I have been reading posts on here about how much soap to put in your water, dog-earring channels, using microfibre cloths and scrims, so I thought it was time I put my fourpence worth in. I have been working in the following way for about the last two and a half years now, and I thought I'd pass it on to anyone who might be interested.
I use a Wagtail Whirlwind (the blue one). I take the screw out of the channel and wedge the channel in by pushing a nylon tie into the blue handle. The channel ends are dog-eared by sawing in 8-10 mm and bending down, and the rubber is held in place at each end with a piece of nylon tie – doesn't matter if it is in the top or bottom. I only use Unger hard rubbers, extending no more than 2mm at each end, as they are slightly less wide than the others, which works very well. I make my own wash pads from Ettore 'Porcupine' sleeves, these have the best scrubbing capability, which is important. I fix them on the channel using one quarter inch fuel pipe, which fits snugly onto the channel, and is very hard wearing.
This Wagtail combo-tool system means that you don't have to carry a bucket round with you. Obviously you need water, and I have 5ltr plastic bottles to store mine. I use a cleaning additive (Hg System) and Bio-D washing up liquid in the water. The cleaning additive must not contain soap. According to the instructions, I put one third more additive in, and then as much washing up liquid as necessary to create a mixture that will give maximum slidability with minimum soap suds. I use a syringe, without the needle, to measure out the necessary amounts. This is very critical.
At the start of work, I wet the wash pad, then wring out by hand, then, using a fine spray (I have a spray on a belt system), apply my water to the glass, not the pad, then work the water with the pad making sure you get right into the edges. This should produce a very fine soapy spread on the glass that does not run when bladed off, which means you don't have to wipe the frame or detail the edges. As there is not much water about you will have to spray the sill if you intend cleaning it. Blade as much of the water off, then wipe with a dry cloth, such as a towel. Once I have wrung out the pad to begin I don't do it again unless it gets too wet, it's surpising that it doesn't get very dirty
I use a Wagtail Whirlwind (the blue one). I take the screw out of the channel and wedge the channel in by pushing a nylon tie into the blue handle. The channel ends are dog-eared by sawing in 8-10 mm and bending down, and the rubber is held in place at each end with a piece of nylon tie – doesn't matter if it is in the top or bottom. I only use Unger hard rubbers, extending no more than 2mm at each end, as they are slightly less wide than the others, which works very well. I make my own wash pads from Ettore 'Porcupine' sleeves, these have the best scrubbing capability, which is important. I fix them on the channel using one quarter inch fuel pipe, which fits snugly onto the channel, and is very hard wearing.
This Wagtail combo-tool system means that you don't have to carry a bucket round with you. Obviously you need water, and I have 5ltr plastic bottles to store mine. I use a cleaning additive (Hg System) and Bio-D washing up liquid in the water. The cleaning additive must not contain soap. According to the instructions, I put one third more additive in, and then as much washing up liquid as necessary to create a mixture that will give maximum slidability with minimum soap suds. I use a syringe, without the needle, to measure out the necessary amounts. This is very critical.
At the start of work, I wet the wash pad, then wring out by hand, then, using a fine spray (I have a spray on a belt system), apply my water to the glass, not the pad, then work the water with the pad making sure you get right into the edges. This should produce a very fine soapy spread on the glass that does not run when bladed off, which means you don't have to wipe the frame or detail the edges. As there is not much water about you will have to spray the sill if you intend cleaning it. Blade as much of the water off, then wipe with a dry cloth, such as a towel. Once I have wrung out the pad to begin I don't do it again unless it gets too wet, it's surpising that it doesn't get very dirty
