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Large hydrophobic shop fronts

DeLaCruz

Active member
Messages
424
Location
Cornwall
I have a couple of these, and the WFP is leaving droplets on the glass when i finish even after i rinse using 100 degree fan jets at 5cm  - ofc these could dry but it s not really the finish i wanna leave for the client. Couple solutions i considered:

1) Just swipe off the pure water left with a rubber squeegee

2) Get a squeegee adapter for my WFP (is this done much, if it is can anyone recommend one)

3) Switch to entirely trad for these shops since they are easy enough access. 

4) Invest in a Reach it hydro blade - these look really good but expensive option + not community tested product

 
I have a couple of these, and the WFP is leaving droplets on the glass when i finish even after i rinse using 100 degree fan jets at 5cm  - ofc these could dry but it s not really the finish i wanna leave for the client. Couple solutions i considered:

1) Just swipe off the pure water left with a rubber squeegee

2) Get a squeegee adapter for my WFP (is this done much, if it is can anyone recommend one)

3) Switch to entirely trad for these shops since they are easy enough access. 

4) Invest in a Reach it hydro blade - these look really good but expensive option + not community tested product


You could also just leave them to dry normally and check them later. Then you will know how they dry off.

Personally I would blade them off as @Pjj says.

We never had many shop fronts but we found it best to blade the doors off after wfping them. During the winter months we did them traditionally due to the concern of water on the pavements becoming a slip hazard.

I only have one accountants office in the high street now that I clean early on a Sunday morning because of the number of pedistrans otherwise. In winter I spread the pavement with salt. There is a council salt bin conveniently placed so I use that and take a photo after I have gritted the pavement with the building entrance in the edge of the photo. No one can argue that the photo was taken elsewhere.

 
I do two shop fronts they both get wfp and left, some shop owners are happy with wfp others aren't but mine will be dry before anyone turns up and both happy customers although one I do for free so definitely no complaints ?

 
Have this dilemma with a few of mine hydrophobic jobs, big enough jobs for large coffee chain, lot of panels with frames that hold the water but seals do drip. I do find myself blading water off with a 36" squeegee or it will never stop dripping down & with the staff merry go round I got sick of explaining to new staff about wfp. Annoying doing it to be honest but it's still quicker and a better clean than doing it trad. I would leave them and check back to see how they dried but jobs aren't close to my area so less hassle just swiping off the excess.

 
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Well i have looked into this a lot. I work for a guy who didnt think it was possible to really clean hydrophobic glass. But i wasnt convinced.seemed ridiculous that some glass couldnt be cleaned right. So i did research. There are videos on youtube.

Basically, wash just the top of the glass and frame and then leave to dry. If theres a lot of them just move on to the next and do the same. If there isnt a lot of them, then this may not work for you. Then come back to the dried ones, or at least they've stopped dripping, and wash the rest of the pane. Then rinse from just below the top of the glass, being careful not to wet the frames and top again. This works for me. Any drips that come down in lines from the frame will leave marks so make sure there are none left.

If you havent as much glass, dont spend so much time on the initial clean of the tops so there'll be less time drying, but its not as good of a clean for that top bit of the window, but its not going to be noticed.

Hope that helps 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Well i have looked into this a lot. I work for a guy who didnt think it was possible to really clean hydrophobic glass. But i wasnt convinced.seemed ridiculous that some glass couldnt be cleaned right. So i did research. There are videos on youtube.

Basically, wash just the top of the glass and frame and then leave to dry. If theres a lot of them just move on to the next and do the same. If there isnt a lot of them, then this may not work for you. Then come back to the dried ones, or at least they've stopped dripping, and wash the rest of the pane. Then rinse from just below the top of the glass, being careful not to wet the frames and top again. This works for me. Any drips that come down in lines from the frame will leave marks so make sure there are none left.

If you havent as much glass, dont spend so much time on the initial clean of the tops so there'll be less time drying, but its not as good of a clean for that top bit of the window, but its not going to be noticed.

Hope that helps 


You can clean all types of glass exactly the same way no need for different techniques for hydrophobic glass if you are worried about what it will look like when it’s dry just blade it off it will be perfect we have been doing it this way for 18 years and never had a problem 

 
I clean an extremely large car dealership that is all glass.... Hydro glass too!

First clean i used standard size 24cm flocked brush with two 100 degree fan jets, absolutely terrible results, spotting everywhere.

I found out that the 100 degree jets are not the best to use on hydro at all!

So i switched to a gardiner 35cm ultimate flocked brush with four 50 degree fan jets. the trick is to keep the brush head as close to the glass as possible and rinse the glass loads.

Glass is perfect every time now. Hope this helps.

 
I do around 35 shop fronts and I trad them all. It’s a lot quicker in my opinion as you can walk about with the bucket and not have to worry about parking and access issues in busy town centres.

You also have the added worries of the hose being a trip hazard and the water being a slip hazard, especially in doorways that can sometimes be tiled.

I do a few upstairs shop windows that I do early in the morning when it’s quiet with wfp.
I was trad for 20 years before I switched to wfp so I have good technique and can work fast with perfect results. I know this is sometimes not the case with guys who’ve only done wfp.
 
I do around 35 shop fronts and I trad them all. It’s a lot quicker in my opinion as you can walk about with the bucket and not have to worry about parking and access issues in busy town centres.

You also have the added worries of the hose being a trip hazard and the water being a slip hazard, especially in doorways that can sometimes be tiled.

I do a few upstairs shop windows that I do early in the morning when it’s quiet with wfp.
I was trad for 20 years before I switched to wfp so I have good technique and can work fast with perfect results. I know this is sometimes not the case with guys who’ve only done wfp.
If you have lots of shopfronts in the high street, then trad is the only way to do them, in my honest opinion.

There was a fellow in London who had a 4 wheeled trolley with a wfp tank in it with short pole, pump and battery. He seemed to manage alright with that setup.

We only have one Cost Cutters we do now. The doors are cleaned traditionally, but all the fascias and perspex advertising panels are done wfp. We usually do that shopfront before the shop opens in the morning. How much water we use is weather dependant, and the pavement is salted when we are finished. If it's icy, it gets left to the next day, and we also have the option of doing it in the middle of the day.
 
I use pencil jets with full power. A little bit more water, but the result is perfect. Just you have to aim with the jets down as much as possible, not to create a "circles" of splash, but "waterfall"..
 

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