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Trad smear lines

Jamespf1

Member
Messages
41
Location
Kent
Hi all,

on some window I’m getting trail lines after fanning. Only small little ones and by the time I have finished fanning to the bottom of the window they have dried out. And I can’t see any smear or streaks. Will this show when the sunlight hits the glass?

I use cold water and fairy

many thanks 

 
Is it from the end of the blade or the middle?

If its from the end i find just slowing down a touch helps, if from the middle, your rubber needs turning or replacung as its got a nick in it.

Any ive ever had dried out fine and no complaints

 
Hi all,

on some window I’m getting trail lines after fanning. Only small little ones and by the time I have finished fanning to the bottom of the window they have dried out. And I can’t see any smear or streaks. Will this show when the sunlight hits the glass?

I use cold water and fairy

many thanks 
What do you mean by drying out by the time you fan to the bottom of the window?

If windows are drying out that fast, you need to use more solution (water and soap.) 

Lines can be caused by bad rubber, rubber is cheap as chips so change out the rubber, make sure your using good quality rubber.

Lines can also be caused be poor technique to much pressure or not enough pressure, that is easy to solve..(proper practice/time in the field.)

Hope this helps!

 
Hi all,

on some window I’m getting trail lines after fanning. Only small little ones and by the time I have finished fanning to the bottom of the window they have dried out. And I can’t see any smear or streaks. Will this show when the sunlight hits the glass?

I use cold water and fairy

many thanks 
If you are getting lines from the edge of the squeegy it could be that the rubber isn't held firmly in the channel and is moving. Probably won't show unless the sun is very low in the sky.

It could be that your solution is too wet, do you put the Fairy in the bucket or on your applicator? If you don't then try putting it on the applicator and having a more sudsy, controllable solution on the glass.

Also are you using a good quality squeegy with good soft rubber?

 
What kind of squeegee is it, moerman, unger? 

Sometimes the rubbers just need broke in a little. What kind of rubber are you using? 

They can be worn or nicked in the middle as some have mentioned, and need replaced.

You could have small hair or peice of debris on the blade, and it just needs a wipe down.

It could be your technique that's causing it. Is it always happening?

Are you buying long strips of rubber and cutting them down, it could be your cutting blade.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Is it from the end of the blade or the middle?

If its from the end i find just slowing down a touch helps, if from the middle, your rubber needs turning or replacung as its got a nick in it.

Any ive ever had dried out fine and no complaints
This is something I had been wondering just the other day. I can just turn the rubber on my blade right? Just noticed the other day it was worn at the ends and had been thinking if I need a new one or just can turn the one I have? Thanks

 
What kind of squeegee is it, moerman, unger? 

Sometimes the rubbers just need broke in a little. What kind of rubber are you using? 

They can be worn or nicked in the middle as some have mentioned, and need replaced.

You could have small hair or peice of debris on the blade, and it just needs a wipe down.

It could be your technique that's causing it. Is it always happening?

Are you buying long strips of rubber and cutting them down, it could be your cutting blade.
Just ordered myself some new blades. Been practicing a lot on poorly maintained painted wooden framed windows so I think it will be a little nick in the blade. And I use unger blades and unger squeegee. I always get it on when fanning to the left and not to the right.

can you simply just turn the squeegee blade around and use it like normal again? 
thanks for the help everyone 

 
Just ordered myself some new blades. Been practicing a lot on poorly maintained painted wooden framed windows so I think it will be a little nick in the blade. And I use unger blades and unger squeegee. I always get it on when fanning to the left and not to the right.

can you simply just turn the squeegee blade around and use it like normal again? 
thanks for the help everyone 
You can turn them round and use the other side but if it has a nick in it it will still affect the clean so best to replace it 

 
This is something I had been wondering just the other day. I can just turn the rubber on my blade right? Just noticed the other day it was worn at the ends and had been thinking if I need a new one or just can turn the one I have? Thanks
Yes you can flip it. Make sure the ends aren't damaged. 

 
Just ordered myself some new blades. Been practicing a lot on poorly maintained painted wooden framed windows so I think it will be a little nick in the blade. And I use unger blades and unger squeegee. I always get it on when fanning to the left and not to the right.

can you simply just turn the squeegee blade around and use it like normal again? 
thanks for the help everyone 
Yes and no. I don't because I use an unger boab, and the little divider inside rubs a little wear mark on the back of the blade. But for moerman or zero degree ungers that I don't keep in a boab alot I do flip.

Sounds like the rubber is just worn. Wooden frames will cause more wear at the ends. 

I'll see if I have an old blade in the van and post of photo of what to look for.

 
Ok, so below is a worn end that I changed. I usually swap my main squeegee weekly. Maybe 60 houses.

The second photo is a moerman, the ends on those get torn up quite a bit as they are pressed into the frames a bit more. That one needs changed.

The third is a wear mark from the unger boab, that will eventually wear through to the front, but I always get a weeks use of it before that happens, but can't flip it, as that will leave lines.

20210203_111511.jpg

20210203_111602.jpg

20210203_111652.jpg

 
This is something I had been wondering just the other day. I can just turn the rubber on my blade right? Just noticed the other day it was worn at the ends and had been thinking if I need a new one or just can turn the one I have? Thanks
Yeah blades are reversable

 
Just ordered myself some new blades. Been practicing a lot on poorly maintained painted wooden framed windows so I think it will be a little nick in the blade. And I use unger blades and unger squeegee. I always get it on when fanning to the left and not to the right.

can you simply just turn the squeegee blade around and use it like normal again? 
thanks for the help everyone 
If you turn that rubber round and try again  and you get the trail line still on the same part of the rubber then it is the rubber. If you still get the trail line in the same place on the squeegee, then probably your technique when fanning to the left. Remember though as laddergarder mentioned and which is often overlooked... make sure you cut the rubber cleanly.

 
It's a difficult question to answer as it could be a number of things. Tradding you are only as good as the rubber & condition of the rubber. Just make sure the rubber isn't soaking/dripping when you start to fan as excess water can lead to streaking carrying from the start, By the same token the drier your rubber the quicker it will burn out. I see alot of guys wipe down their squeegee with a cloth to remove the excess, I have never done that instead I pull the squeegee across the applicator, that way the excess if removed, the rubber is still that bit wet so as to prolong its usage & you will get longer use of that cloth detailing.

As regards burn out on the ends which inevitably happens, obviously turn the rubber around first so both sides are used. When you get the point when wear/burn out has happened at the end of both sides of the rubber, get a snips and trim off about a mm or whatever you need to get past that wear to the fresher rubber. I have been doing this for year and unless that rubber is nicked centrally, you can potentially prolong one piece of rubber for weeks at a time, I get months sometimes which saves you money over the year. You can just keep snipping the bad bits off and you will get to the point when the rubber is a bit shorter than the channel but use the end clips (Under ninja/brass/green plastic) and slightly stretch the rubber out past the end of the channel. 

 
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