Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: steveo22 on November 08, 2009, 10:50:30 pm
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I hear at a lot of talk about scrims and how good they are, how essential are they to a trad window cleaners kit??? I'm still using microfibre cloths, should i make the changeover?
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scrims are so 90's ;D
old ones are good enough for wiping sills
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For detailing- scrim all the way, microfibers are just over-hyped tripe.
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tried microfibre, couldn't get into it. the only thing with scrim, you shouldn't get splinters from a cloth :D
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i used scrims for years an always struggled to get a good finish, however microfibres are fantastic in my opinion ;D
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i used scrims for years an always struggled to get a good finish, however microfibres are fantastic in my opinion ;D
Micro's are better for cleaning i.e. leadded, small top openers etc. but not IMO for detailing.
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i just find it hard to get the scrim to perform as well as the fibre, dont know why, it must be the way i prep them and use them
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For detailing I have found the scrim to be invaluable. I use microfibers for buffing mirrors and cleaning light fixtures. For sills I use a PVA towel.
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How important is the Scrimmy?
in my humble opinion i reckon I am the most important guy on here 8)
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i have about 20 scrims in total . i cant speak highly enough of scrim . one scrim usually lasts me a morning, at this time of year they dont dry so easy BUT at least they do dry ,other cloths stays wet once its wet .
glass Really shines if buffed with scrim
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I like the scrim got 15 of them dry them off with van heater between cleans Not many w/c's in Blackpool use them or microfibres just dirty old rags
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Scrim all the way
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scrim for me
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tried microfibre, couldn't get into it. the only thing with scrim, you shouldn't get splinters from a cloth :D
;D ;D
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Unfortunately there's no such thing as 'scrim' anymore. The stuff you buy today is a poor eastern European substitute.
The sort of scrim that we used years ago (I'm talking back in the 60's and 70's at the latest) was pure Irish linen. You could wash it out, wring it and then use it slightly damp. It would clean and polish all in one operation without leaving any smears.
The modern stuff will only work if it's dry - you might as well use an old tea towel.
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Ian,
True stuff mate,
When I first started we used to have a ''wash out'' every so often and as you say use the scrim damp.
Now as soon as they are damp they are useless.
Dean
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Unfortunately there's no such thing as 'scrim' anymore. The stuff you buy today is a poor eastern European substitute.
The sort of scrim that we used years ago (I'm talking back in the 60's and 70's at the latest) was pure Irish linen. You could wash it out, wring it and then use it slightly damp. It would clean and polish all in one operation without leaving any smears.
The modern stuff will only work if it's dry - you might as well use an old tea towel.
My scrim is grade 1 Irish yarn, so there! :P
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Dean:
I used to love the 'wash out' bit. Wash, spin up, wring out then crack to open it out again.
Made many an unsuspecting passer by jump with a good crack ;D ;D
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Unfortunately there's no such thing as 'scrim' anymore. The stuff you buy today is a poor eastern European substitute.
The sort of scrim that we used years ago (I'm talking back in the 60's and 70's at the latest) was pure Irish linen. You could wash it out, wring it and then use it slightly damp. It would clean and polish all in one operation without leaving any smears.
The modern stuff will only work if it's dry - you might as well use an old tea towel.
My scrim is grade 1 Irish yarn, so there! :P
That's as maybe, but can it be used as I (and Dean) described above? I think not :P
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Dean:
I used to love the 'wash out' bit. Wash, spin up, wring out then crack to open it out again.
Made many an unsuspecting passer by jump with a good crack ;D ;D
It came keen too :o :o :o :o
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ive been trying both today,scrim and microfibre definately scrim works better
bob ???
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ive been trying both today,scrim and microfibre definately scrim works better
bob ???
But do you use it damp or dry?
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i remember irish linen.a hardware store near me sold it in yards off a roll.took a while to break in but then it would last for ages!that was in the early 90s when i just scrimmed windows til about 1997!no squeegy or Tmop!modern day scrim ok for detailing on a damp day but prefer microfibres on leaded and georgian for buffing.doesnt leave fibres like scrim.
regards dazmond
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ian lancaster i use scrim dry for detailing or slightly damp.sometimes damp for little openers and georgian then buff with dry microfibre
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Exactly. But good old (damp) scrim would do your little openers with one pass and leave it clean.
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ive been trying both today,scrim and microfibre definately scrim works better
bob ???
But do you use it damp or dry?
i vary it a little
when ive washed the window i some times run a microfibre cloth around the edge of the pane then blade it and there is very little left to scrimm this helps the scrimm last longer
otherwise it as to be dry for me hate it when its wet/damp
bob
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ive been trying both today,scrim and microfibre definately scrim works better
bob ???
But do you use it damp or dry?
i vary it a little
when ive washed the window i some times run a microfibre cloth around the edge of the pane then blade it and there is very little left to scrimm this helps the scrimm last longer
otherwise it as to be dry for me hate it when its wet/damp
bob
scrim last longer ??? ???
use 4 a day ,wash every day and probley dont have to bin 2 a year
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i do the sills with scrim, microfiber on the glass, well i did back in the days before wfp.
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When I started I didn't know about scrim, so used checkered tea towels, had to boil them up similar to scrim and rough them up a bit, but they worked fine. I think we used to pay about 45p for a pack of 5 and that would last us all year.
We use microfibres as damp cloths for cleaning off snail trails etc. I find that the microfibre cloths used to irritate my hands when they were dry. So I would prefer the tea towels over the microfibres if I was still trad.
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I agree with Ian and Dean, the modern scrim doesn't get close to the stuff you could get 20 or 30 years ago, and you could get different thickness scrim too, took some breaking in mind!
I converted to flat weave microfibre a few ago now...way, way better in every respect than modern scrim, and if you can't detail with it then you are doing something wrong!
It can be used damp too.
I make up my own cleaning compound using pure water and isopropanol in a sprayer and it works incredibly well in areas where it is a preferred method to either WFP or a squeegee.
How important is scrim?............
It isn't, not any more....
Ian
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I have approximately 25 scrims, they took quite a bit to "break-in".
Yes I can use them damp, I usually prefer to use them slightly damp as I find I get a better result.
Matt
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Ian Lancaster took me back there. When I first cleaned windows for a living in 1958 I had never seen a squeegee, it was all done with a chamois mop and damp scrim. The scrim had to be washed after about 4 houses, and in clean water too, we had segs on our hands from ringing them out.
The crack when you flicked them was like a whip, it frayed the corners of the scrim pretty quickly too.
I was the fly killing champion, if a fly or wasp landed near by, I could atomise it with one deft flick.
You had to use the old linen scrims damp, as soon as they became dry,they would start leaving fluff on the glass, the new ones did anyway.
The difference I have noticed with modern scrim is that well used scrim will start fluffing too. The old stuff never did this, in fact they seemed to get better with use, and a holey scrim was quite prized.
We use to go over the glass with the mop, and then scrim it right away. This left a slight film of water on the glass, but only for a second and it always dried perfectly.
If the glass wasn't too dirty, you could get away with using a damp scrim only. It made the job a lot quicker even if you did have to wash it more often.
I was thinking about this the other day when Terry was on about his magic solution, if he has found micro fiber as good as the old scrim, the clean water would be the only magic solution you would ever need.
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When I started I didn't know about scrim, so used checkered tea towels, had to boil them up similar to scrim and rough them up a bit, but they worked fine. I think we used to pay about 45p for a pack of 5 and that would last us all year.
We use microfibres as damp cloths for cleaning off snail trails etc. I find that the microfibre cloths used to irritate my hands when they were dry. So I would prefer the tea towels over the microfibres if I was still trad.
Checkered tea towels, been cleaning windees since 1983 and never thought about that, @45p what a bargain, I,m paying up to £5 per yard of scrim. ;D
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Ian Lancaster took me back there. When I first cleaned windows for a living in 1958 :o :o :o I had never seen a squeegee, it was all done with a chamois mop and damp scrim. The scrim had to be washed after about 4 houses, and in clean water too, we had segs on our hands from ringing them out.
The crack when you flicked them was like a whip, it frayed the corners of the scrim pretty quickly too.
I was the fly killing champion, if a fly or wasp landed near by, I could atomise it with one deft flick.
You had to use the old linen scrims damp, as soon as they became dry,they would start leaving fluff on the glass, the new ones did anyway.
The difference I have noticed with modern scrim is that well used scrim will start fluffing too. The old stuff never did this, in fact they seemed to get better with use, and a holey scrim was quite prized.
We use to go over the glass with the mop, and then scrim it right away. This left a slight film of water on the glass, but only for a second and it always dried perfectly.
If the glass wasn't too dirty, you could get away with using a damp scrim only. It made the job a lot quicker even if you did have to wash it more often.
I was thinking about this the other day when Terry was on about his magic solution, if he has found micro fiber as good as the old scrim, the clean water would be the only magic solution you would ever need.
Blimey :o
I thought I'd been around since the dark ages, but I only started in about 1968 ;D
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I did a couple of spells working for a guy, one about 6 months the other about four.
I was then away from the job untill 1994, so one hell of a break.
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I did a couple of spells working for a guy, one about 6 months the other about four.
I was then away from the job untill 1994, so one hell of a break.
you just shattered your own legend there Dai,thought you did it the hard way for years not just 10 months ;D ;D
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if this forum had been going then theyd all be calling you beer money and dole boy ;D ;D