Friday, August 29, 2014

New Invention: Sill tool

Okay, one of the reasons that I don't use sponges is because on commercial I use my pole a lot. I guess I could get a fixi-clamp to hold it, but I'm just not a fan of the sponge. Especially since @Sophia just reminded me that they used to be alive and that's sort of gross (I'm just kidding, but will get years of fun out of that)



I don't ladder store fronts because when it comes to commercial, speed is king.



However, it has been observed that the videos coming out of the UK demonstrate that they spend more time on sills that most of us in the States do. And it's apparent that @woodland is tearing it up on commercial accounts by really detailing everything.



I've been thinking about a sill tool for about a year now. I've just created myself a prototype and have been trying it out the past week and so far so good. But I've got some kinks to work out of it.



Key features:



1. able to attach to a pole

2. quickly wipe and/or detail commercial sills

3. able to scrub top sills with a scrubby pad if needed

4. replaceable pads/mops for the really stupid dirty sills of the southwest



One issue I'm having is how to build the things. There's an injection molding company near me that can probably get the main tool built pretty easy, but the handle is what will really bump the price. For my prototype I just used a wagtail handle that was laying around and that works good so maybe I can work a deal out with them.



The pads I'd probably have to get custom made and china can do those easy but you have to buy a bajillion of them at a time.



So my questions are (before I spend a ton of money to get the injection molds made and start talking with china about pads)



1. How many of you would have an interest in this tool?



2. What additional features would you be looking for in a sill tool?



3. How dirty are your sills? Can you write your name in the dust or is it just water spotty?



4. Would you be interested in using a microfiber mop pad or just a white scrubby? Pads I'd have to get made, a scrubby would just stick to some velcro.



5. How do you clean sills now?



6. What would you use the tool for? (Getting dirt off the sills, wiping soap bubbles left by your mop, etc)



7. Would you use the tool before or after you cleaned the window? Dry or wet




Observations from the prototype:



This tool is not going to suck up all the water on the bottom sill. The microfiber mops get soaked pretty easy which makes for good wiping, but it can't suck up a ton of water. The mop can be removed and squeezed, but I'm finding it works better lightly damp. Maybe part of the mold would be to add a channel for squeegee rubber that can be used to squeegee off the water before wiping.



The tool can be used dry to dust off sills, or wet to scrub the top sill and get water spots off. You could probably add a chemical to clean the sills, but I have no idea what sort of chemical would be used for sills.



It can probably be used to get the dirt out of the upper corners once I get it built right. The prototype is just something I glued together in the garage.



It does add time to each job since I'm now wiping all the sills and not just the bottom one. However, since it's a new tool, I imagine that with a little more practice I'll be able to get faster with it but there will always be a little time hit.



The tool wouldn't give the same results as nose to sill detailing. I'm personally not interested in doing that sort of detail, I just want my commercial to look better than the guy next to me.





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