Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: mikecam on November 26, 2010, 09:26:38 pm
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I started with Vikan rectangle brushes and never had a problen with them, well apart from the fact they're a bit heavier than they need be, or maybe what i 'think' they could be. I also have the oval Vikan, that has lots of really soft bristles, great for cleaning leaded windows, not so good for getting algae/moss out of UPVC frames. Thats all i'd used until recently. Oh, i got a salmon dual trim brush which seemed great but i left it on the end of my facelift 30' fibreglass as it was so light so i never used it to much !!
Now when i got my CLX poles my first few i got with the dual trim lightweight brush. Never had a problem with them, infact they seemed to easy to use, and too light. Not that there was anything wrong but i almost thought if i'm not having to work the brush hard them its not cleaning enough, although all the results from it where fine. It was just what i 'thought' a brush should be feeling like i was having a problem with. Good brush really, very soft bristles on the outside, great for cleaning glass with a sweep and if needed ,a bit of a push and you're onto the shorter stiffer ones for a dig in the grooves on UPVC to rid of moss/algae and general crap. For some reason that seemed right at the time i got my next CLX with a mono trim brush which was quite stiff. Great for scrubbing crap out of frames. Not so good for me at 25' cleaning a first clean. I got called back. Never been called back to a job before. They said the job was crap there was spots and streaks etc.... I'm not new to WFP and usually leave a first class job every time. I was mortified what i seen, i went inside to see them. On a lot of the glass it was as though someone had cleaned it with a comb, you could see where the bristles had missed the dirt and to be hionest they where really bad. Done the whole lot again with the dual trim brushes, and popped a Vikan on the end of the CLX. I'm guessing that the stiffness of the mono trim brush combined with the flex in the 27'CLX is a recipe for disaster, it doesn't give you a whole lot of scrubbing power or coverage.
Does a rigid full carbon fibre pole still give you the leverage and scrubbing power at 25'/30 feet even with a monofilament ,mono trim brush or are softer brushes always best for heights and real scrubbing power is out the question?
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Apologies if this is a stupid question, but it wasn't a first clean of the day in the past couple of days, was it? Could the bristles have still been frozen?
If not, ignore, as I've no experience of mono. Someone'll be along shortly who has...
Vin
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Make sure you aren't over reaching to get to the window as this can cause lack of brush pressure against the glass. Be far enough away from it to get good 'purchase'. Ie make sure your pole is long enough for the job. I use a dt at 50ft and for bungalows with no probs.
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Apologies if this is a stupid question, but it wasn't a first clean of the day in the past couple of days, was it? Could the bristles have still been frozen?
If not, ignore, as I've no experience of mono. Someone'll be along shortly who has...
Vin
Bang on the money Vin !! First clean and first of the day!! Bristles not frozen though, i'm guessing they're to stiff to be worked at height though? Open to opinions/ideas. Soft bristle in the afternoon after i went back done the job though !!
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Make sure you aren't over reaching to get to the window as this can cause lack of brush pressure against the glass. Be far enough away from it to get good 'purchase'. Ie make sure your pole is long enough for the job. I use a dt at 50ft and for bungalows with no probs.
I think i'll stick to the DT brush. They don't feel like they're doing to much though, although the results are excellent. Always make you feel like you're not scrubbing enough?
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ive been using the supalite mono for over one year and just recently was starting to struggle with it i always found myself pushing it hard against the glass to try and get a better clean and at the end of the day would have pains across the back of my shoulders . i dont know wether my brush has had it or the fact that the windows are so dirty at the minute with the wind and rain but i was maybe having to scrub over the windows maybe ten times to get the ingrained dirt off then i decided to go for the 15 degree flocked brush and for me its so much better the brush seems to do the work with the weight of the pole pushing against it so you dont get the wire brush effect its speeded the job up no end
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Make sure you aren't over reaching to get to the window as this can cause lack of brush pressure against the glass. Be far enough away from it to get good 'purchase'. Ie make sure your pole is long enough for the job. I use a dt at 50ft and for bungalows with no probs.
I think i'll stick to the DT brush. They don't feel like they're doing to much though, although the results are excellent. Always make you feel like you're not scrubbing enough?
I didn't like the cleaning of a mono and found a flocked great for conservatory roofs etc but not everyday cleaning.
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Wait until your car gets really dirty. Then make one pass/wipe in one direction somewhere on the paint work with a mono-filament bristled brush and then, right next to it, one pass with a flocked bristle brush. Wait until the car dries and compare the difference.
I have found that a mono-filament bristle takes 2 or 3 passes to equal the performance of a flocked bristle.
Just up your flow rate enough to deal with the extra dirt particles on the glass.
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Nooo dont touch a car with a monofiulament, - it scratches. Use a flocked !
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Good point Jeff.
I used a soft bristle.
There were on scratches.
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Put your wet brush on the outside of a opening window and look at it from inside - its like a comb.
(http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc114/JeffBrimble/2007_1201ultralite0100.jpg)
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Put your wet brush on the outside of a opening window and look at it from inside - its like a comb.
(http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc114/JeffBrimble/2007_1201ultralite0100.jpg)
Yeah thats a good pic jeff, and they're quite fine bristles. The bristles on the brush i have are coarser, less of them and they appear stiffer. I'll post pic of them tomorrow.
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Flocked dual trim for first cleans, mono dual for maintenance cleans.
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I dont get how a flocked can clean better than a mono on first cleans, surly a mono would clean better because if the stiffer bristles?
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Flocked has a bigger surface area and is more random in the way the bristles stroke the glass. You can press as hard as you like with a mono brush but the tips will still clean like a comb on filthy glass. On maintenance cleans your loosening very light specks of dirt that haven't had time to really stick to the glass. First cleans you are trying to shift a film of dirt.
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I dont get how a flocked can clean better than a mono on first cleans, surly a mono would clean better because if the stiffer bristles?
Depends on what exactly you're talking about. I agree that a stiff mono is great at scrubbing frames out, but i'd say a flocked brush is better for the actual glass cleaning.??
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Flocked I've found are not so good on maintenance cleans 'cos they drag a bit on the glass making them more tiring and they also hold the dirt particularly if you have the black bristles - can't see a thing in them. Black might look sexy but it's a crap colour for spotting dirt/grease etc. held in the brush.
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i love the black dual trim flocked!i use it for all maintenance cleans and rinse brush off.i use a vikan mono for dirty first cleans though!!
i didnt like it at first but a prefer it to the mono which just seems too stiff and doesnt scrub the glass as well as the flocked IMO
dazmond
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Flocked I've found are not so good on maintenance cleans 'cos they drag a bit on the glass making them more tiring and they also hold the dirt particularly if you have the black bristles - can't see a thing in them. Black might look sexy but it's a crap colour for spotting dirt/grease etc. held in the brush.
I agree,the flocked brush feels sticky,imo.
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Doh! Might help if i read the literature first.........
Slight more power needed to use than the dual-trim version.
Superior mono-filament, single-trim, micro-variation bristles on a lightweight two-piece stock. Designed specifically for water fed pole use and to compliment our Super-Lite and SL-X pole.
What a dope !!