part of the rubber, couldn’t see any imperfection but flipped it anyway and I’m getting the same issue on the other side in exactly the same place. I swapped that rubber for a new one and it’s happening again…

Has anyone experienced this or have any tips for what I can do to rectify? I’ve just ordered some pulex soft rubber to see if I get on any better.

Cheers in advance ??

Welcome. A small nick you can hardly see in the rubber could be the problem. Squeegee rubber can be easily damaged. We often come across windows that are pitted from someone's careless use of an angle grinder.

If you replace the rubber with a new length and the problem is solved then you have your answer.

Back in the old but not so good days when most cleaners were trad, we often heard of a cleaner replacing his rubber at the beginning of every second day. The first day was a new rubber and the second day he would swap the rubber round.

We made our rubbers last longer than a day because I'm tight. ?

 

[mike007]

If not the rubber It may be the channel having a foreign body in it or damaged

 

[spruce]

There is only two places to look aren't there @mike007 . ? If it's not the rubber then it's the squeegee channel. Changing the rubber will either solve the problem or not. If it doesn't then the o/p has his answer.

 

[TradMatt]

Welcome. A small nick you can hardly see in the rubber could be the problem. Squeegee rubber can be easily damaged. We often come across windows that are pitted from someone's careless use of an angle grinder.

If you replace the rubber with a new length and the problem is solved then you have your answer.

Back in the old but not so good days when most cleaners were trad, we often heard of a cleaner replacing his rubber at the beginning of every second day. The first day was a new rubber and the second day he would swap the rubber round.

We made our rubbers last longer than a day because I'm tight. ?

Cheers for the advice. Makes sense, I’ll try swapping the rubber out today and see how long it takes to happen again. For me its more a mystery as to why I keep getting nicks in exactly the same spot ??‍

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Always use Soft rubber to begin with. There is plenty of posts regarding the best combination which is liquidator channel and Ettore Combination Handle. ?

Ettore® Contour Handle | Window Cleaning Equipment - Window Cleaning Warehouse Ltd

A high quality squeegee handle. The Ettore® Contour Pro+ Handle is made from a high strength polymer, with a patented channel suspension system. Non-Slip Grip Swivel Head Fits to Ettore® Poles Product Video

windowcleaningwarehouse.co.uk

 

[K in Kent]

Might it be technique? You could try swiping across instead of down or vice versa, or in one continuous S shaped motion and doing the whole pane at once - which is also the quickest and most efficient when you get the hang of it (but can't remember what it's called )

 

[scottish cleaning service]

When I first started out I copied the guy below and everything he says is correct.

 

[Cleanco]

Could also be the boab. Quite often after frequent use they get worn down and create a sharp point where the rubber sits causing a nick or slight groove in the rubber. Try and line up if the nick is where the rubber sits resting in your boab and you may have your answer. If that’s the case I used to cut a little piece off an old rubber and stick it to the boab to prevent this from happening.

 

[mike007]

Cheers for the advice. Makes sense, I’ll try swapping the rubber out today and see how long it takes to happen again. For me its more a mystery as to why I keep getting nicks in exactly the same spot ??‍

Also check the line is not coming from the part of the rubber that the removable handle grips to.

 

[TradMatt]

Could also be the boab. Quite often after frequent use they get worn down and create a sharp point where the rubber sits causing a nick or slight groove in the rubber. Try and line up if the nick is where the rubber sits resting in your boab and you may have your answer. If that’s the case I used to cut a little piece off an old rubber and stick it to the boab to prevent this from happening.

That is exactly it, lined it up and it’s exactly where it sits in the boab! I’ll try what you’ve said and I reckon that’ll fix it. Cheers!

 

[TradMatt]

Might it be technique? You could try swiping across instead of down or vice versa, or in one continuous S shaped motion and doing the whole pane at once - which is also the quickest and most efficient when you get the hang of it (but can't remember what it's called )

Could well be mate. I haven’t had the luxury of being taught by an old hand, I’ve just tried to teach myself via numerous YouTube videos ??‍

 

[spruce]

Glad that you have found the problem @TradMatt and also thanks for coming back and reporting your findings. It helps us all. Also thanks to @Cleanco who suggested the boab. I never experienced that issue with using my boab all those years ago doing trad. Those trad days are long forgotten.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Glad that you have found the problem @TradMatt and also thanks for coming back and reporting your findings. It helps us all. Also thanks to @Cleanco who suggested the boab. I never experienced that issue with using my boab all those years ago doing trad. Those trad days are long forgotten.

Like you but getting asked to do more internals after neglecting my trad stuff. When I got round to them I found i needed new rubbers.

 

[K in Kent]

Could well be mate. I haven’t had the luxury of being taught by an old hand, I’ve just tried to teach myself via numerous YouTube videos ??‍

Likewise. I've had to learn everything for myself through research and practice and practical experience - which I'm sure is the case for most people on here. But necessity is a great motivator.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Likewise. I've had to learn everything for myself through research and practice and practical experience - which I'm sure is the case for most people on here. But necessity is a great motivator.

Did the same when I switched over wfp just winged it. Fairly soon it all comes together. Money is a good motivator.

 

[K in Kent]

Did the same when I switched over wfp just winged it. Fairly soon it all comes together. Money is a good motivator.

Yes money is an excellent motivator. That's why we're doing it after all. And whether it's windows, pressure washing, soft wash or whatever you've got to wing it in the early days otherwise you'll never get anywhere....respect people's property, go slow and steady and be very very careful with all chemicals, and you should be fine.
And when you are experienced don't think you know it all cos there's always more to learn. We all have to work it out for ourselves being self employed.

 

[ched999uk]

Yes money is an excellent motivator. That's why we're doing it after all. And whether it's windows, pressure washing, soft wash or whatever you've got to wing it in the early days otherwise you'll never get anywhere....respect people's property, go slow and steady and be very very careful with all chemicals, and you should be fine.
And when you are experienced don't think you know it all cos there's always more to learn. We all have to work it out for ourselves being self employed.

Great post.