Best stuff for cleaning facias with a WFP?

[Den]

Still no joy. Its funny because its a solid red light but refuses to fire up. Hopefully Oliver will be up this month to give it a service and get it working again.

Get him to install a immersion heater for backup no servicing extremely inexpensive and no cold cleaning lol. 

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Get him to install a immersion heater for backup no servicing extremely inexpensive and no cold cleaning lol. 

Everything going electric now even Merc do an electric Sprinter but can't hold much load. 

 

[TopNotch]

When you say 'elbow grease' do you mean the product or just putting in manual effort?

Manual effort but I use unger rubout for the hard staining but might try the pink stuff.

One windy I met swears by spif.... Half CIF and pink stuff, not tied it yet

 

[ched999uk]

Manual effort but I use unger rubout for the hard staining but might try the pink stuff.

One windy I met swears by spif.... Half CIF and pink stuff, not tied it yet

Try the pink stuff - it's cheap and works great. Think you can even get it in places like the Pound store!!! In fact just checked Amazon and 3 x 500gms tubs of The Pink Stuff is £5.75

 

[TopNotch]

Try the pink stuff - it's cheap and works great. Think you can even get it in places like the Pound store!!! In fact just checked Amazon and 3 x 500gms tubs of The Pink Stuff is £5.75

Tub what about this? Picked up from home bargains for a £1

 

[TopNotch]

I'm still charging cheap for the fascia and soffits whilst I'm learning nearly confident enough to raise it up to the average price and currently saving for a vac but do you guys sign customer up for a annual FSG clean? or even at a discount.

 

[ched999uk]

Tub what about this? Picked up from home bargains for a £1

View attachment 24184

I've not tried the liquid only tubs. Let us know how you get on.

 

[spruce]

I'm still charging cheap for the fascia and soffits whilst I'm learning nearly confident enough to raise it up to the average price and currently saving for a vac but do you guys sign customer up for a annual FSG clean? or even at a discount.

There is nothing wrong with asking a customer if they would like the whites cleaned every year.

Often customers ask for the gutters to be cleaned. You need to always clarify what they mean by cleaned. Some don't want the contents cleared just the outsides cleaned. Others expect cleared and cleaned when they say cleaned.

TBH we have one house which we do this clean every year and their neighbours as well. The first house we clear the gutters every year as they require us to, but the only muck in the gutters is at the back in one small section. It's not necessary for us to clear those gutters every year tbh.

The neighbours have trees around the back and those gutters do need clearing every year as they fill up with leaves and twigs. We usually program the cleans when the leaves have finally fallen from the trees.

I wouldn't ever offer a discount. Just because you are able to clear gutters faster with the Vac, doesn't mean you have to reduce your price. Your gutter Vac needs to be paid for. In some instances your prices need to be raised when you go from clearing gutters by hand to vacuum cleaning them. (Cleaning the vacuum cleaner and pipes takes longer than the clear does sometimes. I do the final clean up of my vac at home on the front lawn which takes around 1/2 an hour. You need to account for that in your pricing.)

Do seriously consider a gutter vac with a camera. It makes things so much easier and quicker as you can see what you are doing. I would also suggest you include a way of recording the gutter clear you do on their house if there is no one home. If there is ever an accusation that you are charging for something you didn't do you have proof. Include a shot of the ground  (garden rockery etc) from the gutters that clearly identify that house. We had experience this in our early days clearing a customer's gutter by hand. After that we took photos of cleared gutters with our phones to prove our work was done. (They might try to catch you once but only once.) In this case I had no photos so was prepared to get my ladders off the van so he could check the gutters for himself. He told me he was scared of heights. ? We got paid but never touched that house or customer again.

 

[spruce]

I've not tried the liquid only tubs. Let us know how you get on.

I've started to question the 'quality' of CIF cream in recent times  @TopNotch Its seems to be more watered down. They might be trying to find new markets by making it 'safer' to clean baths made of fibreglass. The one photo on the CIF bottle could be a photo of a bath if just glanced at. On closer inspection it's another photo of a basin.

I've still got a few bottles of CIF cream so I will try The Pink Stuff cream cleaner next time.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Tub what about this? Picked up from home bargains for a £1

View attachment 24184

I tried the 3 types, spray, cream and paste and found the paste is the best.

 

[spruce]

I tried the 3 types, spray, cream and paste and found the paste is the best.

I'm sure it's because it's a paste and has more 'grit' in it.

 

[TopNotch]

There is nothing wrong with asking a customer if they would like the whites cleaned every year.

Often customers ask for the gutters to be cleaned. You need to always clarify what they mean by cleaned. Some don't want the contents cleared just the outsides cleaned. Others expect cleared and cleaned when they say cleaned.

TBH we have one house which we do this clean every year and their neighbours as well. The first house we clear the gutters every year as they require us to, but the only muck in the gutters is at the back in one small section. It's not necessary for us to clear those gutters every year tbh.

The neighbours have trees around the back and those gutters do need clearing every year as they fill up with leaves and twigs. We usually program the cleans when the leaves have finally fallen from the trees.

I wouldn't ever offer a discount. Just because you are able to clear gutters faster with the Vac, doesn't mean you have to reduce your price. Your gutter Vac needs to be paid for. In some instances your prices need to be raised when you go from clearing gutters by hand to vacuum cleaning them. (Cleaning the vacuum cleaner and pipes takes longer than the clear does sometimes. I do the final clean up of my vac at home on the front lawn which takes around 1/2 an hour. You need to account for that in your pricing.)

Do seriously consider a gutter vac with a camera. It makes things so much easier and quicker as you can see what you are doing. I would also suggest you include a way of recording the gutter clear you do on their house if there is no one home. If there is ever an accusation that you are charging for something you didn't do you have proof. Include a shot of the ground  (garden rockery etc) from the gutters that clearly identify that house. We had experience this in our early days clearing a customer's gutter by hand. After that we took photos of cleared gutters with our phones to prove our work was done. (They might try to catch you once but only once.) In this case I had no photos so was prepared to get my ladders off the van so he could check the gutters for himself. He told me he was scared of heights. ? We got paid but never touched that house or customer again.

Didn't know cleaning out the vac was so time consuming, can you get away with setting up multiple gutter clears on the same day and just clean it at the end?

That's a good tip about photo evidence, I take a photo of every first clean as evidence just as I've not built up that trust with the customer yet.

That's for your words of wisdom again @spruce still got some work todo before getting a vac... ??

 

[Davy G]

I don't take photos as proof. I'd make my feelings known in no uncertain terms if someone questioned my integrity by accusing me of not emptying a gutter I'd charged for! It would be for them to check in whatever way they chose. I wouldn't be risking my life and health further by going back up to take photos.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I'm sure it's because it's a paste and has more 'grit' in it.

Not sure but I bought 100 odd tubs of the stuff at a pound a tub. If a door is marked I show customer how to remove it and sell them a tub for a pound.

 

[TopNotch]

Not sure but I bought 100 odd tubs of the stuff at a pound a tub. If a door is marked I show customer how to remove it and sell them a tub for a pound.

No profit? 

 

[scottish cleaning service]

No profit? 

No, its about building a bond with my customer and wanting them to remain with me. When they move they take me with them, think its called brand loyalty.

 

[TopNotch]

No, its about building a bond with my customer and wanting them to remain with me. When they move they take me with them, think its called brand loyalty.

Okay that makes sense I have given thought of selling mini indoor window cleaning kits involving a window cloth, magic sponge and maybe a mini spray bottle at base cost.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Okay that makes sense I have given thought of selling mini indoor window cleaning kits involving a window cloth, magic sponge and maybe a mini spray bottle at base cost.

Handy but many of my customers are elderly so i do it twice a year.

 

[ched999uk]

Okay that makes sense I have given thought of selling mini indoor window cleaning kits involving a window cloth, magic sponge and maybe a mini spray bottle at base cost.

For the amount of effort involved (for you, getting the kits together) plus the potential custy saying 'the kit you sold me left marks on the window' I'm not sure it's worth the risk. Plus as covid is gradually becoming less of an issue you could offer interior cleans and earn from them!!

 

[spruce]

Didn't know cleaning out the vac was so time consuming, can you get away with setting up multiple gutter clears on the same day and just clean it at the end?

That's a good tip about photo evidence, I take a photo of every first clean as evidence just as I've not built up that trust with the customer yet.

That's for your words of wisdom again @spruce still got some work todo before getting a vac... ??

This is the ideal scenario.  It just never seems to work that way. I like to flush all the dirt out of each C/F tube as well as the flexible hose. I carefully clean the motor housing, flush the dirt out of the filter and clean the drum. It then stands for a day or 2, usually in the lounge to dry out before its reassembled and put back in the van.

You will find as you go along that you make adjustments to the way you work. For example, we cleaned a house today we have done for years. The owner's wife was home and we had a chat. (We have become like family. We started cleaning when the twins were born and they write their GCSE's next year.) At one time I would have walked away without putting a ticket through the door.

From experience we now put a slip through the letter box as a reminder that they need to pay us via BACS. I put a ticket through her door when we left.

We have had the odd issue down the line but put procedures in to minimise problems occurring in the future. We had someone refuse to pay us for the full clean because the rear gate was locked. Now we have photographic evidence of our ladder over each gate that's locked should the issue every arise again. We only take a photo of the ladder once.

 

[TopNotch]

Any tips on removing this rust/drip type of stain? 

Under the fascia.