BMEWS
 
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calendar   Friday - May 15, 2009

Squeegee In A Can

Want to get your windows nice and clean? Don’t want to pay me $10-$15 per window to do it for you? Don’t feel like building a whole collection of window cleaning tools? Here ya go. All you need is a bag of lint free rags.



ZEP 40

It really works, but is it worth it?



I’m not really into doing product endorsements. I don’t get paid for it. But while I was giving a bid on a nice big house this week, the owner was telling me all about this amazing spray he used to use. How it’s really hard to find, and how it costs a good bit, but how well it really works. Ok, make nice with the potential customer. Sure Mr. B, it must be a great product if you like it. Pity I’ve never heard of the stuff, pity I’ve never seen it in any store or at any online cleaning supply company. So the old guy goes rummaging in his garage, and hands me a can. “Try this! It takes me 3 cans to do the entire house!” So I give him the bid - I’m pretty sure I’ll get the job - and I took the can of stuff home. Never heard of it.


image



I tried it this afternoon. I did a small store, about 300 square feet of annoying windows. Annoying, because they’re the old style with the fat rubber gaskets and the sectional screw on anodized aluminum frames. Plus the window sets are lozenge shaped. A 4 window set is a half round, 2 rectangular windows, and another half round. 4 sets like that, plus 2 glass double doors. Round windows are a chore.

So I got out my gear, 4”, 10”, 24” squeegees, short handle, medium handle, 6” T-bar, 15” T-bar, 4” razor scraper, bucket, trough, gallon of cleaner, towels, rags, microfiber cleaning cloths. And went to work. When I was all done, except for 1 window, I went back over both sides of each window with the Zep 40. It didn’t take off any more dirt, but it did make getting into the corners a bit easier. Then I cleaned one entire window with the Zep 40 first. It came out clean. No streaks, no drips. I went back over it with my T-bar and squeegee, and I couldn’t get any more dirt off. So my conclusion is that the stuff works just as well as using commercial window cleaning tools. And it doesn’t streak. At all. And that’s fantastic.

Zep 40 is a mixture of ether, isobutyl alcohol, and some other kind of degreaser, all watered down so that it isn’t even inflammable. It smells a little oily, so it’s best to use it outside.

The stuff comes in a big 24 oz can, about $90 per case of 12, delivered.

Is it worth it? Well, the same $90 buys you 2 squeegee handles, a 6”, 10”, 14”, and 22” squeegee channel with rubber, a 6” swivel T-bar and sleeve, a 15” swivel T-bar and sleeve, and 2 of the imported German microfiber polishing cloths. In other words, it’s almost everything you need other than poles, a bucket, some rags, and a scraper to set yourself up in the window cleaning business. Well, and some quality ladders and an insurance policy. PS - the 16” plastic windowsill planter at Walmart makes a superb trough for your T-bars.

Ok, is it faster using Zep 40 spray? Maybe a little. One thing it can’t do is cool down hot glass. In the summer I keep an extra bucket of plain old water on hand. Go over the window with a sopping wet T-bar and you can cool a big window down a lot. That way the soap doesn’t evaporate instantly and leave you with a mess.

What about cold weather? That’s where Zep 40 may have an advantage. It’s pretty tough washing windows in sub-freezing weather, but sometimes that’s what you have to do. This stuff has enough alcohol in it that it won’t freeze on contact. Heck, it says Cold Weather Formula right on the label. Maybe I’ll keep a few cans on hand come the fall. In the meantime, a gallon of denatured alcohol costs $15, and will do the same kind of final wipe thing for a lot more windows than a case of spray cans.

Zep 40 should be good to use on textured glass. You can’t clean that stuff with a squeegee. Spray it on, go over it with a stiff natural brush, wipe it dry. Done.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 05/15/2009 at 09:34 PM   
Filed Under: • work and the workplace •  
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