Beta Testing Professional Cleaners

To be a better beta we need to look at many things.  I personally think sometimes we really don't know exactly why we like a certain product.  It just seems right.  I know I am like that. Years ago I liked a certain professional product called Sansco Window Cleaning Concentrate.  Used it for years.  It gave me fantastic slip for my blade, and enough sudz to see what I was doing.  Left a nice shine on the glass.  And smelled good too. Almost hypnotic.  But it cost over a hundred bux for a case of four gallons.  Compared to a bottle of Dawn at the local supermarket for three bux.  That worked quite well enough for me.  I tried many dish soaps over the years but settled on Dawn. I can make it more slippery by adding a little ammonia or a little sodium bicarbonate.  It leaves the least amount of film and cleans well.

After studying the different synthetic detergents somewhat I have started once again to experiment with the various families. Long or short chain, branched or not, various side chains, etc. They all have different properties.  Lets talk about some of these properties and what we might look for when testing.  I am now putting together a list of these which I will test first myself. Then I will be making samples available to the window cleaning industry as a service.  There will be a small cost since it cost me for samples, mailing, and takes time away from my own window cleaning business to do this.

Bleeding.  This is when the solution runs away from the edge of the window causing runouts into the clean dry glass.  You can test for this by wetting the window then running the squeegee down the middle.  This creates a line that seperates the wet side from the dry side.  No bleed means a perfect straight line.  Try this with a very powerful slip chem such as TSP.  You will get bleed.  Bleed is worse on wet days and varies from window to window.  Not all surfaces are the same.  The best way to cross compare different syn-dets is to use the same exact detergent concentration per gallon of water, test on the same day, use the same plate of glass, and completely rince your applicator every time.

Overlapping.  When performing the swirl motion or S curve you will be moving somewhat over dry areas. As you do this the blade will drag a little each time.  There are some detergents that give you enough slip to easily bridge the dry glass.  It tends to be that those which give you this extra slip also leave more of a haze. Some that don't might create streaks that can be seen quite well in the direct sunlight.  The key is to find a syn-det or syn-det chem blend that will give maximum  slip but not streak or leave a film.  

Sudz.  Some people absolutely abhor little bubbles.  Personally I like just enough.  So this test is purely subjective.  Although it is true that excessive sudz can be a real aggravation for several reasons.  Especially when detailing with your points having dog eared the channel ends you want nothing left.  Too much sudz will get in the way.

Cleaning ability.  Alkaline cleaners will clean glass more effectively than acid based cleaners.  This is because organic deposits on glass are acidic.  Cleaning solutions must neutralize in order to work.  Alkaline solutions neutralize acids.  Some syn-dets are more alkaline than others.  You might also want to add a slip chem which is highly alkaline.  Certain syn-dets will be much less affected by higher pH solutions than others.  So this also matters.

Beyond these things you will have your own likes and dislikes. But the bottom line here is the more you look at the better beta you will be.  So be a better beta.

Written by Henry Grover Jr.

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