Evening all. I’ve been contemplating the purchase of a big (20"+) squeegee and mop for my storefront and commercial route work. Seems Unger and Sorbo have some enormous channels and mop setups that I might want to try.
So… A series of questions for you guys who run the XL gear
-Which sizes and brands do you prefer, and is there such a thing as too big? I see Unger has a 36" squeegee and a 30" washer from their ninja line…
-At what size does it become difficult or impossible to fan? I’m already 100% comfortable fanning with my 18" Waguidator, either in the hand or on a pole.
-Is fanning even necessary, given the natural speed increase of a larger cleaning track?
-How do you carry those giant tools with you? It would seem a BOAB is impractical/impossible to use for tools larger than 20 inches or so.
-Does the increase in speed/convenience really outweigh the upfront cost of the equipment AND the ongoing cost of rubber replacement? I can imagine replacing a 36" rubber every day might suck a bit, even though it’s just a couple bucks.
Anything else I haven’t considered? Thank you all in advance for your input.
I think for route work you would be ok with a 22". Strip washer , an a 18" swivel strip washer.
For squeegees 24" would be the biggest you would want to go for fanning … I know a few guys that use a 22", because that’s what there comfortable with.
I use 24" since the get go
For the bigger squeegees it all depends on the work you have if your doing high stick work with big plates an a lot at any given stop them up your size to reduce your amount of pulls.
Honestly I have a 30 I hardly use it.
Sorbo quick silver with Ungee ninja handle imo is the best combo for wide body channels
I ran a 14" and 18" Ettore brass with ledgez and contour plus for my first year, and purchased a 24" Sörbo quicksilver and love it for storefront pole work. It has incredible turning radius for it’s size, but leaves micro-lines due likely to it’s sheer length, or maybe it’s the rubber. I generally now fan with the 18" on medium sized storefront panes, but break out the 24" for panes that require one or more steps in each direction. Two pole pulls over 3 any day.
I carry the 14" and 18" in the boab, and 24" in a holster.
Sorbo makes really good channels I have a 24" and 30" for pole work. I can fan 24" ok.
I have an extra leather single holster on the back of my belt to slide the handle of the squeegee in. After a day of that it becomes natural and with it being behind your back you can fit through doors and stuff without having to adjust.
I have a 30" ninja channel and it’s kind of flimsy so I rarely use it
The larger the squeegee the harder it is to fan with, it just takes more practice.
I fan all storefront work with a 22" or if the glass is big enough i will use a 30", Anything over 18" i believe should be wide body.
With my 30" I only change the rubber about once a month and its a sorbo, I use a sorbo holster where the channels sit in vertically but would not be any good on carpeted areas.
I learned on 22" ettore channel with a pro plus handle and 18" scrubber. I occasionally run out of big rubbers and have to use my 18"er when I do my routes, these days are always noticeably longer and more tiring. I now use a 24" Ettore Super Channel with Pro+ handle and a 22" scrubber. I HIGHLY recommend a wide bodied channel. I fit my 24" Super Channel, 22" Scrubber, and 6" squeegee in the blue Morman Boab with no problems, anything bigger than that might give you issues. I can fan no problem with 22-24"er but I find the 24"er to actually be easier because of it’s wide bodied design. If you decide to go Ettore Wide Body the rubbers are the same style as the rest of your squeegees so you can always cut down your rubbers. I pretty much just use 24", 18", and 6" channels. To save money I only buy 24" blades in bulk now, then I cut them down into one 18" and one 6". The black diamond rubbers work great in the Ettore Channels too.
I use a 6 gallon bucket with the sieve and an 18" swivel strip washer on a 4’ pole at all times. I als leave a 10" strip washer in the bucket at all times for some of the smaller doors. For squeegees I have a 30" for straight pulls down just to take of an extra pull here and there, a 24" ninja for fanning and straight pulls alike. I also keep an 18" for bigger commercial doors (usually 2 straight pulls) and a 12" for the smaller storefront doors. I carry 2 under 4’ poles at all times. And never carry my BOAB on storefront jobs. But I normally have about 8-12 hours of storefront every other day. I schedule the store front any where from weekly to quarterly. More often they have them cleaned the better the deal I cut. Doing it this way on just store front after all the durable items (squeegees, bucket, poles) I spend around 40$ a month on overhead besides gas.
