Im on the brink of giving up window cleaning :(

[norm]

hey @jordan has things got better for you?

 

[Njones]

I personally found W5 washing-up liquid from lidl was the best - much less residue, but still a nice glide on the glass.

From the opening post it sounds like you're doing straight pulls on the squeegee,.. learning to fan will mean far fewer streaks & detailing,..

 

[Duncs]

lot of the guys on here are using ecover & flash works really well must say

in the blazing sun you have to work fast

you have only been cleaning short time your still learning , it will come

I do find in the hot weather you have to fan your window to get the water off quick enough

gd luck it 2will get easier

 

[boarcity]

and if you do give up on it,dont beat urself up . plenty of other things to do that are far easier on the body and easier to do

 

[Smurf]

If it was real easy then everybody would be cleaning windows surely?

Like any new skill it takes time to master.

 

[abs]

It's impossible to smear with a blade, if you have neat cut rubber try wetting the window then using a microfibre clothe wipe the top and sides then carefully blade the water off , done correct you shouldn't have to touch the glass at all

 

[Michael Murphy]

Hello everyone once again JORDAN has a big problem i started window cleaning 6 weeks agoI have 50 customers which is great i have had 3 customers complain saying as soon as the sun comes out there windows look terribly smeary !(i am literally begging for the answer)

1 customers complained so i went back did it again (which took 2 hours to make sure it was right i checked it then left)

went there today looks sh@t again!

I will now go through everything i use and my method!

water=hot water

liquid=morning fresh washing up liquid( i know its not the best but surely its not going to make smears)

ive changed my rubber endless times !

So i start with a bucket of hot water add some liquid not loads but enough to get it a bit bubbly on the windows

i start by using a cloth wiping frames and glass then i use a scouring pad and scrub glass and frames to make sure its clean

then i use my applicator get in the corners clean it ENOUGH

then i use my blade left to right or top to bottom as there smallish residential windows

i then dry frames and detail with chamois(i dont use chamois on middle of glass just detailing)

THATS ALL I DO PLEASE SOMEONE GIVE ME THE ANSWER I HAVE TRIED USING LESS MORNING FRESH LIQUID

could it be the morning fresh?

remember this is 3 customers and ive checked after they have complained and they look really smeary

Make sure your using a good quality blade/rubber and forget about the scouting pad

 

[tootyclub]

Don't give up jordan.... When I first started out two years ago I was like a fish out of water .. I started knocking on doors with my ladder and cleaning gear and did my first house with zero knowledge .... apart from watching my uncle for ten minutes.. That first day I made 42 quid and that was where the journey began... I was aching all over and felt like i'd been doing aerobics for 9 hrs solid ; and because I was so paranoid about leaving smears, I would litterally polish every window after fanning and detailing.... But...it learned me a valuble lesson about working independence.... I could see in to the future enough to know that i'd get faster and more efficient, which means more money... I was a hodcarrier on a building site for 13 yrs and even though window cleaning is hard, being on the hod is harder physically... Now I have a fairly decent round that I've built up with my cousin....(who's getting out of the game to be a sparky), and I've never been so WORK happy... I started with a 10 inch blade and little monsoon sleeve, scrims and beer towels, but now use the bluemicrofibres from wilkos for detailing, ripped up towels for cills, 14 and 18 inch blades in modified Bucket on Belt and an 18 inch porcupine and the results are consistent... I really enjoy it and can make a decent little living from it.... All the best... Tootyclub

 

[cheapncheerful]

me likes you tootyclub..especially the bit...and beer towels, so your the beer towel thief....:rofl:

yeh im not so sure jordan isnt a ciu windup merchant but i put that to make sure he comes on to tell us hes not....:rofl:

 

[tootyclub]

Are you ok jordan? You're not on a wind up are you mate... especially after I gave you half of my life story earlier ha..

 

[tootyclub]

@cheapncheerful ... I moved on from the beer towels to our lasses favourite bath towels when she moved in mine. Lovely long strips like door mats mate ha ha.. she kicked right off when she found mate . Haha

 

[cheapncheerful]

yep i was looking for my next sill cloths as mine were getting too small (a ripped up ex toweling robe)and now i found microfibre thanks to a post by mr allotment...or mr home brew...i have demoted my old holy scrims to sill wipes...it kinda feels wrong using good scrim on the sills but what else can i do....i just got 50 microfibre cloths off ebay...got carried away...but hey i got a lot of windows to clean yet....:rofl:

er is she still with you?....i got my eye on a few of our towels....

 

[tootyclub]

I've tried loads of different cloths to try and speed things up. The car polishing cloths are pretty good from poundland. 2 of them sewn together courtesy of my mam are the bizzo. I'm obsessed with buying different cloths and gear....

 

[cheapncheerful]

yeh the fifty i just bought are too small really but you can never have enough kit....i must sort it all out one day...

 

[aiden keay]

Don't give up mate. I have only just started and I had a few like that and I begin to doubt what I was doing and started messing about with all my gear and how much liquid I was using and in the end I just fort screw it went back to how I originally done it but had learnt to fan which made all the difference because I was getting the liquid and water off the windows faster and my blade wasn't jumping on dry bits which is what I think made the smears.

So I think if you just practise fanning and get the water off the windows abit faster you will be fine mate. Noticed you haven't write on this for a while so hope you haven't packed up already

 

[Smurf]

I think @jordan may have left the building as it were

 

[Dave B]

...i have demoted my old holy scrims to sill wipes...it kinda feels wrong using good scrim on the sills but what else can i do....:rofl:

All they are good for mate...mine are all cill cloths (well those that survived ) all fall apart soon as cill cloths

 

[Smurf]

Best bin them @cheapncheerful as it doesn't look professional using holy rags if you ask me

 

[Dave B]

The small thick microfibre cloths are best for cills plus they are good for scrubbing dirt off bad cills

Perfect size to stuff a few in your pouch

 

[Smurf]

I also use a cut down small squeegee blade to take most of the excess water off frames/cills first before using a cloth. Puts to good use knackered old rubber too and help keep the cill cloths dryer too.

 

[Dave B]

I do sometimes if my rubber starts getting past it. Have a couple squeegees in boab but microfibre is usually good enough..just wring out