5 minutes more typically no longer than about 2 3 minutes at a time and most typically no longer than about 0 5 1 minute many ways can be used to achieve intermittent contact or near contact with the working surface 34 such as that shown in fig2 b where the back cover 50 is mounted on a shaft 68 that can be rotated back and forth using any conventional means to move the sharp edge 29 or leading edge of the squeegee 36 out of position with respect to the working surface 34 and back into position by having a stop mechanism comprising a support 69 and an adjustable stop bolt 70 the doctor blade 26 can also be controlled to a u201c near contact u201d position while a doctor blade 26 is shown in the applicator embodiment of fig2 7 any device capable of wiping the unused sizing and foreign objects from the working surface 34 can be used to replace the doctor blade 26 including a flexible or rigid squeegee 36 see fig2 a excess sizing and foreign objects removed from the working surface 34 are collected with a basin 40 located below the element 32 in a position to do so and to not interfere with the sized fibers 6 as is well known and are removed from the basin 40 with a pipe 41 using gravity or a pump 42 the unused sizing and foreign objects are passed through a filter 44 to remove any foreign object having a dimension greater than about 13 microns more typically no greater than about 10 microns and most typically.