Hi guys, i started window cleaning about 8 years ago from scratch. I did wfp almost from day one. I left the trade after a couple of years or so and have now started up again after buying my old round and kit back. I would like to see a video of real time working that shows just how quick a window can be cleaned (not stupid fast, a normal everyday clean you do on every job). I use too much water, i know i do, i have a 400 litre tank and it barely lasts me half a day. I can get £100-£120 worth of work out of it and i am pretty happy with my prices at that, there is some room for improvement as always, i am certainly not cheap. has anybody got a link that shows some real time cleaning that you agree is about right to aim for? i see plenty of teqnique ones in slow speed so they can explain the method, but no actual real time working (to a good end result). this forum seem the better place to ask rather than being shot down on ciu, which was a brilliant and helpful site when i first started, which has now turned into a playground full of slanging matches!
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any good videos?
- Thread starter chopsie
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The trouble with Youtube clips is that they show what they want to show. Anyone who puts a clip up to show how fast he works is bragging and that doesn't help you. You have no idea if the window was cleaned before the video was made and the video just shows a splash and dash with perfect results. Also, you can't see if the job was 'perfect' or not as the camera won't pick up that detail.
400 liters lasting half a day just sounds as though you are wasting water. If half a day is 4 hours then that's 1.6lpm with the pump running all the time. Doing residential we estimate that we only actually clean windows (pumping water) about 50% of the time. Do you have a controller and a Univalve?
I've been out the whole day today and used about 350 liters. I've used a little more as I've been working with a higher flow rate - 5 on my Varistream. 5 makes for a good rinse but I waste water on the washing/scrubbing phase of the clean, 4 is a good compromise and 3 means a slow rinse but I save water during the washing phase of the clean.
I tend to over clean. When son in law worked for us he was quick and the job was done well with the windows drying fine. The young couple we now have are very quick but we are getting lots of complaints about spotting on the windows as they aren't rinsing properly.
I use to take about 60 seconds to clean and rinse a window. Step by step I worked at reducing that time 10 seconds at a time, but found that anything less than 40 seconds didn't give a satisfactory result when I later inspected to window after it had dried.
I have also found that we spend more time flushing the bits out from between the window frame and the sill than we spend washing and rinsing the window. A few windies we know just run the brush over the sill downstairs and come back and wipe the remaining bits off with a cloth - they don't worry about the bits left inside the gap.
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hi spruce,
i have a varistream and i used to have a aquadapter, but it broke and after it broke it seemed to make little difference to the water use, i kink the pipe between windows and when doing the cills etc. i have always had my varistream on number 4, but lately have been experimenting any thing up to 9 or b. I also have been playing around with the pressure and have gone from number 5 up to the letter F. i have it on 5 setting now with pressure on letter A. i keep seeing post about people without a flow controller and they prefer it, so i guessed turning everything up to full on the varistream would equate go not having a flow controller? i found it was way too much pressure though.
i have a varistream and i used to have a aquadapter, but it broke and after it broke it seemed to make little difference to the water use, i kink the pipe between windows and when doing the cills etc. i have always had my varistream on number 4, but lately have been experimenting any thing up to 9 or b. I also have been playing around with the pressure and have gone from number 5 up to the letter F. i have it on 5 setting now with pressure on letter A. i keep seeing post about people without a flow controller and they prefer it, so i guessed turning everything up to full on the varistream would equate go not having a flow controller? i found it was way too much pressure though.
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I can get through my 650 litres on my own on a 7 hour job I do. That is on one site and moving once and I use a 45cm 4 pencil jet brush which I reckon uses a 100 litres an hour. You must virtually be jet washing the windows, turn the pressure down and either fit a tap or a univalve. You should only use between 20 and 25 litres on a standard 3 bed semi, and you should be aiming to do approx. 3 of these per hour, if the round is compact.
I can honestly saw I do not have it set to almost pressure washing the windows. On compact work I could do 2 three bed semis and hour for sure and maybe 3. But I’d use far more than 25 litres per house, I’d probably double that easily.
I will invest in a univalve. But I honestly do not think I will get that much more out of the tank. Maybe an extra house. I obviously need to move faster, but I am conscious of drip time from the frames etc. It’s obviously a confidence thing, I’d like to get £200 worth of work out of the 400 litre tank ideally.
I will invest in a univalve. But I honestly do not think I will get that much more out of the tank. Maybe an extra house. I obviously need to move faster, but I am conscious of drip time from the frames etc. It’s obviously a confidence thing, I’d like to get £200 worth of work out of the 400 litre tank ideally.
scottish cleaning service
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I thought the brush should be set to a litre a minute. Water waste is ok at the beginning until you get into the swing of things.
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I think you'll find that you're using twice as much water per house than the most of the guys on here. Speed will come with practice, and this will naturally reduce water usage. Are all connections water tight?
This is heading into our early days without controllers (couldn't buy them then), 1/2" garden hose and 3mm jets.
No, they are not totally water tight, I lose a few drops in the van on the hose lock fittings to the di vessels mainly. But I wouldn’t say it was anything significant.
Yes ive seen you post something similar on the other forum, that’s the good thing about these forums, it makes me question what I’m doing (for the better). I would of been oblivious without it and would probably just buy a bigger tank (which I may still do!)
Yes ive seen you post something similar on the other forum, that’s the good thing about these forums, it makes me question what I’m doing (for the better). I would of been oblivious without it and would probably just buy a bigger tank (which I may still do!)
dmw
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On compact work I can go through 500 litres in 7- 7 half hrs.
I found a univalve saved me about 20% in normal usage. I usually run my controller at about 35-40.
I very rarely get any spotting complaints,I think it's better to use too much rather than cut corners.
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If you are using 100 liters on 2 houses in an hour then you are using 50 liters on each house - that's 1.67lpm. If you pump is running for 50% of the time, thats 3lpm. If you pump is delivering 2lpm then you aren't switching the flow off between windows. Something doesn't add up, especially if you work on 3 houses an hour.
Mmmmm, I may of been pushing the boat out at 3 houses an hour. I do not really have an area of that compact work all with 3 bed semis, apart from one street which I’m sure I could do 2 an hour comfortably......maybe not 3. I am due there this week and it would be nice to bang them out at 3/4 an hour and I’d be gone in just over 2 hours.
I prefer quite a high flow, but I don’t think it’s excessive? I prefer it as there’s always an odd window or patio doors on a lot of my houses that are hydrophobic and it just makes it easier.
scottish cleaning service
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Does water additives make a difference on the rinsing?
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The worst thing you could do is try and knock 3 houses an hour out. If you're currently doing 2 an hour try and do 7 in 3 hours and slowly speed up when you've got the confidence to know you're doing them well. One of the arrears I found to speed up was in scrubbing, if there are no obvious bird marks or heavy build up of dust them once or twice over the glass is enough, as long as you rinse thoroughly. I spend more time cleaning the frames and sills then I do the Glass on maintenance cleans.
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As I've mentioned often, the first system I had was a trailer with 3 x 125 liter tanks on it. I carried 4 x 25 liter plastic containers in the van. By 2pm I had used 475 liters of water and had to go home.
When Williamson pumps first offered the Varistream I bought one. I also bought 100 meters of minibore hose but left the 3mm jets in the brush. Doing the same job on the equivalent of 3, I was able to work till 5 and still had the containers of water in the van unused. I estimated that when doing the same work, I was slower using the Varistream, but I was able to work for longer, ended up cleaning more houses and earnt more daily.
This taught me that when we are restricted with the amount of water we have available, a slower flow was the way to go. However, many cleaners say this isn't true. If we are short of water that day then I will automatically reduce the flow to 3 on my controller as that makes the best use of the water available. (Sometimes I take a chance on the remaining water in the van's tank and don't fill up estimating it will get us through the day.)
When Williamson pumps first offered the Varistream I bought one. I also bought 100 meters of minibore hose but left the 3mm jets in the brush. Doing the same job on the equivalent of 3, I was able to work till 5 and still had the containers of water in the van unused. I estimated that when doing the same work, I was slower using the Varistream, but I was able to work for longer, ended up cleaning more houses and earnt more daily.
This taught me that when we are restricted with the amount of water we have available, a slower flow was the way to go. However, many cleaners say this isn't true. If we are short of water that day then I will automatically reduce the flow to 3 on my controller as that makes the best use of the water available. (Sometimes I take a chance on the remaining water in the van's tank and don't fill up estimating it will get us through the day.)
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When working on my own years ago I would use 500-650 ltr in around 7 hours so what you are using isn’t excessive, as for univalve save your money and just kink the hose over between windows works just as well and doesn’t cost £30 and only last 10 months
