There are two main types of window cleaning kit, the first is traditional or “Trad” (see what they did there). Then there is a water fed pole system, these can be either standalone or van mounted. Usually a tank, pump, pole, brush, hose and some sort of filtration.

Traditional methods uses the hand tools that everyone should be familiar with. That a squeegee, applicator, scraper, cloth, scrim, bucket and Fairy Liquid (only the best). We will go into greater detail on another post about the types of squeegee, precision vs standard etc. but the main focus of today’s post is to identify what we use and why.

A window cleaning system is usually a van mounted tank that holds pure water. The water will have passed through a filtration system of some kind (more on that in another post) to get the TDS (total dissolved solids) down to 0ppm (parts per million) is the basis of the process. The windows are basically scrubbed clean from ground level and rinsed with the pure water, and done correctly this will not leave any marks on the glass as the pure water will evaporate without leaving any trace. This is due to the fact that the water is free from impurities. A lot of this is down to skill and can give less than perfect results if done incorrectly. There are numerous reasons why the quality of the clean can be affected, and it’s important to understand this as the higher you go the less you can rely on checking by sight and the more you will need to rely of your processes and techniques. Things such as flow rate, water quality, brush head type and angle, type of jets (and technique), process of washing the window, type of frame (old upvc and aluminium are terrible for runs), type of soiling (this is where a hot water system will help), correct placement and technique to ensure adequate pressure and so on. This is not a definitive list. We maintain that a window cleaning system is superior to the traditional method on the outside of buildings, as it allows for a deeper clean, it’s safer for operatives, it’s less intrusive for domestic customers and it’s won’t damage your building with a ladder.

Internal cleans are where the traditional method comes into its own. Used properly there is no mess and the windows are left streak free. The drawback is that it takes a while to perfect the technique. But once this has been mastered there is nothing you can’t do.

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