Detailing

[andy1992]

Hi there new to all this

Had a practice on my own windows. Getting there but when I detail I seem to leave a streak/smear round the edge. Also do this when drying a bit of the window I have missed. Am I simply not drying it enough ? Any help appreciated as cant do this to customers windows

cheers

 

[Smurf]

What type of cloth are you using to detail the edges of the glass & is it dry?

 

[Smurf]

Your soap mix might be too strong aswell which will not help so try reducing how much you add to the water. Dogearing the squeegee channel will also reduce the amount of detailing you need to do too.

 

[laddergarder]

If you are using scrims make sure they are bone dry. Wipe top, then down one side, then go to the corner you started at with another dry area of the cloth, using your finger to press it into the corner and wipe down. Allot of water pools at the bottom so try get a clean cut with the squeegee and leave it or you be trying to dry that area all day. Wipe the bottom frame with a microfiber then have a look. If you see a little water still there dont worry, leave it. Go have a cuppa (assuming your trying this on your own windows first) then come back in ten minutes. You should find you removed enough of the water, and the edges dried up nicely.

If you are using microfibers on the glass, try scrims. Microfibers are great for a little detailing with the area is mostly dry. But they soak water up so well, after running the edges of a couple of windows they will be leaving water marks every where. Its also quite hard to tell at a glance what area of a microfiber is dry and what is wet. Its easy with scrims, they go dark when wet, and IMO makes it easy to ensure you are using a dry section of the cloth.

I know some window cleaners that use one scrim all day, dry or wet. but I find dry scrims, do a good job when detailing the edges.

 

[TolishAPurd]

Yep, a nice dry scrim is key, although I have heard of some people using wet scrims that are wrung out.

A little trick I use when scrimming is to walk my fingers on the inside of my scrim when I am drying. By doing that, each finger uses a slightly different part of the scrim meaning you don't have to keep wiping or lifting off the scrim. Hope that makes sense.

 

[cheapncheerful]

yeh me with the bone dry scrim too....have a bin bag full of them.....i mainly change them when they fill up with black marks off the rubber seals around the edge of windows....i dont do the bottom so much as it drags the black onto the usually white pvc and its a bugger to get off....

also dont forget our friend the weather....you can have seconds to detail or minutes depends on conditions....sometimes i can leave a full bay and go and detail it in one go other times struggle to get one window done and have to switch to a damp scrim...

 

[mrtaytay]

If you are using micros then its essential to use the right type for detailing.....you must use the fine weave micro cloths. Theses do an excellent job. I use a small fineweave for the initial wipe around the edge and then a large fineweave for the secondary wipe. Are you doing straight pulls?. If so, then lots of water will gather on the bottom part of the sill......just gently remove this with a regular micro or piece of towell before you detail.

 

[Duncs]

if your scrim is,int dry & clean you will get black mark on the windows edge

 

[Posh]

As above dry scrim although I use fishscale paragon micros which I still use dampish. Also as said I don't detail much as dog eared squeegee works well.

 

[norm]

dry scrim does the business

detailing gets less more skillful ya get

dont wash ya scrims with washing powder/liquid

try hard rubber

if you try horizontal squeegee pull and angle your blade slightly forward say working left to right squeegee top angled slightly to right then hard against right edge of glass might help ya

if that makes scense

 

[Keiron]

Hi there new to all this
Had a practice on my own windows. Getting there but when I detail I seem to leave a streak/smear round the edge. Also do this when drying a bit of the window I have missed. Am I simply not drying it enough ? Any help appreciated as cant do this to customers windows

cheers

I won't bother going through all the different cloths I use/have used of varying qualities and alleged excellence,or different methods and techniques etc....But what I would say is that in my back pocket I always keep my fail safe fallback guarantted to do the job - few sheets of screwed up decent quality kitchen roll.There's nothing better that I've found.Any hint of annoying streaks/marks etc left over and out it comes and wipes it clean and dry in a flash - every time.Soon as any hint of dampness just throw it away and get few more fresh sheets.