Hey guys ( and gals ), Looking for some feedback on how you handle the Perforated Window Clings which are being used more and more by my customers. We had to change our technique because of complaints about soap residue being visible behind the cling ( from inside looking out ). Obviously changing our technique has added time and labor to an otherwise simple process.
We now :
Dry Brush
Normal wash and Squeegee
Clean water rinse with soft brush
Squeegee water off
Then a quick wipe w/ dry rag to remove excess standing water in holes
I know this sounds ( and is ) excessive, but simply washing and squeegee is leaving residue that is visible.
It is certainly more involved to clean with all of the perforations. Your method seems like a good quality way of doing it, which is basically the way I do it too. Main thing is dry towel thoroughly at the end.
Corn starch is the old school trick I’ve been using. I put about a tablespoon of cornstarch in about 3 gallons of plain water and use that mix to wash and squeegee like normal. Then a quick pass with a microfiber towel over the vinyl and it comes out great.
It won’t remove heavy residue though, so every couple months I will give the windows a trad wash with soap and then go back over them with the corn starch mixture right after.
The former window cleaner got fired from this pictured account cause he just stubbornly insisted on trad cleaning with soap and left the windows a smeary mess. I doubled his price and now keep their windows looking great with no complaints.
Having tried a handful of methods I find that a trad clean with soap, even followed up by a thorough dry microfiber wiping loses out to the cornstarch for achieving that “pop” on the vinyl appliques. It’s not a HUGE difference but it’s enough for me to stake my reputation on.
What cornstarch DOES: First, acts as a very fine abrasive so it physically polishes the window surface on a microscopic level. It also (more importantly) seems to affect the water’s surface tension so that it mostly sheets off the window by itself, carrying the dirt with it. On vinyls, this translates to less water left hiding in the holes after your squeegee pass, and less residue on the surface after toweling since no soap was used.
What cornstarch DOESN’T DO: Dissolve oils and gooey stuff like a nice soapy detergent does. So, while a cleaning with just cornstarch and water will suffice to rid the exterior windows of regular dirt and dust about 75% of the time, a cleaning with a stronger detergent will be in order about 1 in every 4 or 5 visits to remove accumulated petroleum from vehicle exhaust or fingerprints in high-traffic areas.
For me, the bottom line with cornstarch is that it produces equal or even superior results to soap when used for vinyls, while simultaneously reducing the cleaning time because less attention is required for effective detailing and streak prevention.
Keep in mind also that the vinyl appliques in my routes all cover the entire outside surface of each window. I imagine partial coverage with plain glass AND vinyl on the same surface would warrant a different approach.
I have, by using the leftover cornstarch water and adding soap to finish out my route when no other clean water was available. Adding soap just makes it perform like regular soapy water again.
