Moerman Excelerator in action!

Have you checked out the highly anticipated Moerman Excelerator yet?! Check out two videos below that go over key features and how it looks in action!

Great thread of updates and information here.

The Power Of No - The Gift Of Squeegee

He used the money to buy a squeegee and parlayed his token donation into a window washing service. But McGee was even more inspired to see what happened next.

The Surprising Power of a Gift of ‘No’ (by Collette Caprara): The gift of “no”—captivated participants at The Heritage Foundation’s 2015 Antipoverty Forum. The tale was told by the gift’s donor, Patrick McGee, the prison initiatives manager of the Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP).

The Prison Entrepreneurship Program is a nonprofit organization that links the nation’s top executives, entrepreneurs and MBA students with convicted felons, providing an entrepreneurship “boot camp” and re-entry programs to prevent recidivism and maximize self sufficiency and transform broken lives.

From personal experience and from his service to incarcerated men, McGee is a firm believer in self-determination, having witnessed the power an entrepreneurial venture can have in providing a threshold to becoming a productive, contributing member of society, even for those whose personal history dims prospects for employment.

So, when one of McGee’s nephew in his early teens asked if he would buy him a pair of athletic shoes, McGee declined the role of the generous uncle. He said, “No.” But he did give his nephew $15, and suggested that he make the most of it.

And his nephew did. He used the money to buy a squeegee and parlayed his token donation into a window washing service. But McGee was even more inspired to see what happened next.

The teen noticed that many of the homes that he visited in his neighborhood needed address markings on their front curbs. In response, he invested a portion of his earnings in stencils and spray paint and broadened his business to include that new service. In time, he had earned enough money to purchase a lawnmower, and soon his lawn-care service expanded to the point where he hired additional youths from his community to take on a portion of his growing list of clients.

McGee reported that his nephew is now finally old enough to get his driver’s permit and that he is very excited about getting his license—not as most teens are, with visions of cruising the streets with friends, but with a plan to purchase a truck to take his growing enterprise on the road. McGee summed up his story with a wink and a declaration: “That is a pretty good return on the gift of a No and $15!”

Had McGee chosen to purchase those athletic shoes, they may well have been replaced and discarded by now. In contrast, his small contribution came with a lesson that will serve his nephew for a lifetime.

Inside Ettore

 

The squeegee started in Oakland - And just so you know, Oakland is where the squeegee was invented in 1936 by the late Ettore Steccone, an Italian immigrant and window washer. Tired of using old tools and rags to wipe glass clean, he came up with the rubber-tip squeegee and changed window washing forever. Steccone could have carried himself as Thomas Edison or Alexander Graham Bell, two other important inventors, but he played down his place in history. "He was a pretty humble person," says daughter Diane Steccone Smahlik, chairman of the board of Ettore Products. "He had a thing on Friday where he'd sweep the back of the factory in a jump suit. If someone came looking for him, he'd say, 'What do you want him for?' He was just a guy sweeping the floor."

Steccone grew up in Mongiardino Ligure in northern Italy. One of 10 children, he served in the Italian Army during World War I as a machine-gunner before migrating to America in 1922 as a carpenter. Settling in Oakland, where his daughter and son-in-law live, he found more work as a window washer. He was a sight to behold going to his jobs. "He had an Indian motorcycle," said Michael Smahlik, "and he carried a ladder on one arm and a bucket on the other arm." And somehow managed to steer.

"He didn't wear a harness while standing on a ledge, washing windows three, four stories high," said Diane. And never fell. He started his own company in Oakland in 1936, the same year he conceived of the squeegee, and received a patent for his invention two years later. Then he lost the patent because of a scheming former employer. "I don't think most people would have gone through what he went through, a lot of ups and downs," said his daughter. "During World War II and Korea, he couldn't get brass for his product. But through a friend in the military, he was allocated enough brass to continue his business."

Ettore Steccone didn't finish grammar school, but he earned a pilot's license while becoming one of the world's wealthiest window washers. This past September, he was honored in his hometown of Mongiardino Ligure. The plaza of the church of Saint John the Baptist was named after him. A plaque was placed there in his name. His daughter, an only child, attended the event. And like father, like daughter. "When someone calls here, I'm just a customer service person," she said. "They don't know who they're talking to. I don't think anyone here is egotistical."

Wagtail Videos

New Wagtail Precision Glide Squeegee - no more detailing!

Wagtail was at the WCP (Window Cleaning Page) Show in Dorset organised by Mark Munro was attended by window cleaning professionals across the globe on Saturday & has become the biggest Window Cleaning Show in the UK. Willie Erken from Australia, of Wagtail Tools was there to unveil the new "Precision Glide" squeegee. The squeegee has been in development for a while, but this particular squeegee has the ability to do away with detailing without having to "dog-ear" or alter handles & can be used as a one pass squeegee as well. Included in this blog is the official promotional video & uncut raw footage from the show.

More videos to come, but for now, here's the long raw uncut version from the show. The Precision Glide is shown around the two minute mark...

 

UK Window Cleaning Show Videos

The Window Cleaning Show in Dorset 2015 organised by Mark Munro.

The Dorset Window Cleaning Show videos, mostly by Chris Dawber. I'm having trouble uploading mine for now... enjoy!

 

Click to donate.

Unveiling The Wagtail Precision Glide

New Precision Glide Squeegee from Wagtail.

The WCP (Window Cleaning Page) Show in Dorset organised by Mark Munro was attended by window cleaning professionals across the globe on Saturday & has become the biggest Window Cleaning Show in the UK. Willie Erken from Australia, of Wagtail Tools was there to unveil the new "Precision Glide" squeegee.

The squeegee has been in development for a while, but this particular squeegee has the ability to do away with detailing without having to "dog-ear" or alter handles & can be used as a one pass squeegee as well. Included in this blog is the official promotional video & uncut raw footage from the show.

UK Window Cleaners Eclipsed By New Channel

UK Window Cleaners Eclipsed By New Channel

A gasp as it suddenly goes dark in the office. It's the window cleaners. It was all about the Eclipse today - although many people didn't get to see it due to poor weather. Most UK window cleaners were obsessed about receiving their new Moerman Liquidator channels through the mail..

WCP Magazine Devotes Issue To The Liquidator

The Window Cleaning Page expands on the Liquidator.

Window Cleaning Page Magazine has released it's new magazine entirely devoted to the newest squeegee released from Moerman, named the 'Liquidator'. Mark Munro, one of the testers of the product has been playing around with the squeegee for the last few months & in this interview talks with Bob Hatt (PolznBladz on Youtube) about the development of the 'Liquidator' & the story behind it's making. The squeegee will be released in the UK tomorrow & not long after in the U.S. & Canada. Mark Munro will also be host to Moerman tools at the window cleaning show in May.

Lee Burbidge has also been following the development of the Liquidator & travels to Belgium to see the development of the 'Liquidator' & the process it took to get there.

Coming to a window cleaning supply house near you soon! Click to enlarge.

Soft Bucket On Belts

The Original Soft BOB.

The Original Soft BOB or bucket on a belt is a unique accessory, the first of its kind. Able to hold up to an 18" strip washer, two squeegees and detailing towels or scrim this soft bucket on a belt is made from durable vinyl. The pouches for the strip washer, squeegees and towel loop are held together with heavy duty stitching and adhesive. The construction of the is soft BOB eliminates swinging and banging on the users leg, potential scuffs to furniture or walls and will not crack like plastic hip buckets.

The Wagtail Hip Dipper is a soft version of the popular strip washer holsters.

The Wagtail Hip Dipper is a soft version of the popular strip washer holsters. Easily hold your Wagtail squeegee, Filpper, Whirlwind or Combi at your side in the soft and durable Hip Dipper. Made of thick plastic, you don't have to worry about banging into things or scratching delicate surfaces while working in tight spaces. Replacement Hip Dipper bags are available.

Someone Give This Guy A Squeegee!

Someone give this guy a squeegee!

Watch Jetman fly in formation over Dubai - The future is here, & it's handing out Jetpacks: Dubai is an unreal city, where the buildings are gigantic, the police drive lamborghinis, and drones rescue window washers. And, very rarely, home to aerial acrobatics from brave people in jetpacks.

To infinity and beyond.

Previously, pilot Yves “Jetman” Rossy flew his custom-built flying wing with jets on it over the Grand Canyon. He's able to propel himself through the sky at upward of 190 mph, controlling his jet suit with a throttle in his hand. He can go as high as 12,000 feet. Here, he leaps from a helicopter, dances with an airplane, and then meets up in the sky with a jetpacked pal. Watch the video, captured in glorious high-definition 4K, below:

Just for you Jeff Brimble!

How a Squeegee Handle Became a Life-Saving Tool on September 11, 2001

Window washer Jan Demczur used his squeegee to pry open the elevator doors where he and five others were trapped. Taking turns, they used the squeegee and its metal handle to hack through drywall so that they could squeeze through and escape down the stairs. (National Museum of American History)

How a Squeegee Handle Became a Life-Saving Tool on September 11, 2001 - On September 11, 2001, window washer Jan Demczur was ascending One World Trade Center in the elevator with five other men. When the car came to a sudden halt and then started plunging downward, someone in the cab managed to press the emergency stop button. The elevator cab mercifully stopped, but the men smelled smoke and knew they had to find a way out.

The events of what happened next, as told to Smithsonian magazine writer Victoria Dawson for her July 2002 article “Handed Down to History,” include a harrowing escape from the elevator after the men pried open the doors, only to be faced with a wall of Sheetrock. Fortunately, someone had a pocketknife and the men began cutting their way out. But to break through the three-quarter inch thick layers, Demczur recalled, “was going to be hard.” Still, the men persevered.

‘We just started working. Focused on this way to get out. We knew we had only one chance.’

And then, that one chance—that blade—slipped out of Demczur’s hands, falling right down the elevator shaft. “I was very upset with myself. We had a problem and now a bigger problem.” A man standing next to Demczur reached into the window washer’s bucket and seized the Squeegee handle. One more chance.

Squeegee handle underside: A coating of white drywall debris is still visible on the underside of the squeegee handle Jan Demczur used to dig a hole through a wall in his escape from the World Trade Center.

They returned to the wall, systematically cutting furrows, both vertical and horizontal, creating at last a sizable depression in the first two layers of Sheetrock—some 18 by 20 inches in size. ‘We didn’t know what was going on [in the building], but we knew time was running out,” Demczur said. They kicked and kicked again, breaking through the triple layer of Sheetrock only to find. . .still more Sheetrock. Mercifully, it was a single layer, three-quarters of an inch thick. Easily punched through. Finally, they pushed against a tile wall and found themselves underneath a sink in a men’s room.

The six men escaped the building. It took them 90 minutes from the moment the elevator cab had halted in the shaft, but they reached safety only minutes before the tower collapsed—the second tower to do so. The tool that saved their lives, the Squeegee handle, joined the collections of the National Museum of American History in 2002 when Congress designated the museum as the official repository for materials honoring the victims of the September 11 attacks, when 2,996 were killed at the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Virginia and aboard Flight 93 when it crashed in a field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

This week, the museum announced that the Squeegee handle along with 26 other artifacts from the museum’s collections are on view at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. Director John Gray noted that the 14 items from the World Trade Center, the eight from the Pentagon and the five from Shanksville, Pennsylvania, "tell the story in ways that words cannot."

Read more from a previous blog here. (+ video)

Uniform donation: Jan Demczur poses with his uniform and squeegee handle as he donates them to the National Museum of American History.

3 Videos To Get You Window Cleaning Faster

Marks Window Cleaning Store in Toronto.

Euro to Acme Thread Adapter - Easily convert your euro threaded waterfed pole over to an acme threaded pole. Great for adding third-party maintenance tools. Expand the range of tools you can use with your waterfed poles.Available at the Window Cleaning Store.

Squeegee Quick Release Modification For Ledger & Unger 0° - Available at the Window Cleaning Store.

Smartphone Camera Mount On A Pole - Attach your iPhone, Samsung, Blackberry etc. to a telescopic extension pole with the camera mount system. Works with most window cleaner poles or painters pole with acme thread. Plus a version available for use with waterfed poles that have a euro thread. Available at the Window Cleaning Store. 

Check out more of Marks stuff on the blog here.

Unger Limited Edition

 

ErgoTec^® Special 50^th Anniversary Edition

Classic squeegee and accessories celebrate Unger milestone

NEWS RELEASE: In 2014 Unger is celebrating an amazing 50 years of supplying quality equipment to cleaning professionals, and it is marking it in style by launching limited editions of some of the products that have made Unger a trusted name in the cleaning industry.

When it was first introduced, the ErgoTec^® Squeegee was a welcome breakthrough in ergonomic design, offering increased comfort, balance, and greater control to window cleaners. Its moulded handle ensures a secure grip when wet and is warm to the touch in winter. The special edition ‘50 years’ squeegee features:

·       Soft Rubber Green – Sharp edges enable thorough wiping for superior finish

·       Ergonomic two-component handle in exclusive grey color with silver metallic effect

·       Laser engraved 50th Anniversary logo

 

A 50 years washer with Ninja sleeve is also available, featuring an ergonomic two-component handle with water wells, in exclusive grey color with silver metallic effect. The washer sleeve is highly absorbent with two abrasive side pads featuring built-in rows of scrubbing fibers, complete with a 50th Anniversary logo on the Velcro fastening.

Both products are available individually, but also feature in a 50 years anniversary set, together with Unger’s ‘bucket on a belt’. This convenient holdall for important tools has a clip lock for quick fastening, and is ideal for use when working on ladders, indoors, or in narrow, confined spaces. The set, which features the special 50^th anniversary logo on each product, includes a Certificate of Authenticity and is packed in a unique box set.  All products will be available throughout the anniversary year, while stocks last.

Unger was founded in 1964 by Henry and Barbara Unger in the attic of the home of Barbara’s grandmother in Hamburg, Germany. While the original intent was to manufacture window cleaning products, the company soon expanded its product line in order to become the market leader in the sanitary supply and retail cleaning fields. Adopting this as the company’s mission, Unger strives to produce high quality, innovative tools that help professionals clean more productively and safely, as well as offer superior customer service to both end users and distributors. Today, Unger is an international company and has been manufacturing professional cleaning tools for more than 50 years. It has offices and manufacturing facilities in the United States and Germany, and sales offices in the United Kingdom and France. Unger now provides innovative cleaning solutions to more than 80 countries worldwide.

Squeegee Power To The People

Good at designs? Have a crack yourself & win money & T-shirts.

Squeegee Power contest with Window Cleaning Resource: Chris Wilson says, "So I have recently inked a deal with Window Cleaning Resource supply house to market, promote and expand on the Squeegeelution design." "I wanted to work with Chris and Alex and the WCR team because I’ve appreciated the fun, youthful and active sensibilities they bring to the industry."

"Together we can bring this iconic design to a wide variety of products and promotional materials and give a new level of awareness to the window cleaning family." " So, to get things started we’re doing a design contest that allows window cleaners the opportunity to create a design around the Squeegeelution and submit it to WCR for printing on a limited edition t-shirt."

"The contest begins today." "Here’s a link to the contest and below I’ve posted a nice big png version of the design here that you can right-click and save-as for manipulation in your favorite image design program such as Adobe Photoshop." Chris was featured before in a previous blog here with his famous mate. Be sure to check out Chris' Website here.

Click to take you to download.

Chris Lambrinides of WCR says "We are holding a contest this month to take the Squeegeelution logo and make a new design with it." "The winner of the best design, picked by me will get a $250 WCR store Credit gift certificate & we will make your design into a t-shirt."  "We will print 100 super limited edition shirts, send you 10 and we will keep the pother 90 for giveaways."

"So lets get creative and help us design the next Squeegeelution / WCR t-shirt." "The winner will most likely come up with something cool and original and somehow also cram the WCR name or logo (download) into it." "Entries can be posted into this thread or emailed directly to me".. chris@windowcleaningresource.com

"We will pick a winner towards the end of the month." "And we will have the shirts printed right away." "You dont have to be good with photo-shop to enter, you can hand sketch your idea if you like." "A winner will not be picked based on artistic ability, but they will be picked on the best concept, Good Luck!" Here are 2 examples of how the Squeegeelution logo has been incorporated into a shirt..."

Chris Wilson's hometown T-shirt.

The last Squeelution design.