Question:

I waste a lot of time detailing windows after squeegeeing them, do I have to?

Answer:

No

Practice on a window, clean the window normally but do it very slowly, watch what is happening when you go across the top and down the sides, the marks that you are leaving behind are not there because of bad luck, they are there because something is happening to put them there.  Sometimes you will find on a particular window you leave nothing behind, this is not good luck, it is because of certain rubber mouldings keep the end of the rubber on the glass.  Now the times when you do leave something behind look very close and see why, the squeegee rubber is riding up on to the mouldings, this causes a gap between the glass and the squeegee rubber, which in turn leaves solution behind.

First off make sure you have a soft rubber, hard is no good it will leave marks down the sides.  Probably the easiest way is to go across the top and down the sides at the proper angle, you want to go down the left side at this angle/ and down the right side at this angle\.  Now see what is happening  

Like I said it depends on the window, they are all different, if you can see, and understand what is causing the marks that you leave behind, then you are halfway there, it is just a case of perfecting your squeegee technique so that nothing is left behind.

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Just remember that the reason you need to detail the sides of the glass in the first place, is because the rubber on the very end of the squeegee rides up on the rubber mouldings, on the edge of the glass, and the gap created causes the soap left behind. 

Bending the squeegee helps some people if done right, and some people just cut in with the squeegee at an appropriate angle. These two methods still need you to slow down and be careful at the sides.

Cutting the notch is the most fool proof and allows you to work faster as you can bang into the sides of the window while you work fast, and the rubber if cut correctly, will not ride up on the moulding.

You will know when your doing it right if you don't have to use your scrim.  No detailing should need doing.

Peter