This is Andriy from Total Window Service. I want to take you behind the scenes of one of our most technically demanding projects — cleaning the Nike flagship store facade on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.
We typically rely on standard window cleaning techniques, but this building is a case study in why a single method does not work for every facade. The glass here is custom-manufactured slumped glass, produced by Spanish glassmaker Cricursa in Barcelona and assembled in Germany by seele. Each panel was heated to approximately 1,000°F, slumped into custom molds, and carved with diagonal wave patterns set at precisely 23.5 degrees — matching the angle of the Nike Swoosh.
I have not encountered this type of glazing on any other building in New York City.
Watch Our Team Clean the Nike Facade at Night
See the full process: bucket truck setup, flat glass cleaning, and power rinsing on Nike’s curved storefront panels on 5th Avenue.
The Challenge: Why Standard Tools Fail on Curved Glass
The defining feature of this storefront is that the glass panels are not flat — they undulate with a repeating wave pattern across the entire six-story facade.
This creates two specific problems for window cleaning:
Squeegee incompatibility. A squeegee blade requires a flat surface to create a seal and draw water in a straight pass. On curved glass, the blade cannot maintain contact with the surface — it skips across the peaks and misses the valleys. Standard technique simply does not apply here.
Accelerated pollution buildup. Manhattan’s Midtown corridor produces heavy concentrations of dust, diesel particulate, and vehicle exhaust. On flat glass, this contamination distributes evenly and washes off predictably. On curved panels, pollutants settle into the concave portions of each wave and accumulate faster than on the convex surfaces. The result is uneven soiling that requires targeted scrubbing rather than a single pass.
Our Solution: A Two-Stage Hybrid Cleaning Method
We developed a technique specifically for this facade and return 3 to 4 times per year for scheduled maintenance. The process is divided into two distinct stages based on glass geometry.
Stage 1: Upper Section — Flat Glass Panels
The first row of the storefront consists of flat insulated glass units. Here, the crew uses the standard professional method:
- Scrub the glass with a washer sleeve loaded with cleaning solution
- Remove water with a squeegee in overlapping vertical passes
- Detail the edges and corners with a microfiber cloth
This section is straightforward and follows the same technique we use on any commercial flat-glass facade.
Stage 2: Curved Glass Panels — Custom Technique
Below the flat section, the facade transitions into the signature curved panels. At this point, we put the squeegees away entirely.
- Deep scrubbing — We work each curved panel with washer sleeves, applying extra pressure into the concave wave valleys where pollution concentrates. Multiple passes are required to loosen bonded particulate from these recessed areas.
- Power rinse — Instead of squeegeeing, we flush the curved glass with a pressure washer. The water stream follows the contours of each wave, carrying loosened dirt out of the curves. This is the only reliable method we have found for achieving a clean result on this geometry.
The key difference: on flat glass, the squeegee does the final cleaning. On curved glass, the water pressure does the work — the scrubbing stage is preparation, not the finish.
Night Operations and Bucket Truck Logistics
This project runs exclusively during the night shift. Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street are high-traffic zones during business hours, and both the city and Nike require that facade work happens after the store closes.
We use a bucket truck to reach the upper floors, positioning the basket along the facade and working section by section.
Operator Precision
The real pressure falls on the truck operator. The boom must move slowly and with constant awareness of the glass surface. Nike’s slumped glass panels were manufactured in Barcelona by Cricursa, shipped to Germany for assembly by seele, and installed on custom steel mullions. These are not standard replacement panels — any contact between the bucket and the facade could result in damage that takes months to source and repair.
The Night Shift on 5th Avenue
Even at 2 AM, Midtown is not empty. Con Edison utility crews, garbage trucks, delivery vehicles, and other maintenance teams are all working the same blocks simultaneously. Coordinating our truck position with other night operations is part of every session. This is the side of Manhattan maintenance that most people never see — entire commercial corridors being cleaned, repaired, and maintained while the city sleeps.
Why This Project Matters to Us
When visitors walk down Fifth Avenue and see Nike’s facade gleaming, they do not think about the cleaning process behind it. That is exactly the point — our work is invisible when it is done well.
This project reinforces something we apply to every job at Total Window Service: the technique must match the surface. A method that works on one building can damage or fail on another. Nike’s curved glass taught us to develop a completely separate workflow, and that approach — adapting to the specific glass, the specific building, the specific conditions — is what separates professional facade maintenance from basic window washing.
Thank you to Nike for trusting Total Window Service with their flagship storefront, and to our night crew for consistently delivering results under demanding conditions.
— Andriy Mykyta, Total Window Service