April 15, 2025 • 33 mins
Wood casement windows bring timeless elegance to homes, but beneath their classic charm lies a maintenance challenge that most property owners don't fully understand until problems arise. In this revealing conversation between AC Lockyer and window cleaning veteran Jeremiah Gibson, we dive deep into the hidden world of wood window care and preservation.
The discussion tackles common cleaning misconceptions head-on, explaining why popular consumer products often disappoint and how proper maintenance requires attention to every component of the window. You'll learn professional techniques for cleaning divided light windows without damaging delicate glazing or transferring oxidized paint onto glass surfaces. Jeremiah walks through step-by-step approaches for both DIY enthusiasts and those considering professional services.
Perhaps most valuable is the revelation about making windows stay cleaner longer through hydrophobic treatments like Final Wash. This specialty coating creates a barrier that repels dust and dirt – similar to ceramic coatings for automobiles – significantly extending the time between cleanings and preserving your window's appearance.
Need more information about this topic? Call the professionals at SoftWash Systems or visit the website, https://www.softwashsystems.com . They'll be happy to help!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
AC Lockyer (00:16):
Hey, this is AC Lockyer here and this is Ask a
Soft Wash Systems Pro wherewe're going to talk about the
stains, the surface or substrate, the different tools,
techniques and chemicals thatyou're going to need to take
care of your cleaning and issuesthat you're having around your
home or property.
And this week we've gotJeremiah Gibson.
(00:37):
Jeremiah Gibson is in what city?
In Kansas, Salina.
Jeremiah Gibson (00:43):
Salina Salina.
AC Lockyer (00:45):
I didn't want to mispronounce it and say Salina,
Salina, potato, potato, butanyhow, right now the producer's
probably zooming in on the mapright there to show everybody
where you're at.
And, of course, Jeremiah's partof the SoftWash Systems
licensed affiliates.
Right now is the time of therecording of this podcast in
eight countries and twoterritories with an excess of
(01:05):
150 licensed affiliates.
Hey man, welcome to the podcast.
Jeremiah Gibson (01:11):
Thanks for having me Appreciate it.
AC Lockyer (01:13):
Yeah, and so a lot of the people that are I
wouldn't say a lot of people agood third of the people that
are at SoftWatch Systems aslicensed affiliates have a
cleaning heritage inspecifically window cleaning,
and you've got a window cleaningheritage.
That's why you're jumping inhere on one of our window
(01:34):
cleaning podcasts, and this weekwe're not going to just talk
about windows, we're going totalk specifically about wood
casement windows.
So many people here may notknow what a wood casement window
is, so why don't you go aheadand tell us a little bit about
what makes a window a woodcasement window?
Jeremiah Gibson (01:56):
Oh really, it just has to do with a window,
usually built for residential.
It's made out of wood, justlike it sounds, and a casement
is a crank open style window.
Obviously you have single hungwindows, you have double hung,
but uh, a casement window cranksopen and um, they're.
They're just a classic lookingstyle of window.
AC Lockyer (02:18):
Yeah, we don't have a lot of wood windows here in
florida because we have atremendous amount of humidity,
and so a lot of wood windowshere in Florida because we have
a tremendous amount of humidity,and so a lot of the windows
here are either vinyl windows oraluminum windows.
And especially, you know, herein Florida we have a window
that's not widely used aroundthe rest of the other country
because they're not veryefficient.
(02:40):
It's called a jalousy window.
Have you ever seen a jalousywindow?
Jeremiah Gibson (02:45):
Those are the ones that kind of open up little
lever, yeah, they tilt in andout.
AC Lockyer (02:49):
It's all individual pieces of like sheets of glass
that you know kind of cometogether and overlap each other
and uh, yeah, those are, thoseare pretty interesting to clean,
Uh, but when you're talkingabout these, they have crank on
them.
I remember as a kid seeingthose types of windows and they,
they tilt out, correct when youcrank them, they can.
Jeremiah Gibson (03:09):
Yeah, there's some that tilt out and there's
some that open like a door.
AC Lockyer (03:14):
Yes, yep yeah, and I guess, depending on what part
of the country you're in, howmuch rain you get, like our
windows all tilt out like thishere because we get a lot of
rain.
That way you can't open yourwindows and still get air
circulation through your home.
In other areas, where itdoesn't rain as much, they
probably open up more like adoor like, which is crazy.
I see once it open up like adoor in england a lot, but it
(03:36):
rains like crazy there.
But so those are casementwindows.
They have the cranks on themand what are some of the
cleaning conditions we might seein those?
Because I think a lot of peoplethink about glass, but there's
more to that with these casementwindows can.
Jeremiah Gibson (04:05):
They can swell, they can get a lot of moisture
in there.
Um, there's, there's a littlemore upkeep, I think, than
people realize.
Uh, even the crank systemthemselves sometimes will kind
of rot out and you can't evenopen the window anymore, or the
crank system can break.
Uh, the other thing is, becausethey're wood, they use a glaze
to hold that pane of glass in.
They'll have these little metalinserts to hold the glass and
(04:27):
then they glaze it and thenpaint it.
So if you start seeing cracking, it's usually not just the
paint.
Usually the glaze underneath iscracking which is holding onto
tons of dirt.
They can really be challengingif they're not maintained well.
AC Lockyer (04:43):
And of course they always paint or seal the outside
of the wood, but it depends theglass that are in there.
If the glazing is coming out,that means you're getting
moisture every time it rainsinto the unexposed wood, so
you've got to make sure thatglazing is always intact.
Jeremiah Gibson (04:59):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean we ran into windows thatthe corners started getting
moisture and they just startrotting out completely and
people will have to completelyreplace the window because of
that.
AC Lockyer (05:12):
That brings up a good point.
You know, when people buy orsell homes here in Florida
especially, but I know it's thisway in the rest of the country
too they do a home inspectionand the home inspector will come
out and do a WDO report, whichis a wood destroying organism
report.
And most people think termiteson that, but they forget that
(05:34):
that's also carpenter ants,that's carpenter bees, it could
be mold, mildew, algae, fungus,moss, all those types of things.
And as moisture gets into thewood on these windows, well then
of course you get wood rot, andthat's a little harder to
replace wood rot on a windowthan it is like on a window sill
(05:57):
or even a door frame.
Jeremiah Gibson (06:01):
Yeah, I agree 100%.
AC Lockyer (06:02):
In many cases you might end up actually having to
replace the whole window if youhave wood rot on any one part of
that window.
It's hard.
Some of these windows get to be15, 20, 25, 30 years old and
the companies go out of businessor the styles change and the
parts for those windows may notbe.
Especially the wooden stuff maynot be readily available.
Jeremiah Gibson (06:24):
Yeah, that's certainly the case, we we've
seen that, and sometimes,unfortunately, the homeowner is
not paying attention, even whenthey have the house painted, and
so the painter will just coverover that rotted wood and that
paint will start peeling withinsix months to a year, and that
wood is just continually rottingunderneath.
(06:44):
So it might look good from theoutside, but then they'll find
out a couple of years later.
Now their window has to becompletely replaced.
AC Lockyer (06:52):
So yeah, there's a lot of maintenance.
You know, one of theinteresting things I've learned
because I also own a companythat manufactures a lot of pest
control equipment, so I'm veryclose to that world is that
carpenter ants and termites arekind of like cheese connoisseurs
.
You know people that reallylike cheese, like those stinky
cheese.
They have mold and fungusactually in the cheese.
(07:14):
I blue cheese is like that.
It's blue cheese because itactually has a, a fungal culture
that's in it.
And so we go, oh, that's gross,but some of the best cheese has
fungus in it.
And so we go, ooh, that's gross, but some of the best cheese
has fungus in it.
And so termites are littleFrench connoisseurs and they
really really like, prefer wet,moldy wood.
(07:35):
And so that's one of thereasons why you really got to
keep after these wood casementwindows, because if the wood
gets wet, if it gets moldy, thenwe're not just talking about a
WDO wood destroying organismbeing the mold and build it.
At that point Now we've gotmoldy cheese, so to speak, and
these little connoisseurs calledtermites will come in and start
to eat up the windows and thenyou're not just faced with some
(07:59):
wood replacement, you might haveto go throughout the home and
replace many, if not all of thewindows then to get them to
match, and you could be out tensof, if not $100,000 plus in
these wood windows becausethey're not cheap.
Jeremiah Gibson (08:17):
No, and they're definitely not getting cheaper.
No, they're not, that's forsure.
AC Lockyer (08:21):
I grew up in a Victorian house here in central
Florida.
My dad worked really, reallyhard and he bought this lot on a
lake and built this beautiful5,000 square foot Victorian home
and the entire home had woodwindows in it.
Now there were sliders you knowwhere.
You had the two locks on themand you slid them up and there
(08:42):
were certain times of the yearyou could get those windows up
and there were certain times ofthe year you weren't opening
them for nothing and they'recostly to maintain.
You had to maintain them andpull them out every now and then
and true them and shave themand repaint them and put them
back in.
It was a nightmare.
Well, we know the maintenancecould be a nightmare.
How about the cleaning,jeremiah?
(09:04):
What are some of the stepswe're going to take to clean
these?
Because I know it's not justthe glass.
There's more to cleaning thesethan just the glass.
Jeremiah Gibson (09:14):
Yeah, that's definitely true, AC.
I realize that there'sdifferent styles that people go
through through the years, colorchoices but white is very, very
, very common, very common.
What's interesting?
Yeah, and what's interestingabout the wood casement windows,
especially if they have the twodivided, you know, like the
(09:35):
three, three up and three down.
You've got these individualpieces of glass.
So what happens is whether it'sthe caulking or the glazing
that the painters use reallyholds on to the dirt.
So you might be thinking, okay,I'm just going to wash the
glass and then the window stilllooks dirty when you're done.
(09:55):
And you spent all this time andall this effort.
And if it's a two-story home,you're up there on a ladder
trying to clean those, and thenyou step back and your house
still looks dirty.
AC Lockyer (10:04):
They're on a ladder trying to clean those and then
you step back and your housestill looks dirty.
And so if you get the whitecaulk that gets the mold and
mildew right and impregnant init, and then you try to clean it
and it turns purple and now yougot all these little purple
dots all over your window.
It's crazy.
Jeremiah Gibson (10:16):
It really is.
Yeah, and it can be frustrating, especially as a homeowner or a
maintenance person.
You put all this effort into itand then you're disappointed
with the results, so it canreally be a challenge.
Yeah, and then just the paintitself peeling and cracking.
If you're trying to use a mopto wash the glass and then a
(10:40):
squeegee, well then thatsqueegee blade you know that
rubber gets caught on thosechips of paint, Right, and it
just leaves streaks and oh, it'sjust, it's a nightmare.
It ruins the squeegee blade andyou're just, it's a challenge.
AC Lockyer (10:52):
Yeah, there are definitely windows that probably
only billionaires can reallyafford to own and maintain for
sure.
So let's say we're justcleaning the glass.
What would be the steps and theproducts you would use to just
clean the glass portion.
Jeremiah Gibson (11:09):
You know it's a good question because there's
so many options, right?
I mean you go to any a big-boxstore and you've got all these
different glass cleaners.
Oh, what do I use?
Where do I start?
And I won't.
I won't say the name, butthere's a popular window
cleaning solution company andthey sell this bottle and they
say, hey, put it on your hose,turn on the water and just spray
(11:33):
it on and on the commercials,the birds running into the glass
and everything.
And it's interesting.
I've seen so many homeownersdisappointed.
They fall for that.
They don't realize what's allinvolved.
First of all, the cleaner hastoo much soap in it.
If you leave any of thatresidue, the dirt sticks to it
(11:54):
faster.
It actually gets dirty wayquicker.
The other thing is-.
AC Lockyer (11:59):
Let's clear up real quick here the things.
You screw on the end of thehose and you spray and wash your
windows.
Yes, If you're in the, ifyou're in the Rocky mountains
and your TDS total dissolvedsolids in your water is zero and
you have the most perfect cleanwater in the world, that might
work.
(12:19):
But for the other 99.5% of usprobably not a good choice.
Jeremiah Gibson (12:26):
That's AC where I was going.
AC, that's it.
Yeah, your water is going tomake the difference, but I'll be
honest, like you said, 99% ofthe time you're not going to be
satisfied with it.
It's not going to work rightand the water pressure from your
little spigot going throughthat plastic bottle isn't going
to get anything extra off anyhow, so it just creates a mess.
(12:47):
But then you've got the spraybottles right and the paper
towel.
Uh, you've got the uh vinegar.
That's the old thing vinegarand newspapers yeah, that was
like the.
AC Lockyer (12:58):
You know when I was a kid, son, you have to use
vinegar and newspapers on thewindows on the car.
Jeremiah Gibson (13:04):
So you may know this AC, but the reason why
that does not work anymorebecause it used to, yeah, but
because they changed the ink asbeing a plant-based ink it was
all the chemicals that weredoing the cleaning, right, so
that's not in the paper anymore,and so now it just leaves a
mess.
Now it just smears everything,yeah, yeah, so that doesn't work
(13:27):
.
Um, so there's all thesedifferent options, all these
different soaps, all thesedifferent ways to do it, but
I'll really you just have to dosome research or watch a podcast
like this one to help youunderstand how you can do it
successfully.
And really the best thing to dois get some soap and some water
and a little little mop and asqueegee and go in there and
(13:49):
scrub each one of those piecesof glass and squeegee it down
and then use a microfiber towelto go around your edges and
clean up your smears, and that'sprobably going to be your, your
best, easiest way.
If you're going to do ityourself, yeah, the safest.
Well, not the same if you're ona ladder one story windows.
That's going to be your, yourbest, easiest way if you're
going to do it yourself.
AC Lockyer (14:06):
Yeah, the safest, well, not the same one story
windows, that's going to be easy.
But then you got to get up anddo the two story windows, you
know.
And then you have screens.
You got to pull out the screensand right, you know, depending
on what part of the countryyou're in, like in florida, we
don't care about our screens.
We tear them out because we'renever going to leave our windows
open in Florida, ever.
It's air conditioning duringthe summer, which is 10 months
(14:28):
out of the year, and then theother two months out of the year
we're using the heat a littlebit, but we rarely open up our
windows.
But if you're in an area ofcountry where you like to open
your windows, let the air flow,you know you'll probably have
screens.
Some areas of the country don'thave bugs, some do.
So you got to remove screens,you got to get up on ladders.
It can be an issue.
But the other thing is whenyou're talking about these
(14:51):
casement windows and they havethe wood dividers on them and
you've got three up, three downor six panes on that window,
it's really hard to find a T-barmop and a squeegee that fits
that glass, to go ahead andsqueegee them, mop them and
squeegee them all the way down.
So you know, one of thetechniques that I did growing up
(15:11):
in a 5,000 square footVictorian home with wood
casement windows that were allindividual panes, is I would go
around and I would.
And in Florida, where our TDSwe were on well water at my
parents' house and the TDS wasprobably over 500 because our
city water here is 350.
So well water is going to be.
(15:32):
Forget it, okay, I wouldliterally, you know, just five
gallon bucket squirteddishwashing detergent, terry
cloth towel, and go around andhand wash every window just like
I was washing a car, rinse itoff with the garden hose and
then I would take a leaf blowerand blow them dry.
(15:54):
And that was the way I did itgrowing up and that worked
really good because they did dryspot free, because I blew them
off with the leaf blower.
But again, we had a porch thatwent all the way around the
house.
So the second story windows Icould stand on the roof to do,
and I was 16 years old, so I wasnimble, and I'm 55 now you
(16:15):
don't get me on a roof at allanymore, and so with vertigo to
add.
So you know the glass is good.
Now there's a new thing outthere that's come up in the last
10 years, called a water fedpole, and so talk to us a little
bit how a water fed pole wouldwork or would not work on these
(16:36):
divided, largely painted woodframe windows wood frame windows
.
Jeremiah Gibson (16:50):
Well, a water output pole is great if you know
how to use it and you caninvest in the equipment.
You know it can be anywherefrom $1,200 to you know $10,000
for the equipment and poles canbe anywhere from $200 to $300 to
you know $2,000 or $3,000.
So it is an investment, for forsure.
And then there's the learningcurve and um.
But the the best thing aboutthe pure water is you're
(17:11):
removing all the tds, right, allthose total dissolved solids
are taken from the water, andit's awesome because,
scientifically, those solids orminerals, uh, that's what's left
on the glass when your waterevaporates.
Right Now, when it rains, ifyour windows are clean, you'll
notice that you don't haveanything left on the glass
(17:34):
because there was no dirt onthere to begin with.
And so when you use a water fedpole, those water droplets are
literally pulling into itselfall of those dissolved solids
that's on the glass because it'smissing it right.
Naturally you have those thingsin water, and so it's pretty
fascinating.
(17:54):
But when you go to clean withthe water-fed pole, if you've
got those small, true dividedlight windows, you could.
If they've got chips in in thepaint and the glazing, you can
easily break more off, and sonow you've got bigger issues.
Now you got chunks of glazingliterally maybe an inch or two
long just coming off around that.
(18:15):
So now you've got more waterissues in the future.
You got more water going intothe window.
Um, the other thing to becareful of is just because it's
pure water doesn't mean you'regoing to get the results you
want.
You have to pay close attentionto what kind of brush you're
using, how well you're scrubbingthe glass.
(18:37):
So just because it's pure water, it's not magic.
People think they get a purewater pull and it's easy.
Just let it go.
And there's still a lot, a lotto learn and know the wood
casement windows.
AC Lockyer (18:50):
A lot of them are painted white and if you're on
the southern side or the westernside, that white paint's going
to oxidize.
And if you drag your brushacross that and then move that
brush onto the glass the glassliterally you'll move that
oxidation on the glass.
And I can tell you one thingoxidation, paint, oxidation in
glass they just go right ontoeach other and it is so
(19:13):
difficult then to get thatoxidation back off of the glass.
So I would say you've got wooddivided casement windows that
are especially painted with apaint.
I would not use a water fedpole unless you're using a you
know literally a five inch brush, because you're going to drag
that brush across that paint,you're going to pick up
(19:35):
oxidation in your brush andyou're going to transfer it to
every single window and thenyou're going to end up with hazy
windows.
The safest thing to do is toget a great product like Phantom
Window Works Levitate, which isa window cleaning soap.
Put a little bit in the bucketwith some water mop and squeegee
your windows or you know,terrycloth towel, wash them,
(19:59):
rinse them and blow them dry.
If you have a squeegee, it'sgreat because you can squeegee
them and they won't dry spottedthat way but to do them by hand.
Now I want to transition intothe different parts of the
window.
Okay, so you're an old schoolwindow cleaner.
You've been doing windows for along time.
That is your heritage.
(20:19):
People don't know the.
You know the different piecesand parts of a window.
Go ahead and name some of thoseparts for us, because there are
more things than just the glassthat need cleaned.
Jeremiah Gibson (20:32):
Sure, I mean, you have the frame, you have the
sash, you have the seals.
There's a lot of bits andpieces to to the window.
Even just opening it up andcleaning out the crank system
and the seals around it, reallyreally well.
Yeah, there's a lot than justthat piece of glass or multiple
(20:52):
panes of glass on that window.
AC Lockyer (20:54):
So how would you clean those other areas of the
window?
Because you wouldn't use yourmop and your squeegee or your
water-fed pole brush, becauseyou want to keep those like
wholly dedicated set apart,sanctified, so to speak.
You know, because they touchglass, so you don't want to use
that stuff.
What would you use then toclean the sill, clean the sash,
(21:17):
clean the frames, clean thetracks, clean the you know, the
gaskets and all that stuff?
What would you use?
Jeremiah Gibson (21:23):
Sure.
So for us, what we'll do is, ifa customer wants us to do
absolutely all of that, we'llcrank open that window, we will
brush out all of that dry debristhat's been collecting for
years and then we'll spray thatwith a cleaner.
We'll wipe it up and the sealsand everything with a microfiber
(21:45):
towel, make sure it's nice andclean, and then on the outside
we'll actually use our soft washtechnique and we will spray it
down with.
There's a product calledTerraWash that soft wash system
sells and that's a nicedegreaser and just a little bit
goes a long way.
But we're able to break downthat dirt, the spider webs you
(22:07):
know the mud daubers arehorrible around here, you know
the mud daubers are horriblearound here and we're able to
break that up, rinse it off, andso we'll start with a cleaner
surface.
We even have a brush that'sdesigned just to clean around
all of that wood surface, sowe're able to break that dirt
down ahead of time.
We'll rinse it with water, thenwe'll come back with the water
(22:28):
fed pole and we'll be able torinse the glass, and so we're
starting with a cleaner serviceto begin with.
If you're trying to do all thatwith the water fed pole, it's a
mess.
AC Lockyer (22:37):
You want to.
Definitely.
If you're doing a window likethat, you definitely want to
start with the guts out.
You don't want to clean all theglass and everything and then
come back and clean the sill andthe sash and the frames and the
tracks and all that kind ofstuff, cause you're going to
booger up the glass while you'redoing all that.
You want to do all of thatfirst and then finish with the
glass.
Now let's say we wanted to puta I know this is a dirty word to
(23:00):
window cleaners, but it's abenefit that we found through
our training here at SoftWashSystems.
Let's say that homeowner,property owner, chief engineer,
maintenance director wantedthose windows to stay cleaner a
lot longer.
Is there a product that we canput on there to make those
hydrophobic, make them repeldust and dirt and pollen and
(23:22):
things like that?
Jeremiah Gibson (23:24):
Absolutely, and I've been doing windows for 24
years and I'll tell you I'venever found a product like final
wash.
Um, final wash is a waxing uhsoap, if you will.
But this, this waxing agent,we're able to apply to the glass
and we'll do a little agitationand then we're able to rinse
(23:46):
that down with pure water andwhat's amazing is it blows.
It.
Blew my wife away.
We use it, blew my wife away.
We use it at my house.
We use it on customers all thetime, houses and their windows.
It makes the window not justshine, it really pops.
But better than that, it makesthe window hydrophobic, which
helps keep the dirt and the bugsand everything from sticking to
(24:09):
the glass too quickly.
And that, unfortunately, is thedownside to squeegeeing,
because when you squeegee awindow, you leave residue on the
glass and the dirt sticks to itfaster it is.
And so with our process, we'reactually able to use this final
wash.
The windows stay cleaner longer, which really is a value to our
customers.
And it just man, I'm blown awayby it.
AC Lockyer (24:32):
It's awesome yeah, I mean, you know, when you look
at final wash we say making ahydrophobic.
We're literally putting acoating on the surface that
makes it repel dust, silt, andit the only thing I can.
Really it's not exactly likethis, but I can kind of say it's
close to like this and it'ssomething people will relate to.
(24:53):
That may not be window cleanersis this new craze of ceramic
coating your car's paint job.
They even ceramic coat theglass now.
They ceramic coat the paint andthey've got different stuff
they put on there.
They literally they'll take insome of these videos.
Take a bucket of mud and youthrow it on the car and it just
all runs right off the car andthat's what final wash does.
(25:15):
So for me, if I was going to doall full window detail and I
was I was rolling out the window, the casement window, or, if
you have slider, slide them upor swinging them out or whatever
you're doing, or whateveryou're doing, I would take like
a sponge and a bucket with waterand some final wash in it.
Take that sponge and clean thesill, clean the sash, clean the
(25:36):
tracks, clean the frame of thewindow, wash the window itself.
Have another clean bucket thatI can then take that sponge and
wring it out and wipe off allthe dirt.
Wipe everything off Because youdon't want to rinse it with
like a garden hose or something,because you've got it all
opened up.
It may go in the house, butthen wipe away all the soap and
all the dirt and everything.
Ring it out in a clean bucket.
Okay, take your microfibertowel, dry everything off and
(25:58):
then close that window.
And then maybe you could goahead and grab your small mop
and your small squeegee and dothe individual panes.
You know, go ahead and scrubthe glass now with the sponge
with the final wash.
Okay, a different sponge.
I'll tell you guys, you need toseparate your tools.
So buy different color spongesand get a green sponge and make
(26:20):
that green sponge just for glass, because if you wash the frame
you might pick up some sand orthings in your brush and go back
to wash the glass with it laterand scratch the glass.
Especially, especially here inFlorida, we have a lot of
silicone sand and we can scratchthe glass if we're not careful
about what we use.
But take a separate sponge backinto the final wash, wash the
(26:41):
glass with it, rinse that offwith some distilled water.
People are like well, I don'thave a pure water generating Our
trucks that we have here atSoftWash Systems.
I don't have a pure watergenerating like our trucks that
we have here soft wash systems.
We literally have an eightthousand dollar piece of
equipment that makes pure wateron demand for us, zero TDS,
(27:12):
beautiful, non-spawning, purewater.
Take up two and a half gallonpump up sprayer and fill it with
distilled water and then rinsedown your windows after you wash
them by hand with a sponge andfinal wash with that distilled
water and they will dryabsolutely spot free yep, you
can do that for sure.
Jeremiah Gibson (27:25):
yeah, yeah, and everyone has access to
distilled water.
You know, for dollar, for $1.50probably, a gallon now, yeah,
you can buy yourself some.
Yeah.
AC Lockyer (27:34):
Yeah, and so one of the other things that I would
point out too, is we talk a lotabout white painted basement
windows.
The other thing that I've seenthat has become very, very
popular is staining the wood,and so you might get natural
wood that's been stained thewood, and so you might get
natural wood that's been stained.
One of the things that I haveseen firsthand and have coached
(27:55):
a lot of people through is,whenever you stain wood, it's
supposed to get maintenancecoats, or you varnish wood, it's
supposed to get maintenancecoats, and stain does not hold
up very well to the UV rays fromthe sun, and so that stain
breaks down and very, very fewpeople do the maintenance that's
required on these types ofwindows, so that stain will
(28:18):
break down and then you go tostart washing these windows and
the stain just comes off.
That's not their fault, is it,jeremiah?
Jeremiah Gibson (28:29):
No, it's not, it's just the lack of
maintenance, unfortunately bythe, the homeowner.
Yeah, yeah, yeah because?
AC Lockyer (28:36):
because having having these types of wood
windows is a huge responsibility.
That's why I called thembillionaires windows, because
when you put these on a home youhave to factor for all the
maintenance I I mean they'regoing to need painted every
three to five years or stainedevery three to five years with
maintenance coats on the stain,yearly.
(28:57):
I mean it becomes a hugereoccurring maintenance issue
and a lot of times is eitherwindow cleaners like us, soft
wash you know we clean windows,we're soft wash companies or
DIYers, area homeowner ormaintenance director or a
facility asset person orsomebody like that goes out to
clean these things and the worstcase scenario happens they
(29:22):
start having a bunch ofoxidation coming off the paint
or the stain just washes awayfrom the wood, washes away from
the wood.
You know that can be scary, butI want to reiterate to anybody
that's listening to this podcastor maybe landed on our landing
pages reading this, that this isweather and mother nature that
did this, not the window cleaner.
Jeremiah Gibson (29:46):
Yeah, absolutely, because the UV rays
are crazy what they can do toyou know wood, plastic, you know
metal, but yeah, that thatstain just gets destroyed if
it's facing the south and thewest especially.
Yeah, if it's not maintained,you're going to find out real
(30:06):
quick when you start to cleanthose.
AC Lockyer (30:09):
So, jeremiah, let me ask you a question here, and
it's a question I ask everybody,all of our pros that comes on
here on Ask a Soft Wash SystemsPro is.
We do know that some jobs aresmaller or some people are
DIYers.
They enjoy, I mean, for somepeople it's relaxation.
I remember I got kidney stonesonce and to deal with the pain
of the kidney stones I went outand cleaned my garage because I
(30:32):
couldn't just sit in a bed andjust deal with the kidney stones
.
There's some people that love,just really like and love
projects, and they like to dothis kind of stuff and they're
listening to this podcast.
They're going, man, I'm buyingsome Levitate, I'm buying some
PhyloWash and I'm going to goget me some little mops and
squeegees, a two and a halfgallon pump up sprayer and some,
you know, some osmosis water ordistilled water, and I'm going
(30:55):
to this week and I'm going totackle my windows and before
they do that, they have somequestions or they need some
coaching.
Do you have a problem with themcalling you and getting some
coaching?
Jeremiah Gibson (31:10):
No, not at all.
We have customers ask us.
Even customers we have, hey,what can I do in between time?
What do you recommend?
So I've got no problem sharing.
These aren't secrets.
These are things that peopleare using all over, all over the
country and the world, so it'snot a big deal.
I'll be happy to help someonewith a five-minute phone call
(31:31):
what they can do to take care oftheir project.
Sure, that's awesome.
AC Lockyer (32:06):
Or if they get overwhelmed or decide to do a
larger scope of work, I'm sureyou'd be happy to go out and
look at the job come up with.
A lot of the times, the projectis way bigger than they expect
it to be and we're happy to help.
That's why we're here, that'swhy we've been in business 24
years, because you know, we knowwhat we're doing, but we're
here to help you and add value.
I mean, that's what we.
That's awesome.
So if you find yourself thisweekend want to take on the
project of cleaning your woodcasement windows and you want to
get them absolutely gleamingand you're ready to take on that
project, hey, you can go toyour local wash life store.
You can call one of our softwash systems licensed affiliates
and get some coaching.
(32:27):
You can buy our products, youcan do it yourself and we can
help you do it.
But if you do get in over yourhead or you decide you want to
go golfing or fishing thisweekend instead, any one of our
licensed affiliates around theworld, like Jeremiah here, would
be more than happy to help youout with your project.
Right, jeremiah?
Absolutely Cool.
(32:49):
So, guys, guys, this is ALockyer and this is, ask a Soft
Wash Systems pro and I will seeyou at the next podcast.
Hey, this is AC Lockyer here and this is Ask a
Soft Wash Systems Pro wherewe're going to talk about the
stains, the surface or substrate, the different tools,
techniques and chemicals thatyou're going to need to take
care of your cleaning and issuesthat you're having around your
home or property.
And this week we've gotJeremiah Gibson.
(00:37):
Jeremiah Gibson is in what city?
In Kansas, Salina.
Jeremiah Gibson (00:43):
Salina Salina.
AC Lockyer (00:45):
I didn't want to mispronounce it and say Salina,
Salina, potato, potato, butanyhow, right now the producer's
probably zooming in on the mapright there to show everybody
where you're at.
And, of course, Jeremiah's partof the SoftWash Systems
licensed affiliates.
Right now is the time of therecording of this podcast in
eight countries and twoterritories with an excess of
(01:05):
150 licensed affiliates.
Hey man, welcome to the podcast.
Jeremiah Gibson (01:11):
Thanks for having me Appreciate it.
AC Lockyer (01:13):
Yeah, and so a lot of the people that are I
wouldn't say a lot of people agood third of the people that
are at SoftWatch Systems aslicensed affiliates have a
cleaning heritage inspecifically window cleaning,
and you've got a window cleaningheritage.
That's why you're jumping inhere on one of our window
(01:34):
cleaning podcasts, and this weekwe're not going to just talk
about windows, we're going totalk specifically about wood
casement windows.
So many people here may notknow what a wood casement window
is, so why don't you go aheadand tell us a little bit about
what makes a window a woodcasement window?
Jeremiah Gibson (01:56):
Oh really, it just has to do with a window,
usually built for residential.
It's made out of wood, justlike it sounds, and a casement
is a crank open style window.
Obviously you have single hungwindows, you have double hung,
but uh, a casement window cranksopen and um, they're.
They're just a classic lookingstyle of window.
AC Lockyer (02:18):
Yeah, we don't have a lot of wood windows here in
florida because we have atremendous amount of humidity,
and so a lot of wood windowshere in Florida because we have
a tremendous amount of humidity,and so a lot of the windows
here are either vinyl windows oraluminum windows.
And especially, you know, herein Florida we have a window
that's not widely used aroundthe rest of the other country
because they're not veryefficient.
(02:40):
It's called a jalousy window.
Have you ever seen a jalousywindow?
Jeremiah Gibson (02:45):
Those are the ones that kind of open up little
lever, yeah, they tilt in andout.
AC Lockyer (02:49):
It's all individual pieces of like sheets of glass
that you know kind of cometogether and overlap each other
and uh, yeah, those are, thoseare pretty interesting to clean,
Uh, but when you're talkingabout these, they have crank on
them.
I remember as a kid seeingthose types of windows and they,
they tilt out, correct when youcrank them, they can.
Jeremiah Gibson (03:09):
Yeah, there's some that tilt out and there's
some that open like a door.
AC Lockyer (03:14):
Yes, yep yeah, and I guess, depending on what part
of the country you're in, howmuch rain you get, like our
windows all tilt out like thishere because we get a lot of
rain.
That way you can't open yourwindows and still get air
circulation through your home.
In other areas, where itdoesn't rain as much, they
probably open up more like adoor like, which is crazy.
I see once it open up like adoor in england a lot, but it
(03:36):
rains like crazy there.
But so those are casementwindows.
They have the cranks on themand what are some of the
cleaning conditions we might seein those?
Because I think a lot of peoplethink about glass, but there's
more to that with these casementwindows can.
Jeremiah Gibson (04:05):
They can swell, they can get a lot of moisture
in there.
Um, there's, there's a littlemore upkeep, I think, than
people realize.
Uh, even the crank systemthemselves sometimes will kind
of rot out and you can't evenopen the window anymore, or the
crank system can break.
Uh, the other thing is, becausethey're wood, they use a glaze
to hold that pane of glass in.
They'll have these little metalinserts to hold the glass and
(04:27):
then they glaze it and thenpaint it.
So if you start seeing cracking, it's usually not just the
paint.
Usually the glaze underneath iscracking which is holding onto
tons of dirt.
They can really be challengingif they're not maintained well.
AC Lockyer (04:43):
And of course they always paint or seal the outside
of the wood, but it depends theglass that are in there.
If the glazing is coming out,that means you're getting
moisture every time it rainsinto the unexposed wood, so
you've got to make sure thatglazing is always intact.
Jeremiah Gibson (04:59):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean we ran into windows thatthe corners started getting
moisture and they just startrotting out completely and
people will have to completelyreplace the window because of
that.
AC Lockyer (05:12):
That brings up a good point.
You know, when people buy orsell homes here in Florida
especially, but I know it's thisway in the rest of the country
too they do a home inspectionand the home inspector will come
out and do a WDO report, whichis a wood destroying organism
report.
And most people think termiteson that, but they forget that
(05:34):
that's also carpenter ants,that's carpenter bees, it could
be mold, mildew, algae, fungus,moss, all those types of things.
And as moisture gets into thewood on these windows, well then
of course you get wood rot, andthat's a little harder to
replace wood rot on a windowthan it is like on a window sill
(05:57):
or even a door frame.
Jeremiah Gibson (06:01):
Yeah, I agree 100%.
AC Lockyer (06:02):
In many cases you might end up actually having to
replace the whole window if youhave wood rot on any one part of
that window.
It's hard.
Some of these windows get to be15, 20, 25, 30 years old and
the companies go out of businessor the styles change and the
parts for those windows may notbe.
Especially the wooden stuff maynot be readily available.
Jeremiah Gibson (06:24):
Yeah, that's certainly the case, we we've
seen that, and sometimes,unfortunately, the homeowner is
not paying attention, even whenthey have the house painted, and
so the painter will just coverover that rotted wood and that
paint will start peeling withinsix months to a year, and that
wood is just continually rottingunderneath.
(06:44):
So it might look good from theoutside, but then they'll find
out a couple of years later.
Now their window has to becompletely replaced.
AC Lockyer (06:52):
So yeah, there's a lot of maintenance.
You know, one of theinteresting things I've learned
because I also own a companythat manufactures a lot of pest
control equipment, so I'm veryclose to that world is that
carpenter ants and termites arekind of like cheese connoisseurs
.
You know people that reallylike cheese, like those stinky
cheese.
They have mold and fungusactually in the cheese.
(07:14):
I blue cheese is like that.
It's blue cheese because itactually has a, a fungal culture
that's in it.
And so we go, oh, that's gross,but some of the best cheese has
fungus in it.
And so we go, ooh, that's gross, but some of the best cheese
has fungus in it.
And so termites are littleFrench connoisseurs and they
really really like, prefer wet,moldy wood.
(07:35):
And so that's one of thereasons why you really got to
keep after these wood casementwindows, because if the wood
gets wet, if it gets moldy, thenwe're not just talking about a
WDO wood destroying organismbeing the mold and build it.
At that point Now we've gotmoldy cheese, so to speak, and
these little connoisseurs calledtermites will come in and start
to eat up the windows and thenyou're not just faced with some
(07:59):
wood replacement, you might haveto go throughout the home and
replace many, if not all of thewindows then to get them to
match, and you could be out tensof, if not $100,000 plus in
these wood windows becausethey're not cheap.
Jeremiah Gibson (08:17):
No, and they're definitely not getting cheaper.
No, they're not, that's forsure.
AC Lockyer (08:21):
I grew up in a Victorian house here in central
Florida.
My dad worked really, reallyhard and he bought this lot on a
lake and built this beautiful5,000 square foot Victorian home
and the entire home had woodwindows in it.
Now there were sliders you knowwhere.
You had the two locks on themand you slid them up and there
(08:42):
were certain times of the yearyou could get those windows up
and there were certain times ofthe year you weren't opening
them for nothing and they'recostly to maintain.
You had to maintain them andpull them out every now and then
and true them and shave themand repaint them and put them
back in.
It was a nightmare.
Well, we know the maintenancecould be a nightmare.
How about the cleaning,jeremiah?
(09:04):
What are some of the stepswe're going to take to clean
these?
Because I know it's not justthe glass.
There's more to cleaning thesethan just the glass.
Jeremiah Gibson (09:14):
Yeah, that's definitely true, AC.
I realize that there'sdifferent styles that people go
through through the years, colorchoices but white is very, very
, very common, very common.
What's interesting?
Yeah, and what's interestingabout the wood casement windows,
especially if they have the twodivided, you know, like the
(09:35):
three, three up and three down.
You've got these individualpieces of glass.
So what happens is whether it'sthe caulking or the glazing
that the painters use reallyholds on to the dirt.
So you might be thinking, okay,I'm just going to wash the
glass and then the window stilllooks dirty when you're done.
(09:55):
And you spent all this time andall this effort.
And if it's a two-story home,you're up there on a ladder
trying to clean those, and thenyou step back and your house
still looks dirty.
AC Lockyer (10:04):
They're on a ladder trying to clean those and then
you step back and your housestill looks dirty.
And so if you get the whitecaulk that gets the mold and
mildew right and impregnant init, and then you try to clean it
and it turns purple and now yougot all these little purple
dots all over your window.
It's crazy.
Jeremiah Gibson (10:16):
It really is.
Yeah, and it can be frustrating, especially as a homeowner or a
maintenance person.
You put all this effort into itand then you're disappointed
with the results, so it canreally be a challenge.
Yeah, and then just the paintitself peeling and cracking.
If you're trying to use a mopto wash the glass and then a
(10:40):
squeegee, well then thatsqueegee blade you know that
rubber gets caught on thosechips of paint, Right, and it
just leaves streaks and oh, it'sjust, it's a nightmare.
It ruins the squeegee blade andyou're just, it's a challenge.
AC Lockyer (10:52):
Yeah, there are definitely windows that probably
only billionaires can reallyafford to own and maintain for
sure.
So let's say we're justcleaning the glass.
What would be the steps and theproducts you would use to just
clean the glass portion.
Jeremiah Gibson (11:09):
You know it's a good question because there's
so many options, right?
I mean you go to any a big-boxstore and you've got all these
different glass cleaners.
Oh, what do I use?
Where do I start?
And I won't.
I won't say the name, butthere's a popular window
cleaning solution company andthey sell this bottle and they
say, hey, put it on your hose,turn on the water and just spray
(11:33):
it on and on the commercials,the birds running into the glass
and everything.
And it's interesting.
I've seen so many homeownersdisappointed.
They fall for that.
They don't realize what's allinvolved.
First of all, the cleaner hastoo much soap in it.
If you leave any of thatresidue, the dirt sticks to it
(11:54):
faster.
It actually gets dirty wayquicker.
The other thing is-.
AC Lockyer (11:59):
Let's clear up real quick here the things.
You screw on the end of thehose and you spray and wash your
windows.
Yes, If you're in the, ifyou're in the Rocky mountains
and your TDS total dissolvedsolids in your water is zero and
you have the most perfect cleanwater in the world, that might
work.
(12:19):
But for the other 99.5% of usprobably not a good choice.
Jeremiah Gibson (12:26):
That's AC where I was going.
AC, that's it.
Yeah, your water is going tomake the difference, but I'll be
honest, like you said, 99% ofthe time you're not going to be
satisfied with it.
It's not going to work rightand the water pressure from your
little spigot going throughthat plastic bottle isn't going
to get anything extra off anyhow, so it just creates a mess.
(12:47):
But then you've got the spraybottles right and the paper
towel.
Uh, you've got the uh vinegar.
That's the old thing vinegarand newspapers yeah, that was
like the.
AC Lockyer (12:58):
You know when I was a kid, son, you have to use
vinegar and newspapers on thewindows on the car.
Jeremiah Gibson (13:04):
So you may know this AC, but the reason why
that does not work anymorebecause it used to, yeah, but
because they changed the ink asbeing a plant-based ink it was
all the chemicals that weredoing the cleaning, right, so
that's not in the paper anymore,and so now it just leaves a
mess.
Now it just smears everything,yeah, yeah, so that doesn't work
(13:27):
.
Um, so there's all thesedifferent options, all these
different soaps, all thesedifferent ways to do it, but
I'll really you just have to dosome research or watch a podcast
like this one to help youunderstand how you can do it
successfully.
And really the best thing to dois get some soap and some water
and a little little mop and asqueegee and go in there and
(13:49):
scrub each one of those piecesof glass and squeegee it down
and then use a microfiber towelto go around your edges and
clean up your smears, and that'sprobably going to be your, your
best, easiest way.
If you're going to do ityourself, yeah, the safest.
Well, not the same if you're ona ladder one story windows.
That's going to be your, yourbest, easiest way if you're
going to do it yourself.
AC Lockyer (14:06):
Yeah, the safest, well, not the same one story
windows, that's going to be easy.
But then you got to get up anddo the two story windows, you
know.
And then you have screens.
You got to pull out the screensand right, you know, depending
on what part of the countryyou're in, like in florida, we
don't care about our screens.
We tear them out because we'renever going to leave our windows
open in Florida, ever.
It's air conditioning duringthe summer, which is 10 months
(14:28):
out of the year, and then theother two months out of the year
we're using the heat a littlebit, but we rarely open up our
windows.
But if you're in an area ofcountry where you like to open
your windows, let the air flow,you know you'll probably have
screens.
Some areas of the country don'thave bugs, some do.
So you got to remove screens,you got to get up on ladders.
It can be an issue.
But the other thing is whenyou're talking about these
(14:51):
casement windows and they havethe wood dividers on them and
you've got three up, three downor six panes on that window,
it's really hard to find a T-barmop and a squeegee that fits
that glass, to go ahead andsqueegee them, mop them and
squeegee them all the way down.
So you know, one of thetechniques that I did growing up
(15:11):
in a 5,000 square footVictorian home with wood
casement windows that were allindividual panes, is I would go
around and I would.
And in Florida, where our TDSwe were on well water at my
parents' house and the TDS wasprobably over 500 because our
city water here is 350.
So well water is going to be.
(15:32):
Forget it, okay, I wouldliterally, you know, just five
gallon bucket squirteddishwashing detergent, terry
cloth towel, and go around andhand wash every window just like
I was washing a car, rinse itoff with the garden hose and
then I would take a leaf blowerand blow them dry.
(15:54):
And that was the way I did itgrowing up and that worked
really good because they did dryspot free, because I blew them
off with the leaf blower.
But again, we had a porch thatwent all the way around the
house.
So the second story windows Icould stand on the roof to do,
and I was 16 years old, so I wasnimble, and I'm 55 now you
(16:15):
don't get me on a roof at allanymore, and so with vertigo to
add.
So you know the glass is good.
Now there's a new thing outthere that's come up in the last
10 years, called a water fedpole, and so talk to us a little
bit how a water fed pole wouldwork or would not work on these
(16:36):
divided, largely painted woodframe windows wood frame windows
.
Jeremiah Gibson (16:50):
Well, a water output pole is great if you know
how to use it and you caninvest in the equipment.
You know it can be anywherefrom $1,200 to you know $10,000
for the equipment and poles canbe anywhere from $200 to $300 to
you know $2,000 or $3,000.
So it is an investment, for forsure.
And then there's the learningcurve and um.
But the the best thing aboutthe pure water is you're
(17:11):
removing all the tds, right, allthose total dissolved solids
are taken from the water, andit's awesome because,
scientifically, those solids orminerals, uh, that's what's left
on the glass when your waterevaporates.
Right Now, when it rains, ifyour windows are clean, you'll
notice that you don't haveanything left on the glass
(17:34):
because there was no dirt onthere to begin with.
And so when you use a water fedpole, those water droplets are
literally pulling into itselfall of those dissolved solids
that's on the glass because it'smissing it right.
Naturally you have those thingsin water, and so it's pretty
fascinating.
(17:54):
But when you go to clean withthe water-fed pole, if you've
got those small, true dividedlight windows, you could.
If they've got chips in in thepaint and the glazing, you can
easily break more off, and sonow you've got bigger issues.
Now you got chunks of glazingliterally maybe an inch or two
long just coming off around that.
(18:15):
So now you've got more waterissues in the future.
You got more water going intothe window.
Um, the other thing to becareful of is just because it's
pure water doesn't mean you'regoing to get the results you
want.
You have to pay close attentionto what kind of brush you're
using, how well you're scrubbingthe glass.
(18:37):
So just because it's pure water, it's not magic.
People think they get a purewater pull and it's easy.
Just let it go.
And there's still a lot, a lotto learn and know the wood
casement windows.
AC Lockyer (18:50):
A lot of them are painted white and if you're on
the southern side or the westernside, that white paint's going
to oxidize.
And if you drag your brushacross that and then move that
brush onto the glass the glassliterally you'll move that
oxidation on the glass.
And I can tell you one thingoxidation, paint, oxidation in
glass they just go right ontoeach other and it is so
(19:13):
difficult then to get thatoxidation back off of the glass.
So I would say you've got wooddivided casement windows that
are especially painted with apaint.
I would not use a water fedpole unless you're using a you
know literally a five inch brush, because you're going to drag
that brush across that paint,you're going to pick up
(19:35):
oxidation in your brush andyou're going to transfer it to
every single window and thenyou're going to end up with hazy
windows.
The safest thing to do is toget a great product like Phantom
Window Works Levitate, which isa window cleaning soap.
Put a little bit in the bucketwith some water mop and squeegee
your windows or you know,terrycloth towel, wash them,
(19:59):
rinse them and blow them dry.
If you have a squeegee, it'sgreat because you can squeegee
them and they won't dry spottedthat way but to do them by hand.
Now I want to transition intothe different parts of the
window.
Okay, so you're an old schoolwindow cleaner.
You've been doing windows for along time.
That is your heritage.
(20:19):
People don't know the.
You know the different piecesand parts of a window.
Go ahead and name some of thoseparts for us, because there are
more things than just the glassthat need cleaned.
Jeremiah Gibson (20:32):
Sure, I mean, you have the frame, you have the
sash, you have the seals.
There's a lot of bits andpieces to to the window.
Even just opening it up andcleaning out the crank system
and the seals around it, reallyreally well.
Yeah, there's a lot than justthat piece of glass or multiple
(20:52):
panes of glass on that window.
AC Lockyer (20:54):
So how would you clean those other areas of the
window?
Because you wouldn't use yourmop and your squeegee or your
water-fed pole brush, becauseyou want to keep those like
wholly dedicated set apart,sanctified, so to speak.
You know, because they touchglass, so you don't want to use
that stuff.
What would you use then toclean the sill, clean the sash,
(21:17):
clean the frames, clean thetracks, clean the you know, the
gaskets and all that stuff?
What would you use?
Jeremiah Gibson (21:23):
Sure.
So for us, what we'll do is, ifa customer wants us to do
absolutely all of that, we'llcrank open that window, we will
brush out all of that dry debristhat's been collecting for
years and then we'll spray thatwith a cleaner.
We'll wipe it up and the sealsand everything with a microfiber
(21:45):
towel, make sure it's nice andclean, and then on the outside
we'll actually use our soft washtechnique and we will spray it
down with.
There's a product calledTerraWash that soft wash system
sells and that's a nicedegreaser and just a little bit
goes a long way.
But we're able to break downthat dirt, the spider webs you
(22:07):
know the mud daubers arehorrible around here, you know
the mud daubers are horriblearound here and we're able to
break that up, rinse it off, andso we'll start with a cleaner
surface.
We even have a brush that'sdesigned just to clean around
all of that wood surface, sowe're able to break that dirt
down ahead of time.
We'll rinse it with water, thenwe'll come back with the water
(22:28):
fed pole and we'll be able torinse the glass, and so we're
starting with a cleaner serviceto begin with.
If you're trying to do all thatwith the water fed pole, it's a
mess.
AC Lockyer (22:37):
You want to.
Definitely.
If you're doing a window likethat, you definitely want to
start with the guts out.
You don't want to clean all theglass and everything and then
come back and clean the sill andthe sash and the frames and the
tracks and all that kind ofstuff, cause you're going to
booger up the glass while you'redoing all that.
You want to do all of thatfirst and then finish with the
glass.
Now let's say we wanted to puta I know this is a dirty word to
(23:00):
window cleaners, but it's abenefit that we found through
our training here at SoftWashSystems.
Let's say that homeowner,property owner, chief engineer,
maintenance director wantedthose windows to stay cleaner a
lot longer.
Is there a product that we canput on there to make those
hydrophobic, make them repeldust and dirt and pollen and
(23:22):
things like that?
Jeremiah Gibson (23:24):
Absolutely, and I've been doing windows for 24
years and I'll tell you I'venever found a product like final
wash.
Um, final wash is a waxing uhsoap, if you will.
But this, this waxing agent,we're able to apply to the glass
and we'll do a little agitationand then we're able to rinse
(23:46):
that down with pure water andwhat's amazing is it blows.
It.
Blew my wife away.
We use it, blew my wife away.
We use it at my house.
We use it on customers all thetime, houses and their windows.
It makes the window not justshine, it really pops.
But better than that, it makesthe window hydrophobic, which
helps keep the dirt and the bugsand everything from sticking to
(24:09):
the glass too quickly.
And that, unfortunately, is thedownside to squeegeeing,
because when you squeegee awindow, you leave residue on the
glass and the dirt sticks to itfaster it is.
And so with our process, we'reactually able to use this final
wash.
The windows stay cleaner longer, which really is a value to our
customers.
And it just man, I'm blown awayby it.
AC Lockyer (24:32):
It's awesome yeah, I mean, you know, when you look
at final wash we say making ahydrophobic.
We're literally putting acoating on the surface that
makes it repel dust, silt, andit the only thing I can.
Really it's not exactly likethis, but I can kind of say it's
close to like this and it'ssomething people will relate to.
(24:53):
That may not be window cleanersis this new craze of ceramic
coating your car's paint job.
They even ceramic coat theglass now.
They ceramic coat the paint andthey've got different stuff
they put on there.
They literally they'll take insome of these videos.
Take a bucket of mud and youthrow it on the car and it just
all runs right off the car andthat's what final wash does.
(25:15):
So for me, if I was going to doall full window detail and I
was I was rolling out the window, the casement window, or, if
you have slider, slide them upor swinging them out or whatever
you're doing, or whateveryou're doing, I would take like
a sponge and a bucket with waterand some final wash in it.
Take that sponge and clean thesill, clean the sash, clean the
(25:36):
tracks, clean the frame of thewindow, wash the window itself.
Have another clean bucket thatI can then take that sponge and
wring it out and wipe off allthe dirt.
Wipe everything off Because youdon't want to rinse it with
like a garden hose or something,because you've got it all
opened up.
It may go in the house, butthen wipe away all the soap and
all the dirt and everything.
Ring it out in a clean bucket.
Okay, take your microfibertowel, dry everything off and
(25:58):
then close that window.
And then maybe you could goahead and grab your small mop
and your small squeegee and dothe individual panes.
You know, go ahead and scrubthe glass now with the sponge
with the final wash.
Okay, a different sponge.
I'll tell you guys, you need toseparate your tools.
So buy different color spongesand get a green sponge and make
(26:20):
that green sponge just for glass, because if you wash the frame
you might pick up some sand orthings in your brush and go back
to wash the glass with it laterand scratch the glass.
Especially, especially here inFlorida, we have a lot of
silicone sand and we can scratchthe glass if we're not careful
about what we use.
But take a separate sponge backinto the final wash, wash the
(26:41):
glass with it, rinse that offwith some distilled water.
People are like well, I don'thave a pure water generating Our
trucks that we have here atSoftWash Systems.
I don't have a pure watergenerating like our trucks that
we have here soft wash systems.
We literally have an eightthousand dollar piece of
equipment that makes pure wateron demand for us, zero TDS,
(27:12):
beautiful, non-spawning, purewater.
Take up two and a half gallonpump up sprayer and fill it with
distilled water and then rinsedown your windows after you wash
them by hand with a sponge andfinal wash with that distilled
water and they will dryabsolutely spot free yep, you
can do that for sure.
Jeremiah Gibson (27:25):
yeah, yeah, and everyone has access to
distilled water.
You know, for dollar, for $1.50probably, a gallon now, yeah,
you can buy yourself some.
Yeah.
AC Lockyer (27:34):
Yeah, and so one of the other things that I would
point out too, is we talk a lotabout white painted basement
windows.
The other thing that I've seenthat has become very, very
popular is staining the wood,and so you might get natural
wood that's been stained thewood, and so you might get
natural wood that's been stained.
One of the things that I haveseen firsthand and have coached
(27:55):
a lot of people through is,whenever you stain wood, it's
supposed to get maintenancecoats, or you varnish wood, it's
supposed to get maintenancecoats, and stain does not hold
up very well to the UV rays fromthe sun, and so that stain
breaks down and very, very fewpeople do the maintenance that's
required on these types ofwindows, so that stain will
(28:18):
break down and then you go tostart washing these windows and
the stain just comes off.
That's not their fault, is it,jeremiah?
Jeremiah Gibson (28:29):
No, it's not, it's just the lack of
maintenance, unfortunately bythe, the homeowner.
Yeah, yeah, yeah because?
AC Lockyer (28:36):
because having having these types of wood
windows is a huge responsibility.
That's why I called thembillionaires windows, because
when you put these on a home youhave to factor for all the
maintenance I I mean they'regoing to need painted every
three to five years or stainedevery three to five years with
maintenance coats on the stain,yearly.
(28:57):
I mean it becomes a hugereoccurring maintenance issue
and a lot of times is eitherwindow cleaners like us, soft
wash you know we clean windows,we're soft wash companies or
DIYers, area homeowner ormaintenance director or a
facility asset person orsomebody like that goes out to
clean these things and the worstcase scenario happens they
(29:22):
start having a bunch ofoxidation coming off the paint
or the stain just washes awayfrom the wood, washes away from
the wood.
You know that can be scary, butI want to reiterate to anybody
that's listening to this podcastor maybe landed on our landing
pages reading this, that this isweather and mother nature that
did this, not the window cleaner.
Jeremiah Gibson (29:46):
Yeah, absolutely, because the UV rays
are crazy what they can do toyou know wood, plastic, you know
metal, but yeah, that thatstain just gets destroyed if
it's facing the south and thewest especially.
Yeah, if it's not maintained,you're going to find out real
(30:06):
quick when you start to cleanthose.
AC Lockyer (30:09):
So, jeremiah, let me ask you a question here, and
it's a question I ask everybody,all of our pros that comes on
here on Ask a Soft Wash SystemsPro is.
We do know that some jobs aresmaller or some people are
DIYers.
They enjoy, I mean, for somepeople it's relaxation.
I remember I got kidney stonesonce and to deal with the pain
of the kidney stones I went outand cleaned my garage because I
(30:32):
couldn't just sit in a bed andjust deal with the kidney stones
.
There's some people that love,just really like and love
projects, and they like to dothis kind of stuff and they're
listening to this podcast.
They're going, man, I'm buyingsome Levitate, I'm buying some
PhyloWash and I'm going to goget me some little mops and
squeegees, a two and a halfgallon pump up sprayer and some,
you know, some osmosis water ordistilled water, and I'm going
(30:55):
to this week and I'm going totackle my windows and before
they do that, they have somequestions or they need some
coaching.
Do you have a problem with themcalling you and getting some
coaching?
Jeremiah Gibson (31:10):
No, not at all.
We have customers ask us.
Even customers we have, hey,what can I do in between time?
What do you recommend?
So I've got no problem sharing.
These aren't secrets.
These are things that peopleare using all over, all over the
country and the world, so it'snot a big deal.
I'll be happy to help someonewith a five-minute phone call
(31:31):
what they can do to take care oftheir project.
Sure, that's awesome.
AC Lockyer (32:06):
Or if they get overwhelmed or decide to do a
larger scope of work, I'm sureyou'd be happy to go out and
look at the job come up with.
A lot of the times, the projectis way bigger than they expect
it to be and we're happy to help.
That's why we're here, that'swhy we've been in business 24
years, because you know, we knowwhat we're doing, but we're
here to help you and add value.
I mean, that's what we.
That's awesome.
So if you find yourself thisweekend want to take on the
project of cleaning your woodcasement windows and you want to
get them absolutely gleamingand you're ready to take on that
project, hey, you can go toyour local wash life store.
You can call one of our softwash systems licensed affiliates
and get some coaching.
(32:27):
You can buy our products, youcan do it yourself and we can
help you do it.
But if you do get in over yourhead or you decide you want to
go golfing or fishing thisweekend instead, any one of our
licensed affiliates around theworld, like Jeremiah here, would
be more than happy to help youout with your project.
Right, jeremiah?
Absolutely Cool.
(32:49):
So, guys, guys, this is ALockyer and this is, ask a Soft
Wash Systems pro and I will seeyou at the next podcast.
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