[Richard Stevenson]

Hi guys, I have a customer with leaded windows. The lead (fake lead) is peeling off
The customer had someone around to repair it  this chap blamed it on the pure water system. What's your thoughts and experiences.
Thanks all

[NBwcs]

It's not a given that the window cleaner is always to blame with damage to leads but it's undeniable that we can and do damage to them if theyre  not 100% stuck down. I've managed to snap some of these fake plastic ones you get on doors, and the real lead can lift with the brush. I turn down any new leaded work.

[Perfect Windows]

The sequence, as far as I can see, is:

The fake lead expands and contracts in sunlight and heat over the years. It gradually warps and raises itself off the glass. Either it starts to sag then or we come along and if we're heavy-handed we loosen it even more. So, it starts naturally but we definitely can make it worse.

Solution: Be gentle with it and, on the horizontal/vertical lead version, run your brush at an angle across it. Having the brush at right angles to the lead seems to maximise strain on it.

Vin

[tlwcs]

Also use a flocked brush

[M & C Window Cleaning]

Windows will always need to be cleaned and for this reason sticking lead on exterior glass has always a bad idea in my book.

The two things expand and contract at different rates when exposed to the elements and when the glue that bonds them fails, usually becoming dry or even brittle, they separate. That has absolutely nothing to do with us. They can last many years or just a few depending on the manufacturing process and or the adhesives used to bond them. I've seen some last 25 years plus and others that have failed within five.

Once it has happened however, it doesn't matter how you clean them you will need to do it with care. Even when I used to clean them with scrims and microfibres lead would occasionally get caught in the fibres and come off.

I've even seen it come off and completely distort out of shape in between the double glazing where no-one can get at it. I took a photo of this once and used to show it to customers who told me it was my fault when their lead came off.

Of all the methods I've used over the years, WFP with a soft or flocked brush has been the least problematic on leaded windows,  especially when following Vin's advise in the previous post. I would definitely not use medium or stiff bristled brushes on them and when using microfibres I mostly use a glass cloth or a fishscale microfibre.

[Simon Trapani]

As above. A soft flocked/flagged brush is a must. Stops the brush bouncing too.

A stiff brush & even a medium bristle will lift that lead, especially if they’re a few years old.

[Scottish Cleaning Service]

I have some that I clean. I just brush them very lightly and if the complain then they can get a Trad guy do them. Usually stuck with double sided tape, so if water gets in then it gets worse through time.