Our Favorite Commercial Window Washing Squeegee Tools and Why Super Fans Love Them
The classic window washing squeegee is near and dear to the hearts of the Unger team, as the founding of the company began with the simple notion of improving the task of window and glass cleaning for professionals in the industry. Before the company started in 1964, Henry Unger, a window washer himself, understood that for window cleaners that were paid by the window, not by the hour, using a faster squeegee was more lucrative. With this in mind, he wanted to help people do the job easier and faster. And safer too; shami work on ladders is inherently more dangerous.
While Henry was used to the historically popular brass squeegee, when he travelled to Europe, he observed that window cleaning professionals there weren’t even using a commercial window squeegee, just shamis and cloths. Intrigued by their methods and inspired to help them perform their jobs more efficiently, Henry set out to develop his new business, beginning with modernizing the squeegee tool for window washers worldwide. The result was a high-quality squeegee, but one that Unger has continually evolved over the years.
Here are our favorite window washing squeegees and the reasons why we, and our Unger super fans, love them.
#1: ErgoTec® Window Washing Squeegee
When we launched this tool around 2000 it was revolutionary and continues to be the most popular window cleaning tool we sell. As the first tool in our ergonomic line of commercial cleaning products, it took two years to develop the design, focusing primarily on how you hold a squeegee. The resulting design was a stainless-steel squeegee with an ergonomic rubber grip that mimics a butcher knife form, with a rounded belly on one side, giving you a nice comfortable grip. But there are a multitude of additional details that are critical and add up to making the product super user friendly:
- Extended plastic up to the neck so your fingers are not resting on sharp metal. Instead, they are protected and comfortable when you take firm control of the squeegee tool
- The divot on the head is designed to allow for additional finger pressure when cleaning as some window washers prefer this grip
- A sandblasted metal surface, as opposed to the traditional polished stainless steel, so that the surface is not smooth and slick for fingers to easily slide off
All of these components combined make this product a must have for window cleaning professionals, and as the first tool in our family of ErgoTec products (complementing the ErgoTec Washer Sleeve and ErgoTec Glass Scraper), it’s a sentimental favorite of ours that demonstrates the power of innovation in the cleaning industry.
#2 ErgoTec® Ninja Window Washing Squeegee Tool
By 2010 the Unger team was once again dedicated to developing an aspirational level of squeegee tools for window washers desiring the highest quality professional equipment. From this drive was born the Ninja, a revolutionary squeegee tool that essentially used the basics of the original ErgoTec squeegee and took it to a whole new level.
At first glance, it may not be obvious as to why we join super fans in loving this tool, but there are a lot of features that are important, including:
- This product boasts a long, stiff aluminum channel.
- Unlike competitive products, the Ninja includes markings on the front and back of the channel to clearly show where the middle is, making it so simple and helpful to find the center.
- The end clips that protect the channel and hold the rubber don’t disengage so the clips cannot fall off. This may not seem like a big deal, but with other tools with detachable end clips, the end caps are easily lost, and the window is not as well protected with missing end clips.
Different from the ErgoTec handle, we designed something new. While the Ninja has the same grip as the ErgoTec, it’s designed using an upgraded material on the grip. The Ninja squeegee tool has rubber that goes all the way up the sides of the handle (the ErgoTec handle is a combination of rubber and stainless steel). The rubber has some stickiness to it so you can have more control as you clean with larger 20 and 32-inch channels. You can also swivel the handle and screw it to adjust the tightness. All these little features lend themselves to increased end user comfortability and functionality.
The ErgoTec® Ninja Squeegee complements other products within the Ninja family, including the ErgoTec Ninja Scraper and the Ergotec Ninja Washer Sleeve.
P.S. We Love These Squeegee Tool Accessories
One of the things that window washers enjoy about how squeegees work is the ease of use when combined with compatible accessories. For example, the Classic Bucket On a Belt and the ErgoTec Ninja Bucket On a Belt allow professionals to carry their squeegees and other tools hands-free when moving up and down a ladder or from area to area. This is a much more convenient and safer alternative to carrying a bucket.
Understanding the need for safety in high access cleaning, our squeegees fit a variety of 2 or 3-section aluminum telescopic poles, available in 12 different lengths, allowing the cleaning of windows and glass surfaces up to 30 feet high. For even more ease of use and handling, Unger has optimized the OptiLoc telescopic poles to have a sure grip locking collar and an end cap that enables the pole to sit on the ground without falling over.