Transcription
So, what I'm going to do is show you some common squeegee technique used by lots of window cleaners. Um, most of the time I think 14in is probably the most common, but I'm just going to show you with a 12 in. I like to use a 12 in most of the time. Um, and I'm going to have more space to maneuver this squeegee around the glass.
So, the other thing that I think is really important that often gets underestimated is the way you grip the squeegee handle. I think it's really important to put your thumb on top, your first finger underneath, and to allow the other fingers to allow it to pivot around the window. What I see quite a lot is people holding it with their first finger on top. And what that means is as you're moving the squeegee round the window, there's a lot more strain through your wrist and your elbow. Um, if you can hold it with your thumb on top, your first finger, you're getting a pivot through your first finger and thumb like that. And your other fingers will really control that pivot. That allows you to move the squeegee about much more easily. So, that's my top tip. It allows you for your thumb to put the pressure down and then your fingers to move it around the window nice and easily. It might take you time to build up strength in your thumb. If you see the difference in my thumbs here, obviously I'm right-handed, so I've built up a bit of strength in my right thumb there holding it on.
What we'll do is we'll wet up the window here. So using a squeegee is not as difficult as it looks. It's basically three steps. Okay. Cutting in. Then we'll have S turns and then closing out. They're the three steps. Okay. So, I'm going to show you that now in more detail. Wet up the window, being careful not to get too much soap along the top. Now, when you first put your squeegee in the glass, you get this drag like this where the soap drags for a length of time. So, what we have to do is we want to start at the top and squeegee our way down. But what we want to do is start partway down, maybe a third of the way down so that we eliminate that drag. So, we'll do that here. We'll get this corner of the squeegee going up into the corner here. And then we want to bring it across the top into the other corner. Now, as we come across the top into the other corner, we want to allow this side to come up slightly. And then that rotation continues as we come down the window here. Now, our concentration will shift now from this corner to this end of the squeegee here. So, as we bring that side down, we want to now bring that side of the squeegee over the top of where we've just been. So, we can gather up the soap now on this side and bring it down this side of the frame. These are our S turns. Now, we come our attention is back on the top here as we come over the top round to the other side. Make sure we get that rotation because we're going to bring this side of the squeegee down into the corner and bring this side up again over the top until we get to the bottom. Now, we may want to close out at the side or preferably we want to close out at the bottom. Now, it's preferable to close out at the bottom. Sometimes if you close out and finish your movement at the side, you can end up with soap running down onto the glass again. So, it's always better if you can to close out at the bottom. But sometimes it depends on the point you are in your turn. It's good to experiment and have uh a try with both and see which you prefer, which you find best.
So, we'll do that one more time. Now, if you're cutting in, you can cut in from the top here into that corner and bring it down and then come back across to this corner. Get your turns. Make sure you keep that side up. Bring it over again. This side we want to keep down. And then this side. Each time get that rotation. Then we'll wipe around the glass like we normally do. There we go. And then the frame. And that is our squeegee technique. Takes a lot of practice uh to get used to it. You might want to find your own little techniques in there as well, your own slightly different pattern of uh working your way down the glass. But really, it's good to experiment and try it out for yourself. Um, because the more proficient you are at it, the better.