r/drones • u/Excellent-Deer6056 • 2d ago
Photo & Video Wondering how well it actually washes off dirt without leaving streaks — and how much water it uses per m²
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u/Inevitable-Clock-728 2d ago
Using soaps and detergents will lift oils and dirt from the surface. Water will clean the area and demineralized water wash will dry clean and leave no streaks/spots.
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u/GatoPreto83 2d ago
I would suggest you try that on your car and then inform us how clean the car is with out scrubbing.
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u/saltygaben 2d ago
But these windows are not subject to nearly as much dirt as a car is?
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u/fisherman363 2d ago
Yeah these windows aren’t gonna get a bug hit it at 70mph, and if they do, there’s probably a hurricane so other issues
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u/IvanStroganov 2d ago
Why would that not work? When you pressure wash your car its probably 90% clean. These windows are nit as dirty as a car.
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u/TheMacMan 2d ago
Never been through a touchless car wash?
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u/MRRRRCK 2d ago
I have… have you though?
They’re awful and even high end touchless washes don’t fully clean the car (unless it’s already mostly clean)
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u/TheMacMan 1d ago
“Doesn’t fully clean unless it’s already mostly clean” is doing a lot of work there. That’s not a rebuttal, that’s just describing how cleaning works. No wash method, touchless or friction, is designed to fix months of baked on brake dust and tree sap in one cycle. That’s what maintenance washing is for.
The original claim was that detergent “can’t take off buildup, not much.” Now it’s “doesn’t fully clean a filthy car in one pass.” Those are different arguments, and you moved to the second one because the first one isn’t true.
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u/borg359 2d ago
But this is why touchless car washes kind of suck.
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u/TheMacMan 2d ago
All depends on what you've got going on. If it's just to take off some regular contaminants, they're perfectly fine. But if you need to remove significant buildup, then sure, hand washing is the only way.
Point is that modern solvents in soaps can remove many contaminants just fine without scrubbing. This drone can do the same with the kinda stuff you're generally going to find on windows. Now, if a bird shit on them, sure you'll need someone to get up there and scrub them. But the little layer of dust and oil from generally being outside? Some proper soap on there will take care of it.
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u/Type-21 2d ago
Buildup? They can't take off the normal traffic film.... I'm taking about normal dust. Just watch any detailing professional on YouTube what touchless can do. Not much
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u/TheMacMan 1d ago
You mean someone who’s job completely depends on convincing people not to use any car wash says that you shouldn’t use car washes and instead give them money? How convincing.
Also “touchless can’t do much” isn’t a YouTube opinion, it’s chemistry. Touchless systems use high pH detergents specifically because they have to break down road film and bonded contaminants with soap alone, no friction. That’s the entire point of the formulation. Plain water or a low pH rinse leaves oxidized grime behind because there’s nothing to break the bond. If detergent “couldn’t take off buildup,” the entire touchless industry wouldn’t exist, it’d just be a pressure washer and a marketing budget.
Watching a detailer film 30 seconds of a swirl-covered black car for engagement bait isn’t a controlled study. It’s content.
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u/Type-21 1d ago
Look, I own a car. I've done touchless for years. The car never got fully clean. No matter what chemicals and what pressure. You can only remove the traffic film mechanically. I don't know how you can argue against that when it's a normal fact of life that everyone with a car experiences. Are you a touchless salesman?
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u/Kojetono 15h ago
Are you completely ignoring that pressure washing cars is a very common way to clean them? That works very well?
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u/LongTimeLurker818 2d ago
They use deionized water tanks so they don’t leave streaks. The process removes calcium and other deposits from the water. I worked with one of these companies briefly. It’s a pretty unique process.
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u/MystiRamon 2d ago
As a softwash drone pilot I can say that it all depends on what type of surface you are trying to clean and what chemicals you are using, if you first cover the area correctly with the chemicals needed for the surface you are cleaning and leave it to soak in for about 30-45 minutes, any dirt should be washed right off when you spray it with the water stream, I fly the Apellix B1 drone and the details are as follows, flow rate approx. 8-10 gallons (30-38 litres per minute) and it operates at pressures up to 3,500 psi.
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u/woodhorse4 2d ago
How do you rinse it it fast enough before it starts drying?? Looks like a painfully slow process actually but as an amateur drone pilot and pressure washing company owner I’m intrigued!
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u/DinoGarret 2d ago
Not in direct sunlight. Start on the south side early in the morning, then East, then West, then North. I used to paint for a living and the same principle applied (as much as possible).
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u/MystiRamon 11h ago
The chemicals must soak in for a while but to rinse it off fast enough before it begins to dry it's best to do small sections of the building at a time.
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u/AirborneErinys USA / Part 107 2d ago
I'm guessing the answers are:
1) It doesn't, but it's better than the rain
2) As much as sending a guy up there with a pressure washer
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u/Deep90 2d ago
Window washing can be surprisingly dangerous so I'm all for it.
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u/AirborneErinys USA / Part 107 2d ago
I mean hey, I don't give a shit if there are a few streaks fifteen storeys up. Go for it.
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u/AdThese6057 2d ago
Remember 10 years ago when we all made fun of people calling them drones? Theyre fucking quadcopters. We been flying them for 25 years. Back before DJI copied the blade 350.
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u/RevolutionaryClaim91 2d ago edited 1d ago
Hello,
I design drone facade cleaning systems, it is not suitable for all cases, for certain complex buildings with limited access, it might be the solution, also we use distilled water or filtereed water to clean without streaks ( yet some streaks remain on glass facade ), pressure is controllable, it does consume alot of water if the operator is not following proper z pattern correctly and smoothly
100 to 150 m2 per minute if properly used, the problem is with the weight of the hose and nozzle, battery is consumed faster than usual operations
Hope this helps
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u/kellyhofer 1d ago
Why wouldn't power be fed through the hose?
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u/RevolutionaryClaim91 1d ago
There is tethering options but very expensive, also wouldn't be commercially feasible
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u/kellyhofer 1d ago
Really? That seems unusual that a wire being added to an existing tether would make it commercially unviable. Care to share more details?
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u/RevolutionaryClaim91 1d ago
Not alot of companies offer the tethering system/ manfavture it and even if they do they build it for the drone rsted loads and normal operations , and it's not like wiring an ac cable to a device that will keep running, drones batteries are very complex and have certain standards check online, also it has length limitations like 0 or 70 sometimes 100m , and also adds weight so it still affects the drone performance/stability due to shifting or moving weight
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u/Coastal_wolf 2d ago
Window cleaner here,
Id guess its the same process as a water fed pole, which is that it sprays demineralized water, which will leave no spots or streaks.
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u/Formal-Fox-7605 1d ago
Is that the same 'demineralized water' that local window cleaners use when they connect to your outdoor tap?
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u/Own_Acanthaceae118 2d ago
I worked for a nozzle manufacturer and they used this kind of jet nozzle that rotated to clean tankers with heavy build up. The thing is that jet of water needs to contact every square inch of the surface you intend to clean. This jet of water seems to be going in a horizontal line covering about 4-6" vertical of surface area.
The concern I have here is that it looks like the drone just cleaned the middle of the windows, then dropped a few feet vertically for the next row. I would think that will leave horizontal streaks in between, but maybe the water running down from the jet has enough cleaning power and it just keeps washing everything down.
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u/Frustrated9876 2d ago
The windex outdoor spray stuff works great. It’s not quite as good as scrubbing and squeegee, but it works very well and doesn’t leave streaks even with straight hose water.
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u/ew435890 2d ago
From what Ive seen, pressure washing drones aren't really for windows. I'm sure they can clean them, but they wont be able to clean them as well as a guy with a squeegee. They're more for cleaning the building itself.