detergent suggestions for oily factory windows

[Korev]

Have a contract for window cleaning at a large engineering company.

The interior glass around 2000 panes is always covered in a thin film of airborne cutting oil especially in warmer summer months.

Can anyone recommend a detergent suitable for this job.

Have so far used Ecover dish detergent which is usually a good de-greaser, glass gleam 3 and a mixture of the 2 in hot water but it is difficult to keep the cutting oil in an emulsified suspension state in the bucket. Meaning very frequent and time consuming water changes, to prevent oil build up on mops and subsequent smears when oil cannot be kept in suspension on the glass.

 

[Pjj]

I would have used what you have already suggested, is using hider on a cloth first to remove the worst of it then mop and blade going to help ?? That’s a lot of oily windows ??????

 

[Baldmonkey]

i would probably invest in many packs of smart price baby wipes and go over the windows with a couple of these first, added expense but will save you time in the long run and im sure they ae only around 30p for 100 wipes or something similar

 

[Korev]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I will give them a try and time each method. The works is huge site and its often a 5 minute walk each way to the nearest point where water can be discarded and refreshed. Hence the need to minimise water changes. Isopropanol is a good degreaser but sadly as it is inflammable in its pure form the HSE officer on site will not allow it.

 

[Part Timer]

Don't suppose you'd be allowed to use a 50/50 mixture of methylated spirit and water?

If the plant you're talking about machines a lot of aluminium then I appreciate the scale of your problem. In my past life I've bought the aluminium scrap from there.

 

[Korev]

Don't suppose you'd be allowed to use a 50/50 mixture of methylated spirit and water?

If the plant you're talking about machines a lot of aluminium then I appreciate the scale of your problem. In my past life I've bought the aluminium scrap from there.

Thanks Part Timer, the HSE guy won't allow anything flammable on site even in diluted form so I guess meths is out too. The site does indeed machine alloys.

 

[Part Timer]

Didn't think they would, big old site that and I bet the H&S guy is an absolute jobsworth nightmare.

 

[kevinc250]

can I message you @korev?

 

[Korev]

yep!

full PPE from glasses to not so comfy steelies.

Pages of risk assessment and method statement

plus their policy on contractors obligations - a books worth

I guess if anything goes wrong the buck stops with him.

To be fair he has been helpful in getting us up to scratch on compliance.

Plus all this is has been added to the job cost

 

[Korev]

can I message you @korev?

Hi Kevinc250

I like all conversation to be public, thank you for your courtesy in asking.

 

[Pjj]

yep!

full PPE from glasses to not so comfy steelies.

Pages of risk assessment and method statement

plus their policy on contractors obligations - a books worth

I guess if anything goes wrong the buck stops with him.

To be fair he has been helpful in getting us up to scratch on compliance.

Plus all this is has been added to the job cost

Sounds like it’s more trouble than it’s worth unless it’s mega bucks 

 

[Korev]

Sounds like it’s more trouble than it’s worth unless it’s mega bucks 

It was the toughest job to date to get in the door, lots of hours prep but now its up and running its a decent job for us. Just trying to improve efficiency to cut another half day off the job. Not mega bucks but priced it high, pays well and on time.

 

[Nudel]

If your current solution can get it off fine, the time saving comes from organising the operation.

Here goes a few, possibly silly, ideas off the top of my head:

Maybe you can save time having a single person only walking back and forth with the buckets to refill?

Or maybe carry several buckets with you, so you refill two at a time when going back.

There might also be a benefit in one person working ahead, cleaning off the worst of the residue, then the rest coming after doing the final finish. But with ladder work that would probably not work out.

Perhaps you could bring a big 200l drum along on a trolley to dump the spill water in?

If you use spray bottles you don't contaminate the water you clean with, but might need more water for those windows.

Maybe use WFP and a wet vacuum?

 

[Korev]

Nudel many thanks for taking your time to push out a few ideas.

The WFP and wet vacuum are out due to trip hazards from trailing hoses in a busy factory environment.

But I think your idea of improving the logistics of the job is the way to go given the restraints on cleaning chemicals.

We already organise it so one person works ahead pre cleaning

Having just one person dealing with supplying fresh water and waste and transporting it on a trolley in larger quantities is a great idea I think we will adopt.

Again thanks, this seems like a really friendly forum with members prepared to give advice freely and exchange ideas for the benefit everyone here.