Yeah I used to think the "feel" method was all you needed but after actually checking with a gauge I realized I had been running them way too loose for years. The derailleur really does hide a lot of slack.

Isn't a soft brush kind of the unsung hero of a deep clean though? I've been doing the same thing with a cheap paintbrush and it gets all that lint and hair out of the fan blades way better than air alone. Just gotta be careful not to touch any components with the bristles.

Damn, that's a solid question man. I gotta ask though - when you say plastic blades, are we talking the hard plastic ones or the softer flex type? Because I've seen guys swap to power trowels and get alright results, but then they never adjust the pitch or speed for different curing stages. That hand float work gave you feel for the concrete telling you when to back off or hit it harder. I wonder if the durability difference is more about missing that instinct versus the tool itself. What's your crew's average experience level looking like now compared to back when you had that old timer around?