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jo5hm4n

  • Posts: 944
Anyone tried this?
« on: April 21, 2021, 10:07:40 pm »
So been asked to do a commercial premises inside and out every 8 weeks.  Most of the job is fine, but there is one section of windows on the inside where there is about 40 panes of glass and its way above head height, not in any way safe to use ladders and obviously cant use wfp.  Using a squeegee on a pole is not ideal either as my staff who will be doing the job, have very little experience with trad so it would just be a disaster tbh.

Thinking about trying something different.  I already have a spare gardiners pole kicking about.  Thinking of adapting it with the kit in this video below from gardiners.

Anyone used this setup with these pads?

Before anyone asks, the job is priced really well.  I went in with a ridiculous high price and got the job as no other cleaners locally wanted to do the internals because its hassle etc...  So dont care if it takes forever using this method aslong as it does the job one way or another.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibT9mUwScV8&t=219s

windowswashed

  • Posts: 2539
Re: Anyone tried this?
« Reply #1 on: April 21, 2021, 10:14:48 pm »
Moerman flip pads aint bad. Squeegie and flip it over for pad resting on other side used with an extension pole for awkward non wfp windows. Use gg3 or equivalent for non free smear with pad and blade the windows, reaches awkward corners easy enough with a bit of practice.  You can also use them with the pad and blade both facing the same way with the blade (rubber from squeegie) sitting just above the pad so washing and blading in one movement, also takes a bit of practice to get familiar with it.


Always shining

  • Posts: 112
Re: Anyone tried this?
« Reply #2 on: April 21, 2021, 10:18:38 pm »
Can you get a small tower in there?

deeege

  • Posts: 4963
Re: Anyone tried this?
« Reply #3 on: April 21, 2021, 10:37:29 pm »
You’ll need to get one of your staff upto speed on a trad pole, or do the job yourself, assuming you can use a trad pole.

Alternatively it may be worth subbing it out to another window cleaner who has taken the time to learn to trad.
"....and it's lend me ten pounds, I'll buy you a drink, and mother wake me early in the morning."

Smudger

  • Posts: 13298
Re: Anyone tried this?
« Reply #4 on: April 21, 2021, 11:02:36 pm »
It's an ok ish idea - but your very limited with those pads if the glass is dirty they are only good for a single pane before they start putting dirt back on the glass - I have most success with the fluffy under pad to take off the worst stuff then use one of them slightly damp with white vinegar mix to finish

But best of all - I had a glass atrium that overlooked a big hall the glass was 25 ft up each pane was 10 ft high and I mopped the glass heavily and using a window vac (yes really) converted to fit an slx used it to blade down the glass - perfect results  ;D

Darran
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

www.oddbodscleaning.co.uk

Re: Anyone tried this?
« Reply #5 on: April 21, 2021, 11:14:57 pm »
I use unger pad system on a pole. This way seems a bit excessive though. I just put pure water in a spray bottle and squirt directly on to glass if it reaches or on to the wet pad before changing to a dry polishing one.

Matt.

  • Posts: 1828
Re: Anyone tried this?
« Reply #6 on: April 22, 2021, 12:07:38 am »
I wouldn’t use the pad system I tried it years ago an it don't work like Alex shows u on dirty windows ..... his ones are already clean.

I have gardiner poles with trad pole connectors from wcw to slot in the top, meaning I can trad with a wfp internally at quite a decent height, this is more what u want to be looking at

zesty

  • Posts: 2369
Re: Anyone tried this?
« Reply #7 on: April 22, 2021, 06:57:42 am »
Like others have said, those pads are pretty useless unless the windows are very clean.

Flip squeegee is your best bet, training the staff with one.

Richard iSparkle

  • Posts: 2490
Re: Anyone tried this?
« Reply #8 on: April 22, 2021, 07:23:50 am »
So been asked to do a commercial premises inside and out every 8 weeks.  Most of the job is fine, but there is one section of windows on the inside where there is about 40 panes of glass and its way above head height, not in any way safe to use ladders and obviously cant use wfp.  Using a squeegee on a pole is not ideal either as my staff who will be doing the job, have very little experience with trad so it would just be a disaster tbh.

Thinking about trying something different.  I already have a spare gardiners pole kicking about.  Thinking of adapting it with the kit in this video below from gardiners.

Anyone used this setup with these pads?

Before anyone asks, the job is priced really well.  I went in with a ridiculous high price and got the job as no other cleaners locally wanted to do the internals because its hassle etc...  So dont care if it takes forever using this method aslong as it does the job one way or another.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibT9mUwScV8&t=219s

Unless they have specifically asked for those high windows to be cleaned  we would just specify that the quote includes those that can be cleaned from the ground floor.

And that would mean reached trad with a pole extension

The rest should be very dirty and certainly can’t be seen close up so 🤷🏻

That’s always been fine with our commercial jobs... and keeps their price down too..

iSparkle Window Cleaning

www.isparklewindowcleaning.uk

james peters

  • Posts: 937
Re: Anyone tried this?
« Reply #9 on: April 22, 2021, 07:43:27 am »
trad them on a pole with just pure water, to remove the surface dirt.
then use a pad like the one in the video to buff and detail

Den68

  • Posts: 287
Re: Anyone tried this?
« Reply #10 on: April 22, 2021, 07:57:46 am »
You will need a ridiculous amount of pads the grey pads in the videos are better for drying the wet glass for actual scrubbing you are better with the streamline pads, also get the double gooseneck and have two pad holders on the same pole, univalve works good with this system a very quick pull on/off.
These pad systems take age to use, TBH I would trad pole.

dazmond

  • Posts: 23650
Re: Anyone tried this?
« Reply #11 on: April 22, 2021, 08:01:26 am »
This is where an unger vice versa and a trad pole would come in handy..its a squeegee and tmop combined....

Mop and squeegee a few windows then follow up with a dry scrim/microfiber in an unger clamp for detailing.....

Or if you ve got 3 trad poles and 3 workers just give them one each
1.mop
2.squeegee
3.cloth detailing
price higher/work harder!

Re: Anyone tried this?
« Reply #12 on: April 22, 2021, 10:53:35 am »
Do the job properly by trad the first time yourself. All subsequent cleans will be maintenance and could be done with just pads ?

NWH

  • Posts: 16952
Re: Anyone tried this?
« Reply #13 on: April 22, 2021, 11:38:34 am »
I would never give a swivel trad tool to someone inexperienced I would certainly never give them a moreman tool,if it’s in direct sunlight it needs to be done off of ladders by someone that’s good with a squeegee,it’s good to be back 🤣🤣🤣😘

Rob.Hall

  • Posts: 1069
Re: Anyone tried this?
« Reply #14 on: April 22, 2021, 02:05:55 pm »
Hire a mast lift and trad.
They fit into small areas and can go high.
Save time faffing around with pads which will drive you bonkers!


jo5hm4n

  • Posts: 944
Re: Anyone tried this?
« Reply #15 on: April 22, 2021, 03:31:13 pm »
Thanks for replies.  So after reading the posts on here i am now thinking of trying to use a pole with mop/blade to take the excess dirt off, and then maybe use the vikan mop pads on the slx pole just to buff and detail the glass.

My staff are not trained to use moerman equipment or to do trad on a pole with normal S method.  It just would not work.  As this is a one off isolated job, i would rather start simple.  Ill just get them to do squeegee pull downs on a pole, and then use pads to buff and polish the top.  Its not the most efficient way of doing it, but its alot easier for staff that arent experts with trad.

These vikan pads look good but i can see how if the windows where dirty these pads would be useless and a massive waste of time, but i can see how on the first clean if you trad it first, then maybe in 8 weeks when we go back, could just use vikan pads to polish the glass off, as i doubt it will get dirty very quickly.




robbo333

  • Posts: 2411
Re: Anyone tried this?
« Reply #16 on: April 22, 2021, 04:30:26 pm »
The only success i've had with a 'pad type method' is to spray a mist of pure onto the window and leave it for 10 seconds to soak up the dirt. Then use 'fish scale cloths' to remove the dirt. But it is a lot of faff.

Personally I would use straight pulls, with a separate applicator and blade on 2 separate poles. That way you don't have to use a combined tool, which can be cumbersome. You can then use exactly the right blade for the job, the correct length, light, controllable and easier to use than a combination tool. A bit of a learning curve but far less faff.
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