Squeegees and s-curves

Even to the untrained eye, it’s patently clear Sherri Medeiros has a special technique doing something as seemingly simple as cleaning a mirror with a squeegee.

“It’s known as the s-curve, or butterfly in the trade,” says Medeiros, who makes a living by cleaning windows, mirrors, ceiling fans and outdoor lighting fixtures for dozens of commercial and residential clients on Marco Island.

The s-curve, she explains, is a method of snaking a squeegee alternately from side to side down a mirror or window to avoid leaving streaks on the surface.

“You want to pull the water down the mirror all in one stroke from top to bottom without lifting the squeegee,” she says.

On this day, Medeiros is cleaning the huge mirrors lining the walls at Bert and Jann Brewer’s Marco Fitness Center on Bald Eagle Drive.

They need her service about once a month, says Bert Brewer, because people working out sometimes touch or lean against the mirrors, leaving prints.

“She’s very detail-oriented,” Jann Brewer says of Medeiros. “And from a customer point of view, you don’t want to be looking at smudges and stuff when you’re working out.”

Medeiros acquired the See Thru Window Cleaning Service about six years ago after first partnering with then owner Ed Mills, and later buying him out when he decided to opt out of the business.

Photo by QUENTIN ROUX, Eagle staff

Sherri Medeiros earns a living by making sure that windows and mirrors on Marco Island are spotless. There's more to her work than meets the eye, however.

“We’ve grown since then,” says Medeiros, who nevertheless adds she doesn’t want over-expansion because she likes the hands-on approach.

For that reason, she works with one exterior window cleaner during the summer months and two in season while she handles homes’ interiors.

“There’s no question that it’s a very physical job,” Medeiros says, “but I love being on the move, going from home to home. You develop relationships and trust with your customers.”

Some windows, she says, require a little more elbow grease than others.

“Hurricane Wilma left a mess,” she says. “We had all sorts of debris stuck on windows.

Some had bits of roof shingles stuck in the corners, bits of coconut, chunks of palm fronds.”

Photo by QUENTIN ROUX, Eagle staff

Sherri Medeiros makes a sweep with a squeegee at Marco Fitness Center, one of her window and mirror cleaning clients on the island.

More routine window problems include scraping hairspray residue off bathroom mirrors, getting bug droppings off window exteriors and dealing with pet nose prints on interior wall mirrors.

But, as the only woman window cleaner on the island, Medeiros wouldn’t have it any other way.

“My overheads are low,” she says simply. “It’s basically soap and water.”

Most industries have conventions.

Window cleaning is no exception.

Medeiros (641-5179) plans to attend the International Window Cleaning Association’s convention in Arizona in February, 2007, when she’ll check out the latest in tools and techniques.

Tools, she said, are constantly being upgraded for ease of use.

“I have squeegees with swivels so you can clean hard-to reach places,” she says. “Then you have safety ladders that can be mounted on staircases or outside on uneven ground.”

Medeiros declines to put a ballpark price on her services because they’re so varied, but is happy to provide free estimates.

As for the esthetic side of what she does, the energetic blond says she enjoys the end result.

“If you have a clean house, but dirty windows,” she says, “the house is still going to look dirty. I do windows. I’m the window lady.”