Be more efficient

[scottish cleaning service]

I always carry a cloth to clean the sills before I clean the windows and doors. Saves me trying to clean the brush and saves alot of time and pure. ?

 

[Dave B]

Not cleaning residential.

Made my work life better and more efficient.

You have the easy life round here mate
Always on your drive when I come past?

 

[Dave B]

I always carry a cloth to clean the sills before I clean the windows and doors. Saves me trying to clean the brush and saves alot of time and pure. ?

So you leave the visible muck in the groove then?

 

[Dave B]

Commercial has great earning potential I have found out but they can stop and its a big lose. That's the reason I like both, domestic is my bread and butter.

All 100 jobs is your bread and butter?
Must scrape it very thinly with your knife

 

[Part Timer]

I always thought you were one of the most intelligent people on here, this now under review. ?

Obviously some very intelligent people have problems with common sense ?

 

[scottish cleaning service]

All 100 jobs is your bread and butter?
Must scrape it very thinly with your knife

I've got about 200 customers now if I count the folk in care homes. Just received an 8.5% increase in my pension next April. Not much debt now unless I buy a new van. Bought everything I wanted now so in a good position to live the dream. Got those jags a few days ago so taking it easy yesterday and today and back into it tomorrow with a £300 day. Its hard work but someone has got to do it. ?

 

[Dave B]

I got no debt and mortgage paid and happily doing over 600 customers every six weeks with no issues and palm work off to the guy who works for me when needed like tomorrow when I’m cleaning a whole house from gutter clear, fsg, render clean, stone sills and windows
Much prefer not being jack of all trades master of bugger all

 

[Cghwindowcleaning]

You have the easy life round here mate
Always on your drive when I come past?

I think the same when I drive past the residential shiners vans parked up 5.30 -6am?

 

[Cghwindowcleaning]

I've got about 200 customers now if I count the folk in care homes. Just received an 8.5% increase in my pension next April. Not much debt now unless I buy a new van. Bought everything I wanted now so in a good position to live the dream. Got those jags a few days ago so taking it easy yesterday and today and back into it tomorrow with a £300 day. It’s hard work but someone has got to do it. ?

Cleaning windows isn’t living the dream.If I had a good fire service pension plus a state pension mortgage free etc like yourself I wouldn’t be cleaning crap from glass In the cold.
Each to their own and it works for you but I would quit this job tomorrow if I could.

 

[Deleted member 12462]

Electric reel for me the one thing if it broke I would replace straight away not just time saved but sholders and arms don't ache at all

 

[Iron Giant]

Obviously some very intelligent people have problems with common sense ?

I've often found that over the years, I'd sooner be thick

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Cleaning windows isn’t living the dream.If I had a good fire service pension plus a state pension mortgage free etc like yourself I wouldn’t be cleaning **** from glass In the cold.
Each to their own and it works for you but I would quit this job tomorrow if I could.

I'm only a pup at 57 so have 10 years till I get my state pension if its still there. The thing I love about this job is I can pick my own hours. If its raining then I usually stay in or do inside work. Like talking to my customers and don't tend to work hard.

 

[Mattymarske]

Messed about for too long (years in fact) with xline brushes and rinse bars...dupont, then flocked with brass fan jets but I've seen the light the last 2 days in with a Supreme 23cm Brush - Soft FLOCKED TaperTec Hybrid with red 50° fab jets. Ordered it with 100° but after trying them both prefer the 50s.

So much lighter, faster and got used to fan rinse last 6 months with the xline one. Finally found the setup (for me and my way of working- others obviously will be different) that I might make some inroads on my debts and thrive not just barely survive. Here's hoping for a better 2024!

Goes to show when I was a newbie my Gardiner sill brush with brass pencil jets lasted 2 months before looking like a dog had chewed it. Tried a swivel years ago and hated it on 2 houses. Now I couldn't work without one. Hated brass fan jets and was a rinse bar fanboy but now see that Gardiner jet capsules are the business.

So back to OP question- time saving devices for me....in no particular order

1- univalve
2- DIY tubeless
3- swivel gooseneck and water through gooseneck
4- supreme flocked with brush bumper and 50° fan jets
5- slx or equivalent or Xtreme if can afford. (Not there just yet lol)
6- van mounted system/tank (rather than backpack/trolley)

 

[Deleted member 5762]

Messed about for too long (years in fact) with xline brushes and rinse bars...dupont, then flocked with brass fan jets but I've seen the light the last 2 days in with a Supreme 23cm Brush - Soft FLOCKED TaperTec Hybrid with red 50° fab jets. Ordered it with 100° but after trying them both prefer the 50s.

So much lighter, faster and got used to fan rinse last 6 months with the xline one. Finally found the setup (for me and my way of working- others obviously will be different) that I might make some inroads on my debts and thrive not just barely survive. Here's hoping for a better 2024!

Goes to show when I was a newbie my Gardiner sill brush with brass pencil jets lasted 2 months before looking like a dog had chewed it. Tried a swivel years ago and hated it on 2 houses. Now I couldn't work without one. Hated brass fan jets and was a rinse bar fanboy but now see that Gardiner jet capsules are the business.

So back to OP question- time saving devices for me....in no particular order

1- univalve
2- DIY tubeless
3- swivel gooseneck and water through gooseneck
4- supreme flocked with brush bumper and 50° fan jets
5- slx or equivalent or Xtreme if can afford. (Not there just yet lol)
6- van mounted system/tank (rather than backpack/trolley)

I like the supreme brushes. I find the flocked one little bit too soft for me (and I always favour flocked brushes over medium) so I now use the medium Dupont one sometimes and it's great.

 

[Iron Giant]

I've got about 200 customers now if I count the folk in care homes

in the space of around 12 weeks you've gained 70 window cleaning jobs and now you're earning £300 a day but was earning £200 a day 12 weeks ago, Feck me is it April the 1st

 

[Part Timer]

in the space of around 12 weeks you've gained 70 window cleaning jobs and now you're earning £300 a day but was earning £200 a day 12 weeks ago, Feck me is it April the 1st

The only fools are those reading his posts and rising to his bait

 

[Iron Giant]

The only fools are those reading his posts and rising to his bait

I'm going to screen shot them and WhatsApp you them all for a bit of night time reading ?

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Money goes to money. All you do is lie in your bed the night before and imagine the structure of the next day.
Get up early and have a Hot shower, pack something to eat and a big flask of real coffee. Turn on hot water system and head to your first clean and the subconscious takes over from the pre plan the night before. When you finish the last clean a fantastic feeling comes over you that you have trousered alot of money and everything went to plan. To be honest I shouldn't be letting you into my secret or you might start copying me. ?

 

[Yogi1872]

So I’ve now been window cleaning for about 3 years and thought I would share a few things that makes my life easier and work more efficient, not massively but definitely helps.

No.1 - telescopic ladder, so much quicker than getting the ladder of the van and great in tight spaces !

Get a roof rack that the ladders sit in.it in a way where no ladder hooks etc are needed. Slides up the roller bar at the back and on.

 

[Iron Giant]

Interesting, I had never thought of cleaning the pole hose before extending the pole. Doesn't that sort of take 3 hands? 1 to hold pole, 1 to hold cloth and a 3rd to pull the hose through and hold the clean hose?
I can see how that would help keep your pole clean but it's your method that could be interesting.
How do you do it?

So after I've taken the pee a bit and you've been frantically trying to work it out on your whiteboard, Pole in one hand and as I gather the pole hose up into loops I run it through a cloth feeding it into my hand that is holding my pole,

I really don't get how other lads can be walking around dragging the pole hose across muddy lawns and sandy block paved driveways and not clean their pole hose,

I started cleaning over 30 years ago now so I have always been used to having a trad pouch for cloths this is something I could never change from and I'm pretty sure @Alex Gardiner used to say about the importance of keeping the pole hose clean, which is just common sense to me,

I have Moerman® Side Kit Pouch | Window Cleaning Workwear - Window Cleaning Warehouse Ltd the belt loops on this pouch are always on my belt which is just a normal belt I wear on my work trousers so when returning to the van I can just unclip the pouch and place it in my van the pouch enables me to carry a decent sized cloth which is just an old bath sheet cut up into 4 pieces non of these microfibers I can also carry my Muc-claw brush and a small spray bottle of pre-mixed degreaser as required.

Edit.. just had a quick look at the images in the link for the pouch, mine just has two main compartments a 50/50 split not 3 not sure how updated that image is in the link but looking around they now have 3 way split

 

[ched999uk]

So after I've taken the pee a bit and you've been frantically trying to work it out on your whiteboard, Pole in one hand and as I gather the pole hose up into loops I run it through a cloth feeding it into my hand that is holding my pole,

I really don't get how other lads can be walking around dragging the pole hose across muddy lawns and sandy block paved driveways and not clean their pole hose,

I started cleaning over 30 years ago now so I have always been used to having a trad pouch for cloths this is something I could never change from and I'm pretty sure @Alex Gardiner used to say about the importance of keeping the pole hose clean, which is just common sense to me,

I have Moerman® Side Kit Pouch | Window Cleaning Workwear - Window Cleaning Warehouse Ltd the belt loops on this pouch are always on my belt which is just a normal belt I wear on my work trousers so when returning to the van I can just unclip the pouch and place it in my van the pouch enables me to carry a decent sized cloth which is just an old bath sheet cut up into 4 pieces non of these microfibers I can also carry my Muc-claw brush and a small spray bottle of pre-mixed degreaser as required.

Edit.. just had a quick look at the images in the link for the pouch, mine just has two main compartments a 50/50 split not 3 not sure how updated that image is in the link but looking around they now have 3 way split

Thanks. I was imagining how you would hold your pole to start wiping the first part of the pole hose that is at the bottom of your pole then working your way along it. Then I though, if you don't let the first (closest to the pole) part of the hose hit the floor then it's easy . It did take me a bit to imagine it as I do have a tendency to over think things when there might be a much simpler way of doing them! I do usually work it out but sometimes my brain just doesn't work right in it's old age My brain has certainly got mushier over that last 18 years since I started being self employed! Just different work environment produces challenges in different ways. I have always worked in environments where I was part of a team but I was the only 1 with certain specialities so always had to rely on myself to come up with solutions - not always the right ones, but we got by . It's so nice to be able to read how other people do things and learn other peoples methods, not just people who are 'doing it for the camera'. I haven't really seen many windys working in the field so to speak, well the odd one when I am in the car and I thing 'Jesus what are you doing' not cleaning frames or not wiping the sills as a last pass of the brush, rinsing the furthest pane then the openers etc.
Thanks for the explanation and making me think!
I suppose we all evolve our own ways of working as no one goes to college to learn 'standard methods'.

Personally, even though I use tubless and wind my pole hose on to my reel, when leaving the van I coil up my pole hose until I get to my reel hose. I walk away from the van keeping the pole hose in my hand that is also holding my pole. I use the other hand to pull my reel hose out and open doors etc. I do then lay my pole hose on the ground and extend my pole at the furthest point from the van (unless there is a reason to do the windows out of sequence). I tend to then pick up my pole hose when I have finished the rear and carry that to the front while dragging the reel hose. Once I have finished the house I gather up the pole hose and walk back to the van. I then reel in all the hose through a cloth, leaving the last meter of pole hose to pass back into the van to have the doors closed on it.