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Well here she is, the new company vehicle. 2018, vauxhall viavaro, still got 18months/20k dealers warranty left. Van has only ever been owned by the dealership. £12k Pick her up next Saturday. All i gotta do now is name her.

Don't get to paranoid about saving water. Majority of times trying to save water will slow you down and cost you water.

Just completed my first fortnight in the job, it’s been a steep learning curve at times, but it really has been a surprising amount of fun. I’m possibly the only person in the UK that went from working from home pre-lockdown to working out and about post-lockdown. But my “other” work background has helped me automate loads of the business and admin stuff for the future when all being well we get proper busy, but so far, being out, meeting new people, working hard on first jobs but also getting some great feedback has been a real breath of fresh air. Lastly, a massive thanks to you guys, this forum has been so useful to read for tips and advice, and everything I’ve posted in my newbie stage has been really nicely and positively responded to. It’s so nice to be working in an industry where everyone is so friendly and helpful, even though I’m working alone there’s a real community spirit on here. Thank you all! Matt Should have put this in chit chat.. apologies, powers that be feel free to move it!

Next time you pay your tax bill remember them paying f**k all. All this, smile and move on attitude is . If we all paid our bit this country would be a much better place

As per @Joshyouare as he replied first. A water fed pole system consists of a pump that pumps pure water up to a brush on the end of a telescopic pole so we can wash and rinse the window we are cleaning. The pure water we use is deionized using reverse osmosis. A reverse osmosis membrane is like a fine filter that removes most of the dissolved minerals from the water supply. It doesn't remove all the minerals as some particles are so small they can pass through the membrane. We remove those particles by 'polishing' that water off by passing it through resin beads. It may not be pure according to laboratory standards but its good enough to leave the window clean and not leave mineral spots behind on the glass when the droplets of water remaining after the clean have dried.

Fair play, must admit I'm not a huge fan of watching people telling me how to do a job that isn't exactly rocket science. The technical / new technology info available on here suffices for me. Personally don't need egotistical self publicists, who could also be being paid to promote certain products, dictate what I should and shouldn't do. Not all of the names named in a different post are but most are.

Here’s the thing : some prospect customers, when they are paying a pre-agreed price, are only happy if they see "the help" working hard and taking a long time to do the job. They like to feel they're getting value for money by us running about. If the job is done in ten minutes with modern, professional equipment and techniques it can't be as good as if it takes twenty minutes the hard way with ladders, squeegees and cloths. We had one this week. A new prospect next door to another new prospect. Both happened to ring us on the same day for quotes. Prices agreed. We did both at the same time. Then the elderly lady came out of one as we were about to go, asking if we were going to dry the windows? I told her no, the job was finished. She wasn't happy, paid me for that one clean but didn't want us to continue. That's a pity but it's no big deal. I wouldn't dream of telling a carpenter he's not allowed to use an electric drill, saw or screwdriver. Or telling a housewife she couldn't use a washing machine but instead would have to use a tin bath, scrubbing brush and washboard. The other new customer phoned up later to say he was delighted with the result. It was his first time having wfp and he said he was a bit dubious when we drove off leaving the windows wet but when he saw how they dried lovely and clean and that all the frames and nooks and crannies had been washed out as we'd explained, he couldn't fault it. He said he looks forward to seeing us again. Now, to my delight the lady next door will see the difference in the two houses every time she looks at the next door house. No traditional cleaner will ever get her windows to the standard I achieved with the wfp, quite impossible. Then there's the operative to consider : For years I worked for contractors on pipelines and utilities. I worked with all sorts of people. Some few were a delight to work with. Numerous guys though, were not happy unless the jobs were being done the most bull-headed, awkward and difficult way, with beads of sweat dripping. I always held my ground and worked efficiently. I needed to as I was half the size and weight of most of them. I always kept my job even when some of the bulls were let go. Efficiency, professionalism and reliability was the thing that got me through some very worrying times of recession. Now, I finally run my own business. I won't put myself at unnecessary risk to do an inferior job for the pleasure of a customer, nor will I make my work harder or slower than it needs to be and accept a lower income, for the same reason.

Other than working in public places and surrounded by people I hate society. I have been suffering from Depression anxiety & ptsd for over 15 years. Window cleaning and commercial cleaning is my medicine. I managed to get myself off my cocktail of drugs in early October of last year but I still have days where I'm screaming inside. With the whole Covid19 pandemic and the lack of public efforts in social distancing and working through everyday since March it's been mentally tough. I wake up and try to set an objective for the day. A target of mindfulness and distraction. I don't have a social life or go out. What friends I have I don't see as everyone is too busy now days. For me it's just work sleep work sleep and so on. If anyone on this amazing forum needs a friendly chat or a hand of support I'm here. All the best Austin

Thought id give a little update as feeling elated about work this week. Well ive only bloody gone and done it, 8 months ago (Nov2019) i set myself a couple of targets for 2020 ive only gone n smashed them already. 1st Goal: newer bigger van by end 2020 My newer bigger van was on the road late January, my hand was forced by a crash that wrote offmy combo, my 06 plate vivaro is now fully kitted, & sign written, 650ltr delivery system, slx18 for everyday use Slx30 for high/long jobs & home made 4ft pole for bungalow days, swift controller, sureflow pump, clabber hose reel, 2gardiner back pack (1new 1 2nd hand for tfr), skyvacAtom everything new except 650lt tank. 2nd Goal: 300 customer by end 2020 Sat static at around 160 8 months ago, just went through the very wet winter not picking many up, then January hit and i piçked up a care home with 40 residences only picked up 18/20 of them in the end but was a boost, then BANG COVID-19 hit me really hard in March, due to the wife having low immune system i didnt work for 11weeks total & wondered if id have a business left as couldnt get government help but only lost 4/5 customers. So came out of covid with circa 180-200 and it went bonkers, some days felt like i was taking more new calls than cleaning houses. Just had a count up of database today and HELLO 284 customer details now thats not 300 i hear you say!! But 1 is carehome with 18/20 different customers inside, & 1 is a builders who ive just got contract with to do stock plot cleans which could see me working as far away as Ipswich and Cambridge a couple of times a month for a very good hourly rate. So the magic 300 has been hit I know your all probably fed up with me bigging up myself in this thread, but i genuinely am humbled by the help and support this forum gives and without windowcleaningforums.co.uk i genuinely wouldnt have what i have today. Added 2020 goal: Electric reel Goals for the end 2021 500 customer Brand new van 2man set up and a part-timer Launch 'HCS' cleaning holiday homes, EOT cleans etc etc etc (The wife and her aunty are going to work for me as Holt Cleaning Services 'HCS' a sister company to Holt Window Cleaning Services 'HWCS') Anybody with experience in this please feel free to throw me any advice

Half the time, when it's a stand alone job I get referred to neighbours or seen while doing the job on some occasion when I visit, soon turning a standalone into a row of bungalows in a few months. maybe that's just me being lucky but any singles turn to doubles for me pretty fast.

Very simply, you need to use pure water and pump it up into a pole via a hose. You get pure water by polishing it and removing Ions from the water (I think ). And you can do this by either putting it through a DI Vessel or if you live in an area where the water has a high TDS then you can put an RO system before the DI Vessel. If you live near a spotless water location this may be the easiest method to get pure water when starting out. A typical system in a van would be a tank (water storage) with a pump (to pump the water up the pole), a battery to power it, and a flow controller to adjust the flow. Then you have your hose reel, poles, brushes etc in there too.

The entire point of this place is to ask for help. I asked loads of questions when I started that had been asked before. Sometimes I found them when searching but no always. This is a forum, not a manual, after all.

Bit of a boost this morning before work and refreshing about 7.30am, apologies for the dodgy vid must have been the sun video-1596198557.mp4

Glad to hear you've had a great start. This forum is one big family platform with a vast array of experience, knowledge and support

finished at 2 and had a blinding 3 hrs fishing off the surface with my son. Sometimes you need to have some time for yourself not just work. Anyone else? Or what do you do as a hobby?

What I have found out in life, the more you get involved in other folks lives the more one is drawn into their drama.

Everyone responds differently. I’m very much a “you do your thing, and I’ll do my thing” kinda guy. I’m just not interested in what other people do. Ignore and crack on with what you’re doing, mate. Theses dudes are everywhere.

Wouldn't go near it, their customers probably wouldn't pay you a tenner to do their windows anyway and they will be replaced by someone else on the fiddle even if they got caught. Trouble might be that they might go half legit and buy some equipment and then compete with you, then you'll have cheap competition. I'm 99.99% certain the local trad guy that has 4 or 5 lads working for him has them working 16 hours a week and pays them the rest in cash. You're doing well so why worry what others are doing, they'll probably come a cropper sooner or later.

I've never had a website and never really looked at getting one, I'm always at around full capacity (for me and I've been at donkeys years). The only advertising I've done is professionally sign written my van and it's paid for itself many times over. It's that plus recommendations and also with all the new startups these days I have to knock on the doors of customers who have moved house rather than wait for the new owners approach me.

This is one of the concerns I had when starting into WFP. Around where I work it's fairly common to see cars and vans completely blocking pavements due to parking issues, and I have to be honest I find it a tad irritating when I have to walk in the road to get round a vehicle parked in such a way, especially when there's often safer parking less than a minutes walk away. There are also a considerable number of mum's with kids and push chairs, and mobility scooter users around where I work as well. In the end I opted to work with a trolley as I can park a short distance away and walk. The further I have to walk the more I charge. Most customers have understood completely when I've explained.

What you have done looks fine to me , Ime not a solicitor but don’t see anyone could have a problem with that , some people are never happy unless they are moaning

Bang on mate. Usually a lot worse on the sunny side of the house. It is oxidation due to sunlight. Scrub till water is running clear from the frame then do the glass.

Grippatank are crash tested. Gardiner backed them and got the tanks mira crash tested they also come with an installation certificate and are a proper baffled tank unlike wydale tanks which a lot use. As far as i'm a where Ionics, grippatank and pure freedom are the only ones who have crash tested systems. People can argue about crash testing saying it's not worth it or they only crash them at 30mph etc but I have a lot more faith in a company that have gone to the expense of around £80-100k and time to develop their tank and system than someone knocking one up in their garage like the above quote. 5 or 6k for a system is peanuts when most one-man bands claim to be doing nearly 2k a week window cleaning.

You can use a ladder for access , if you go down the road and clean everyone’s windows using a ladder and have an accident and the HSE investigate you are looking at a fine starting at 50 k , if you go down the road cleaning windows using wfp but need a ladder for access and have an accident and the HSE investigate it’s highly likely they will say you have done your best to not work at height as you used wfp for most of your work and they will not prosecute , how do I know this ? I am a working at heights instructor , and work closely with the HSE , having also attended a number of falls from height resulting in death ( as a Fireservice officer ) , serious life changing injuries resulting in court cases . I feel like a lot of things some of the wording on the HSE web site is very woolly and not clear , however one thing is clear , if a safer alternate to working at height exists it should be employed , that isn’t an ambiguous statement , it’s very clear advice .

The only advice I would offer is, make sure you are committed once you decide to go down this road. Don't get me wrong, window cleaning can be a great living, it is well paid (currently, but it's becoming saturated) but it isn't as easy as it looks. And it will take you a long time to start earning anything half decent, at least 2 or 3 years and then add another 2 or 3 years before you start to get stable rounds. Many are attracted to window cleaning because of the 'work life balance' but trust me the 1st 4 years are going to be nothing but work work work, and then some, many many people who try this game think that they will be able to earn £50k a year for only 3 days a week after just 15 months of start-up, and whilst it is possible to do anything if you put your mind to it, you won't have a stable round for a long time and will have to keep replacing the time wasters, and drossy customers at a fast pace to keep your momentum up. I'd like to say that you will succeed, and I don't wish for you to fail, but the reality is that most give up after 4 years; you have to be motivated, and be willing to go out all weathers, have thick skin, and be prepared to be quite poor for a while. By the time you are earning enough money you will be well are truly sick and tired of the job. I turnover approx £60-£65k a year as a ltd company 4 days a week (3 and a half actually) and I don't want to work anymore time on the glass as nearly 20 years of doing this every day every week does gets to your mental health. Fortunately I can scare myself silly on my motorcycles to blow of some steam when I want.. Good luck

All fitted and much better than the waterworks ones a lot stiffer nk movement at all and a bigger gap between the rollers works very well also cheaper

Weird, can you not re-arrange your setup so that the DI is in the garage and only pure goes into the van? One less item to cause issues when working.

Hang in there, Tench. You'll be wetting a line on the Bristol Channel on Sunday. Good or bad fishing, doesn't matter. It's getting out and doing stuff for yourself. Most of us go through dark and difficult times sometimes. I accept that life goes forward in troughs, levels and peaks and I try to ride through them. Catch your breath, mate. it will pass. We're rooting for you, kid. Tight lines for Sunday. Just saw your post WG, all the best to you as well.

Its an invaluable forum tbf

It's a personal choice if you decide to or not if can give up there names and addresses then do so without putting yourself at any risk, people turning their heads and letting others commit crime isn't great for any of us or society on the whole With respect if you believe that your delusional plenty of people haven't worked a proper days work in their life for years and claimed benefits and are doing a cash in hand job, there were people in the village I grew up in hadn't worked for 20-30 years and were getting paid benefits but had nowt wrong with them and most likely still doing the same.

You will probbably find if he is charging £4 per house, he needs to be claiming DWP money to make up the shortfall. And there is a certain amount of cash the DWP will turn a blind eye to, especially if he has established himself as a casual worker and he hasn't hidden that from them. There are no rules on minimum pricing, it's not illegal to charge an overly low price in a particular industry, otherwise that would be a dictatorship and we don't live in China(yet). For example, you could do everyone's windows for free, no charge and have to claim as you'd have no income, you'd be busy of course and get all the work. The DWP will want bank statements from him, they will check him anyway as a claimant, in fact at £4 per house, the DWP probbably give him money to top up his earnings and encourage him to keep going as it is. You don't know if he has a medical condition, is listed as vulnerable, or a recovering alcoholic, there are all sorts of reasons why people claim benefits, you don't know his life circumstances. I wouldn't get involved keep your nose out, the DWP have robust checks in place and the chances are even if he is claiming more than he should or whatever, they will deal with it in time. Focus on your own business, you never know one day you might find yourself in the same position out of no fault of your own and some busy body sticks their nose into your business..

Leave it be. Bad Karma for you. Live and let live.

Good evening. First and foremost and on behalf of all of us please except our deepest condolences and we are sorry to hear the loss of a loved one. There are so many people now days that think they can do a better job, Society is changing and money is short in some areas. The property ladder leap and rented properties are growing and their residents don't want to spend money on glass that they don't own. I've noticed that residential cleans are based upon demographics and ages groups in my area. Instagram is another great platform for advertising and increasing your business footprint. Follow property lettings and estate agents, local shops and care providers is a good lead. Wishing you and your family all the best and give your all and get yourself noticed Austin

You'll get wasters from all forms of advertising. My best form of filtering rubbish is a phone number. No number then no window clean

The first clean always takes longer so we charge a first clean premium. If the customer turns out to be a once off then we haven't lost too much.

If I get a question about the black marks, depending on the customer if it's someone I really like, on very rare occasions I'll get the magic sponge and give it a squirt of my soapmix from a bottle and sort it. I don't do it as a matter of course. if it's one of the very few that I don't like. I tell them to get a magic sponge in the supermarket. I don't tell them I have some in the van. They are part of my kit for the very rare occasions when I decide to use them. My work day is based around fast, top quality work. Get paid move on. As I read on someone's post on another forum a day or two ago "it's almost a military operation". I aim to keep a stride, almost working on automatic. Not breaking that stride allows us to get more jobs done and/or finish earlier. Hence, I'm sat at home on a Friday in my Homer Simpsons (tatty old boxer shorts ) having had a nice lie-in and two cups of tea in bed. Reason : son and I had a short week because most jobs went like clockwork. We were home finished our week's work by 3 yesterday. Like a few on here I've worked the 15 hour days lorry driving for a pittance. I've also worked long, cold winters on pipelines and utilities. I remember one year about 1990. When a buddy I was sharing a house with said to me at the end of it. "Dave, do you realise you haven't seen your house in daylight all winter. I was working two jobs. Quality, efficiency, speed. In that order. That's my mantra. Any advice I give is with the best of intentions, to help others up the ladder and hopefully improve their prosperity and lifestyle.

If you ask all the experienced and successful guys on here, including myself, I bet hardly any spend time faffing about with a microfibre on sills. That should tell you something. Clean them correctly with a brush, no cloths needed

I haven't read all this thread just the first few. I am 6 weeks in now and all I'm going to say is 1.get a van (really it makes that much difference) 2. Unless you live within 15 minutes of a spotless water spot, start making your on purified water (this is the thing that's let me continue the dream of having my own business) 3. I started by traditional cleaning the bottoms and WFP the tops 6 weeks ago.....I think I last used my blade and bucket 4 weeks ago. WFP is the way to go, for so many ways. No safety issues, cleaner windows, and gives you access to all sizes of buildings, nevermind how much quicker it is which means more hourly wage. Honestly mate, the best way I can put it is, if you really want to do it, go full wack at it. If I would have started like I planned (using a car and traditional cleaning with ladders) I would have lasted a week, spend as much as you can afford to make the job enjoyable and doable. I have been a class 1 driver for 8 years before this and trust me, working for £13 an hour and 15 hours a day seems a joke to where I am 6 weeks later.....yes I'm not making as much monthly currently because I only have around 70 customers at the moment. But my hourly wage now is about £20-£25 an hour and I control everything and actually enjoy it. And I never go any further than 4 miles from my own home.

If you having problems then clean them with cloths, can't beat a good old leather and scrim like when I started out in 80's but now I would wet up with a synthetic leather and polish off with a large microfibre glass cloth. plenty of good alternatives rather than a squeegee on a very small window to show off your skill and craft.

@Redrum good post mate. You obviously need to check how long you can last while your starting- if you have a family to provide for, what bills need paying etc. I started about 2.5 years ago as I was struggling to find work that fitted in with me looking after my Nan who I was helping to care for as she had cancer. It was more something that I could do part time, was flexible , didn’t require massive investment to start, and that hopefully I could pick up fairly quickly. Although these forums and the facebook groups are a fountain of knowledge, they can also be a bit intimidating/off putting as you see all sorts of things talked about with regards to equipment and the money some window cleaners earn. I’m only able to advise on my own experience, which is working from my family car as I haven’t physically got the money for a van yet. I do traditional work on small bungalows, ground floor flats etc. Bigger houses I do mostly water fed pole and even if I do the upper floors with water fed pole and the ground floors traditionally, most customers (and where I live there are loads of old people who moan at anything modern) don’t care that you use it if you explain you use wfp for safety reasons. Anyone that contacts and insists on ladder work I very politely decline the job. You could get a nice bit of traditional gear, a Gardiner backpack and pole and use spotless for pure water exactly like I did, and when you outgrow that invest a bit more. The way I do things isn’t for everyone, and can be a faff sometimes, but it’s earnt me money when I was really struggling, and I’m just at the point where I’ve bought an RO unit - but that’s really to save 2 or 3 trips a week I was making to my nearest spotless water (about an hour round trip). My Nan passed away a couple of months ago, so now I’m trying to build my work up more, but with the current situation it’s proving to be a little bit slower than I hoped. PS. Don’t worry about self employment either, it’s easy to register and doing your expenses and tax return is no bother if your work set up is simple enough (like mine is anyway). Sorry for the long reply and good luck mate.

I've read all the replies since you joined so I have no wrong perception of you, I can also fully appreciate where you are coming from on offering up advice and how you feel about your business and putting your name to advice and giving the right advice. Slightly of piste, Plenty lads pop up on here thinking they can jump straight into soft-washing there is very few on here who have the wealth of knowledge and experience so I always flag anyone with some words of caution who thinks anything is a walk in the park and trouble and hassle free this is the same across the board, people need a whole picture on something not spy hole view.

I bought : 350l water tank Second hand £60 Steel Upright Tank Frame £180 Pure Freedom Pump and Controller new £190 Claber Hose Reel New £40 Leisure Battery New £110 That all cost the princely sum of £580 and I can change components if I ever need to. Easy to install too.

Well done! You handled that perfectly. Enhanced your reputation, established you are a trustworthy contractor with a concern for peoples property & no doubt gained valuable experience in heading off a complaint. Top marks.

You have no choice when starting out ,

If the customer is happy to pay you that price then the answer is no. As long as you can make it work why worry whatever others think and say.

I use the angled Gardiner Quick-loq one that fits directly to the brush because I like the swivel action to be as close to the brush as possible. I can’t say I’ve experienced any problems with it that have not been easily rectified. Certainly nothing that has made me want to look for a better one. That said if I saw one I thought could be better, I’d certainly give it a try. The only issue I had early on was the tendency for it to stick on the quick-loq. The remedy was to sand the square end down a tiny bit with a sanding block till it was a nice fit. Job done, no further issues Another mod I made was suggested by HMAN on one of the forums. It makes for a smoother change of brushes when a change is necessary. It can be done with a small half round file or Dremmel

The service has to match the price though, plenty of lads wanting to jump into window cleaning and now more so than ever before, but peanuts and monkeys springs to mind people wanting to get into the industry as cheap as possible with a backpack and think they will be rolling in money in no time it simply wont happen easily and more than 98% of them they will go back to a paye job with 4 weeks paid holiday and sick pay because window cleaning might look easy but it ain't and running a business is whole different ball game