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First Time Cleaning Windows- Few Questions?

buzzing

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I cleaned some windows for the first time- did a bungalow and took 2 hrs lol (still not comfortable with heights). I cleaned all the sills, are you supposed to do that? Also, I had these old rags which were really small for cleaning the sills and window frames, what do most people use? They got really dirty with cobwebs etc I took a 2 litre bottle of water which wasn't enough afterwards to clean the rags. Also when cleaning where do most people put their rags and cloths, on a bucket on a belt? I kept putting them down and I think that lost me time.

Also, I was late as i set my phone to tell me in the memo gthingee, but it didn't flash or make noise or anything, I guess I need to get something different to warn me about appointments?

They gave me £20

Also, I just threw my rags and micro fibre cloths in the boot and went home, should i wash them or dry them out?

Also the microfibre cloths got wet and weren't doin g the detailing properly, need three for a job? do you just dry these out or wash them?

 
It will take time to get into a routine which suits you, and as a newbie doing first cleans it is tough going. You will get more confident and quicker with experience.

Whether you clean the sills (and frames for that matter) is really up to you. I do both as a matter of course, but then I am really fussy and want the customer to be happy with my service.

I carry 3 microfiber cloths with me. I use one for frames and sills, one for edges and corners of glass, and a spare for when the sill cloth is too dirty. I put them in my pockets and over my shoulder.

I keep my appointments in my mobile phone, but don't use the alarm system available. I just move on to each job in turn and don't have any hard and fast appointment times.

Going back to microfiber cloths, I dry them out and reuse as sill cloths if possible, but always use fresh, clean, dry cloths on the glass.

Wash them on a hot wash, but don't use softener on them.Hope this helps,

John

 
Silly question but if you are not comfortable at heights why did you go trad? Would not wfp method suit you better?

 
Silly question but if you are not comfortable at heights why did you go trad? Would not wfp method suit you better?
cos hes tiyt /emoticons/biggrin.png and have note to do with scint
 
What service you provide with regard to sills frames etc is up to you as long as you charge a sensible price for your time. If you want to do frames and sills etc, you might want to consider WFP, personally I am trad and we only do the glass, no frames or sills, however our prices reflect this. We opted to stick to glass only as its what our competitors do, and keeps us competitive.

As cloths use scrims, I have used microfibres and by comparison they are terrible. They get saturated really quickly, and will cause water marks around the edges if you dont change them regularly.

For bookings, well we dont use bookings per say we just have our sheets with the rounds and we do all the groups together. When I started I used booking and decided to change over. Its just more efficient and easier to manage, if you just tell them you'll be by next month, a day or two either way depending on how the weather goes. That way when you do have a spell of bad weather for a few days, you don't have to spent half your night on the phone trying to make new appointments with everyone.

Just a note. IMO £10 per hour not including time travelling and potentially going back out to collect as well as processing charges if they pay by cheque or online is a bit tight. I would instead try to aim to make around £15 ph including travelling, and ensure your pricing reflects this, but again you will get faster so your might not be that far off it.

 
cos hes tiyt /emoticons/biggrin.png and have note to do with scint
How do you know it's nowt to do with skint? Not everybody has the money to go WFP straight away, seriously the man is asking a question if you have nothing good to say, say nothing.

 
definitely clean the sills as an absolute minimum, im trad and i do sills and frames as standard but its up to you, some like to charge extra for frames, i dont personally.

i use scrims for detailing, high quality microfibres for leads and cheap microfibres for sills and frames. i have the sills cloth on my boab,(through the loop), my lead cloth in the beltloop of my trousers and my scrim over my shoulder/round my neck. when there wet il tie them to the ladder on the roofrack and let them dry as im driving between jobs

get a 25litre water container in the car and a rectangular bucket to carry with your ladder, i only change the water in the bucket when it resembles more of a soup then water,lol

and yh as above, drop the appointments, i tell my customers which week of the month i will be in there area, thats as close as it gets to an appointment

hope some of thats of some help

 
How do you know it's nowt to do with skint? Not everybody has the money to go WFP straight away, seriously the man is asking a question if you have nothing good to say, say nothing.
that wos in repliy to smerty ,and wot dus some one whos not comfterbul at hites doing contemplating use ing ladders if u wor to ask me its another axedent wayting to hapen ,hopefuley it wont but if u not confedent at hite u will make me stakes
 
not being able to afford it is not the only reason not to go wfp, you get a better finish with trad, plus LOTS of customers dont like wfp, and even though anyone can clean windows it takes a degree of skill and effort to clean windows trad, i actually LOVE trad cleaning and would personally never go wfp, its personal choice

 
SHould I go and get more rags and bigger ones for the sills? And the dirty ones and microfibre cloths I used should I just dry them out? Or wash them?

Do people use the customer outside tap to clean their rags for the sills? or take a few litres of water to do it?

 
I just dry my scrims every night. Hang them over heaters, doors, drying horses etc and they will be ready for the next day. At the end of the week i'll stick them all in a hot wash.

Keep your cloths you use for detailing bone dry, if you use a wet area of cloth on the glass it leave a water mark. For your sills etc, you could keep an extra bucket in the motor for rinsing them out. If your going to use a customers tap, I would ask first, IMO.

 
I've been doing window cleaning the trad method for nearly forty years, in the beginning it was scrims only as blading was not that common, and it was very difficult. I adopted blading sometime in the eighties. I have always tried to improve on my speed, efficiency and quality. And now I think I've got it right. I have developed a system where I have 'Dog-eared' blades and 'flipper pads', I don't carry a bucket, I have a hand-spray. you spray the glass and wash'n'clean, I get a very close edge, no need to wipe, and always clean the (plastic) sills. It is so efficient that I reckon to average £20 ph without pushing myself (and I'm 65). I use cloths (good quality hand towels 50cm x 100 cm cut in half), usually about 5-7 a day.

 
Dog earing means the blade is more turned over at the edges of the channel. This means there will be less water left on the glass where it meets the frame. I can clean certain windows without having to run a cloth round the edge.

 
SHould I go and get more rags and bigger ones for the sills? And the dirty ones and microfibre cloths I used should I just dry them out? Or wash them?

Do people use the customer outside tap to clean their rags for the sills? or take a few litres of water to do it?
Hey mate - welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of window cleaning /emoticons/smile.png

First off, make sure you are using good quality squeegees and rubber - I like the unger ergotec handles and ettore supersoft rubber - bit thats just my personal preference. It'll take you a while to work out what type of handle and rubber you like most but thats ok. Whats important is that you at least start with good kit and then refine from there.

Next up is channel size. I use (mostly) a 10 inch channel for pretty much 90% of my work. Its small but very easy to use as because of its size you can whip it across the glass and turns / fanning is a breeze. That said, I also take an 18", 22" and a 6" with me. You'd be surprised how many windows are exactly one of these sizes and when you come across a house (or better yet, a row of houses) with windows that match your channels it can really speed things up.

As for cloths, there are 2 schools of thought : basically microfibres (as in proper unger microfibres, the green ones) pick up water better and leave no dust, but they do tend to get saturated quicker and therefore stop doing a good job. A scrim will last longer on a busy day and do almost as good a job. My advice is have a good clean supply of both - if I am going out for a long day i'll use a scrim but if I'm just doing one or 2 houses I use an unger microfibre.

Sill cloths: I just use pound-shop microfibres for this. Mine are horrible, dirty, with bits of leaves and cobwebs in, I rarely bothrr to wash / dry them - they are just for wiping **** and run-down window water from the sills. Despite this, they leave the sills clean, just make sure you dont touch the glass with them! If you are going to give the frames a good clean, do this *before* you clean the glass - that way you dont have to be so careful about ruining your nice clean glass with a dirty sill cloth.

Never ever try to use a cheap pound shop microfibre for detailing, it'll be drenched and useless within about 10 mins.

You might also consider using a cheapo cheapo pound shop squeegee for squeegeeing off sills. Its fast, but dont be tempted to use your 'good' squeegees for this - one little nick in the blade from a bit of grit or whatever and the rubber is ruined - it will streak.

Finally, use ecover dish soap with water and if you like a dash of white vinegar in your bucket. It is significantly less 'streaky' than other brands and really makes the squeegee glide over the glass.

Remember a light touch with the squeegee is all thats required - I used to grip the squeegee way too tight and it'd make my thumb ache!!

Good luck and keep asking any questions you have /emoticons/smile.png

 
Oh and the dogearing thing is awesome. Makes a biiiig difference especially on longer channels

 
interesting stuff, so micro fibre cloths aren't the same as scrims, where do I buy scrims and what are they called?

If my microfibre cloths getting all dirty (I have good ones, not cheapos) for detailing do i just dry them on the line and use them again or should they be put them in a hot wash?

 
ABOUT DOG-EARING - THIS IS TO USE WITH A STANDARD BRASS SQEEGEE AND CHANNEL. The video Smurf has suggested from MyWagga shows the best way, although I have changed the way I do it slightly. Follow the video, but don't put the dent in the back of the channel to hold the blade, instead use the traditional end clips. Only allow 1-2 mm of rubber showing at each end (no more, this is very important), and use hard rubber blades, I use Unger. Hard rubber blades will do a better job and last longer, curiously, soft blades don't seem to work in this particular application (I use normal soft rubbers in my other blades). One other thing, put a piece of broom handle in the handle of the sqeegee, allowing about 30-40 mm sticking out. This will give better balance and control. Don't forget the flipper pads!!!

 
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