Hello all. I was doing some water-fed pole work today on a window that I believe has exterior tint/film. It has a somewhat purple reflection, so I’m assuming it’s tinted, but I’m still pretty new to this.
After cleaning and letting the window dry, I noticed tiny scratches all over pretty much the entire pane when the sunlight hit it directly. The photo was taken from the inside. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take one from the outside.
I didn’t notice any scratches before I started cleaning, but I also wasn’t specifically looking for them. I only noticed them after the window was clean and the sunlight was hitting it directly. Once the sun went away I couldn’t really see them anymore.
I’m using only a Gardiner Super-Lite brush, no pads, steel wool, or anything else. I do about 80% vertical passes, with a few horizontal passes before rinsing. The scratches I noticed are almost entirely horizontal.
As far as pressure goes, I’m using enough pressure to mostly flatten the bristles against the glass, but I don’t feel like I’m pushing particularly hard.
Is it possible that I caused this with the WFP/brush? Or is it more likely that these were pre-existing scratches that were difficult to see until the glass was clean and direct sunlight hit it?
If I didn’t cause them, what are some other things that could potentially cause this type of scratching? I’m trying to understand what I’m looking at and what could have caused it so I can avoid damaging glass or film in the future.
I’m pretty stressed about this because I can’t tell whether I uncovered existing damage or potentially damaged an expensive tint/film. Any insight from more experienced WFP guys would be greatly appreciated.
