Work experience

[AGlassAct]

Hi all

Nearly finished my van upgrade and have started cleaning again this week after what seems like a long break - luckily the few customers I have were happy to wait for me to get back on the road which is very reassuring!

My question........... Is there anyone close enough (with in 30 mins commute of burton on Trent) that would be willing to let someone tag along for a few hours to see how it's done? I've watched many a you tube video and researched everything I can but am not afraid to admit I would appreciate some practical instruction - even if it's just to watch, I like to watch!!!

The main thing I am struggling with is speed - my lack of it. I did another dreadful first clean the other day which took 5 hours! Yes I know.......... I don't know what I f@@k about at but I ain't no slouch - maybe it's my OCD.

I'm happy with my set up, my kit etc etc so - hopefully - have enough knowledge to keep me going. I know speed will come with experience but I am a hands on, rather inpatient kind of guy that wants everything now!!!!!!

Anyone?

I have a few days free in a couple of weeks. I currently work a part time split shift between 7-9 and 3-6 so would hope to get 4 hours or so inbetween with someone or - even better - a few people.

I have asked a couple of people locally and they are a little too precious that I am just out to steal customers.

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[Parky]

Are you WFP or Trad?

Have you not got any friends or family in Burton you could go and do for nish?

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

Well I am a whole 4 mins from you but my door is always open to a fellow windy.

(As long as they live more than 10 miles off my patch, otherwise they just get a coffee and directions on the quickest way home!)

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[spruce]

I hope you find someone close by to help you. If no one comes forward then you are always welcome to have a ride up to Saltburn by the Sea one Saturday and I will take you out. (@Green Pro Clean Ltd has offered so that's a positive step forward. He also has an electric hose reel so that will get you 'steamed' up.)

New cleans. When we first started wfp we had just bought a round which consisted of mainly dormer houses. The previous trad cleaners did glass only and the window frames of each house were minging. (One old dear asked us to please clean her frames as she was embarrassed by the state of them.) So I probably managed 5 houses a day as a beginner.

The plan was to wash and scrub and rinse each window the best I could and then go onto the next window. Then go onto the next house and the next. (It was a very compact round). By that time the windows on the first house had thoroughly dried. I then went back to the first house and re-cleaned glass only. Did the same with the second and third house.

I then went back to checked for any streaks and corrected those.

TBH those windows were the worst I had ever encountered in my window cleaning career. As first timers those first cleans probably took an hour and a half each, but they were mint.

These days a new clean will probably take us twice the time a maintenance clean will take.

My suggestion is to ignore YouTube videos. Some are usually done by cleaners who want to show off how good or how fast they are and its difficult to see the showoffs and the genuine ones.

Here's a genuine one. Please watch the whole video.

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Try to aim for cleaning a 3 panel window in a minute with maintenance cleans. In the beginning you need to go back and check your cleans. When you gain confidence that your method is working, aim to reduce that time to say 50 secs and work toward that. Again go back and check that the windows are streak free. When you are comfortable then reduce that time some more.

But don't cut corners.

Son in law was at least 3 times quicker on a house than we (son and I) are. He gave up so we have taken back those customers. He cut corners in our view but the windows were presentable when he was cleaning them. For example, I'm paranoid about cleaning and flushing the gap between the window and the sill. He wasn't. He just wiped the sill with his brush switched off or just wiped the sills with a cloth. I'm afraid flushing the muck out can take twice or 3 times as long as cleaning the window. That's a call you will have to make.

I've been with a number of blue chip companies who instill in their employees that each of us needed to exceed our customers expectations. That is always the way I have run my window cleaning business as I believed in that. I'm proud of the fact that my standards are higher than those of my customer. But that's not always a good thing.

One of the local lad who also frequents this forum once said something rather profound. (We get along well together and help each other out if needed). He said he wasn't looking for customers who expected a 100% clean, the OCD type. You will never be able to do a 100% clean as that's perfect. At best you could achieve a 95% clean. The difference in time between a 90% and 95% clean is a lot. He was looking for customers who would be happy with an 85% clean. Perish the thought; but it makes commercial sense.

He cleans one of our neighbours. I was talking to him a couple of months ago as he was cleaning that bungalow. Each window took less than 15 secs to wash and rinse. I checked back after he had gone and the windows had dried off. They were totally acceptable to me with my standards which are higher than his. The only issue was the remains of a spider web on one of the frames that didn't get rinsed off.

The bungalow also includes a large conservatory. The two of them took less than 5 minutes each (10 minutes) to clean it and I was distracting one of them talking. Its a big 3 bedroomed bungalow.

 

[AGlassAct]

Thanks for all the replies and support. I have seen the gardiner videos and also the reach it guy which were very helpful. Obviously I have learnt a lot from

Wagga and follow window cleaning magazine. I'm not short on knowledge that's for sure but I'm very much a show me and I can do anything kind of guy. I have offered window cleaning as part of handyman stuff I have done on and off for 15 odd years so do trad and wfp. I also do a few houses around me to practice on but they are sick of me and now insist on paying me for the service - which I can't complain about although it is only peanuts!

I have got faster on normal maintenance cleans, especially now I have gardiner kit - you can never stop learning and I am keen to move away from 4 cleans a day so this is a bit more than just a fill in hobby (I've spent a bit too much time and money on it now!)

Where are you pro? I assumed you did a typo saying you are 4 minutes away from me?

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[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

Not the way I drive! LMAO /emoticons/smile.png) J/k

45 mins away. I am in Nottingham.

Just let me know if / when you want to pop up and we'll sort it out.

 

[AGlassAct]

Cheers pro! Really appreciate the offer. I will PM you and we can sort something out.

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

No problem