How to clean frames on a house, trad not wfp

[Kevjones79]

May of been asked before but I cant find any answers.
I am a trad window cleaner, started up my own round targeted bungalows and doing pretty well, but a lot of new potential clients (houses) really want me to do their property's, how do I clean the upvc frames with my trad pole?? I get that the usual work top to bottom, but some frames are just filthy and I just can't get them pearly white. Any advice would be beneficial right now. Thanks for looking.

 

[ched999uk]

Same way as you do with the bungalow frames. Just make sure you are OK with ladders and have it at correct angle, on a surface that it wont slip and don't over reach.

 

[Kevjones79]

Same way as you do with the bungalow frames. Just make sure you are OK with ladders and have it at correct angle, on a surface that it wont slip and don't over reach.

I dont do ladders. That's why I'm asking bud. Sorry I should of made it a bit more clearer.

 

[Pjj]

I dont do ladders. That's why I'm asking bud. Sorry I should of made it a bit more clearer.

Have you thought about changing over to WFP as this will give you a wider revenue stream , with cleaning things like gutters , facias , soffits , cladding etc , and will be a fair bit quicker and give you better results on the frames at height than using a trad applicator .

 

[ched999uk]

I dont do ladders. That's why I'm asking bud. Sorry I should of made it a bit more clearer.

I see. Maybe wrap a damp microfibre cloth round your trad pole. DA Components sell a tool that is called a handy sleeve here: Handy Sleeve - 6 inch/15 cms that I think goes on a trad pole and then you can wrap a cloth round it and scrub away.
He did a video explaining:

 

[AllGleam]

Id have thought that restoration if trying to get pearly white especially if they haven't been maintained regular by custy it will have discoloration fading. i don't do much trad but assume it will be harder to do without reaching it with ladder would be difficult with wfp to get colour white again so it'll be good old elbow grease, upvc cleaner and ladder if needed for (houses) but if you won't use ladder just have to clean them as best as possible on ground with trad unless sticking to bungalows

 

[Pjj]

Id have thought that restoration if trying to get pearly white especially if they haven't been maintained regular by custy it will have discoloration fading. i don't do much trad but assume it will be harder to do without reaching it with ladder would be difficult with wfp to get colour white again so it'll be good old elbow grease, upvc cleaner and ladder if needed for (houses) but if you won't use ladder just have to clean them as best as possible on ground with trad unless sticking to bungalows

If you use a weak bleach mix and give it a good scrub with wfp this will quite often bring the frames up whiter not always but we do this now on all UPVC cleans and it does make a marked difference, most customers comment about it .

 

[AllGleam]

If you use a weak bleach mix and give it a good scrub with wfp this will quite often bring the frames up whiter not always but we do this now on all UPVC cleans and it does make a marked difference, most customers comment about it .

Ahh nice idea, do you dip the brush in soultion and or a little squirt from mixed solution in bottle. you use a Brush seperate from usually cleaning brush

 

[Pjj]

Ahh nice idea, do you dip the brush in soultion and or a little squirt from mixed solution in bottle. you use a Brush seperate from usually cleaning brush

We spray the mix onto the windows but you could dip the brush into a bucket and apply it that way . We just use the same brush as we use for the windows

 

[AllGleam]

We spray the mix onto the windows but you could dip the brush into a bucket and apply it that way . We just use the same brush as we use for the windows

Interesting to see different perspective not expensive and outcome achievable ?

 

[DeLaCruz]

You can do it super simple with just a bottle of thick supermarket bleach, a pole with a brush and a hose pipe - don’t even need to have any water running out the brush head directly - first wet up the gfs your gonna work in with with the hose, then wet up the bristles on the pole brush + squeeze a line of bleach into the brush hairs - get it onto the upvc and work up a foam with the brush - if it’s a bit dry then another blast with the hose - works a treat especially on lower gutters, obviously the higher the gutter the more difficult using the hose and reloading the brush (prefer a backpack setup for higher jobs )

 

[mike007]

May of been asked before but I cant find any answers.
I am a trad window cleaner, started up my own round targeted bungalows and doing pretty well, but a lot of new potential clients (houses) really want me to do their property's, how do I clean the upvc frames with my trad pole?? I get that the usual work top to bottom, but some frames are just filthy and I just can't get them pearly white. Any advice would be beneficial right now. Thanks for looking.

If you are Trad, then you will have to use a ladder to do a decent job on the frames on the first occasion. There after you could wipe the frames if necessary with a pole and cloth. You mentioned you do not do ladders.....so do not do those frames, simple....or has been mentioned wfp

 

[AllGleam]

You can do it super simple with just a bottle of thick supermarket bleach, a pole with a brush and a hose pipe - don’t even need to have any water running out the brush head directly - first wet up the gfs your gonna work in with with the hose, then wet up the bristles on the pole brush + squeeze a line of bleach into the brush hairs - get it onto the upvc and work up a foam with the brush - if it’s a bit dry then another blast with the hose - works a treat especially on lower gutters, obviously the higher the gutter the more difficult using the hose and reloading the brush (prefer a backpack setup for higher jobs )

?

 

[Deleted member 11935]

Will bleach not discolour them ?

 

[Pjj]

Will bleach not discolour them ?

Provide it’s diluted and not left on to long it is ok , but strong mixes can turn white plastics yellow but once washed off it will return to white within a couple of hours

 

[Deleted member 11935]

Provide it’s diluted and not left on to long it is ok , but strong mixes can turn white plastics yellow but once washed off it will return to white within a couple of hours

Cheers I was just worried about staining the frames as read it was not advisable to do, but a weak mix and quick rinse should be ok ?

 

[Pjj]

Cheers I was just worried about staining the frames as read it was not advisable to do, but a weak mix and quick rinse should be ok ?

Yes if using normal 10-15% strength hypo put 1 ltr of hypo in 5-8 ltr of water apply leave for a couple of muinits then scrub and rinse

 

[Telavon]

I use a smaller applicator just for scrubbing those mucky pvc frames.
Like the idea of a weak bleach solution, will give that a try. ?
Cheers, Terry

 

[Yogi1872]

I wouldn't be touching the frames, if you start off doing that then that's what they will expect everytime. I switch between water fed pole and trad, my runs probably 50/50 split. When doing trad the frames aren't touched, the sills are left with the soap on them too. Unless they say they want it wiped away, which is hardly any. Youl be adding on an awful lot of time wiping the frames down.

 

[Yogi1872]

Just noticed your planning on putting the squeegee on a pole for top windows. They will be an absolute mess lol youl get streaks from the hoppers coning down it.

 

[Ocahan01]

I dont do ladders. That's why I'm asking bud. Sorry I should have made it a bit more clearer.

I’m very sceptical that a decent job can be done on upstairs windows with a trad pole. I was trad for over 20 years before I went wfp and never once used a trad pole.
Even with a decent blade there’s no way you’re not leaving some lines or soap. That’s the whole point of a window cleaner carrying cloths. On most occasions the cloth is needed to detail a window to leave the perfect job.

As the others have said if you don’t want to use ladders then surely the only route to go down is using the wfp. Even a backpack setup to get started if as you say you target mainly bungalows. All the best with growing your round in the future.