Softwash Course city & guilds

[Iron Giant]

Its a fake certificate  cannot say any more at the moment , but it’s being dealt with ??? this guys training might be ok ????? I don’t know but will give him the benefit of the doubt , but his certs arnt 

So are you saying that his courses and certs aren't endorsed by C&G assured ???

 

[THL4KEL]

Dont know but the training delivery centre is registered to southern Ireland so if we leave the EU the skill/competence might not be recognised as a UK one.

 

[Incheck]

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Got a horrible feeling part timer is right, the website is still under construction which isn't the best of impressions.

i may as well go on it as no doubt there’s knowledge to be gained. Deposits been paid & i know how these training companies operate i went through hell on earth with one before trying to get money refunded and it was like digging a hole to australia. I’ll take from it what i can learning about the bios etc but it just doesn't sound right, big companies out there using hypo on sizeable projects, plenty of portfolio evidence, a two day course and suddenly it proves worth more than what they know? I dont think so somehow. 

As its being done it cardiff it suits me, i would like to go on purple rhinos course also but if it involves long distance travelling and spending a night in a hotel somewhere its not really convenient for me as i do like to train in the local area. 

What winds me up about this whole softwashing thing is that a lot of people regularly post evidence of jobs they’ve done but dont give any further info, what products were used etc etc. Maybe they just dont want to say their way is the right way or theyre scared to say what theyre using but if you dont want poor standards in an industry then i believe its valuable to share knowledge as we do on all other subjects. Pjj has been so helpful to me over the course of time. I wish there were others the same, but it seems people play their cards close to their chest in the softwashing game. 

 

[Iron Giant]

I found a post on one of his fb pages yesterday saying courses were £200 but not found it again not much point in paying £490 for something that's potentially not legit and been given a hard sell on certain bio products. 

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Just go on the course and don't listen to anyone. All my life I have been surrounded by naysayers who know everything. Its took me 50 odd years to realise that its better not to tell them anything or get involved. After the course you will be able to join the forum for softwashing and you will not discuss it on a open forum. Money always comes to knowledge and always will. :1f609:

 

[Pjj]

So are you saying that his courses and certs aren't endorsed by C&G assured ???

Your statement is correct , I cannot comment more as this is going to be dealt with . 

 

[kevinc250]

Got a horrible feeling part timer is right, the website is still under construction which isn't the best of impressions.

i may as well go on it as no doubt there’s knowledge to be gained. Deposits been paid & i know how these training companies operate i went through hell on earth with one before trying to get money refunded and it was like digging a hole to australia. I’ll take from it what i can learning about the bios etc but it just doesn't sound right, big companies out there using hypo on sizeable projects, plenty of portfolio evidence, a two day course and suddenly it proves worth more than what they know? I dont think so somehow. 

As its being done it cardiff it suits me, i would like to go on purple rhinos course also but if it involves long distance travelling and spending a night in a hotel somewhere its not really convenient for me as i do like to train in the local area. 

What winds me up about this whole softwashing thing is that a lot of people regularly post evidence of jobs they’ve done but dont give any further info, what products were used etc etc. Maybe they just dont want to say their way is the right way or theyre scared to say what theyre using but if you dont want poor standards in an industry then i believe its valuable to share knowledge as we do on all other subjects. Pjj has been so helpful to me over the course of time. I wish there were others the same, but it seems people play their cards close to their chest in the softwashing game. 

I don't think its so much as people holding their cards close to their chests @Incheck but more that this is an open forum where anyone can see and I think like Scottish we/myself included have paid a lot of money to learn that information and gain experience why splurge it out on a forum?. I think anyone who has been on these courses would gladly help via messages etc but sometimes hold back for whatever reasons on a public forum.

go on the course/enjoy yourself and relax, you'll learn a lot about ddac mick is one sided and doesn't like hypo and he'll tell you horror stories about it but take it all with a pinch of salt-literally and you'll be fine, when is the course?.

 

[Incheck]

Yeah i will go on it ? end of the day the guys have got to be paid and also theyre booking the venue sharing their time and knowledge which no doubt i’ll learn from. Im sure they have good intentions. My main concern was the legitimacy of certification if it turns out its not legitimate then obviously id be hesitant to go showing it off as obviously i dont want my business associated with null or void certification. Still stuff to learn though i imagine so i am looking forward to it ?  14th/15th june mate

 

[Pjj]

This is the thing. What we have to bear in mind is that this is their livelihood, anyone with a financial interest is going to want to sway your mind to try and persuade people their way is the right way. Dont get me wrong, i dont want to say anybodies way is the wrong way, as regardless of how long it takes, if it works, it works. 

But i totally agree with you, it must be a hard sell trying to convince a customer that “this will work over a course of weeks or months” they do like instant results. Theres the issue of payment then. Do they pay once the treatment has been applied or when its clean? I can imagine if it still looks dirty they would get the jitters about handing it over.  if they did pay on completion, it would be in the back of my mind to keep that money aside just in case a refund was required and it didnt work over time. So bio products to me dont sound like glory. 

Every course is experience on your belt, and i think having some sort of accreditation in anything is a good thing (for one thing it looks good and shows you actually give a hoot, customers do like to see accreditations) so even if i come away with that from the course, then i feel i would have gained from it.

pjj do you have any experience with algoclear? Seen a few profesionnal companies using that stuff.

i’ll always keep an open mind, the more you know the better.

when you look at this forum, softwashing only really has a two year history, its still a relatively new thing and even though its gathering pace i feel it still has a long way to go. What i will say is 90% of the jobs done by people on here are all hypo jobs, not many people on here are talking about biocides. That says something to me -  contractors want to deliver instant results. 

One thing im really surprised that hasnt been mentioned at all is the potential for customers having rainwater harvesters. I wonder how many people check for them. If youre cleaning a roof or a garage roof and all your solution ends up in them, then the customer is inevitably going to put that on their plants at a later stage! Which could well prove disastrous!

Yes we have used algi clear pro  and I have just been using Kevin Martin from tyling logistics  spray and walk away , both work but it’s not instant results , it takes time and that’s the problem you never know exactly how long it will take or what the finished result will be some times you have to re apply a bit more , with hypo the job is clean and you have instant results that the customer can see , I have done a roof job for a customer and he specified  he wanted bio using , it’s now two weeks since I did the job and it’s looking ok but ime not happy with it , we will continue to monitor it over the fourth coming months , I also did test patches on the roofs either side of it , it’s difficult to see from the ground as it’s in a narrow one way street  but time will tell how it works out , but I can say all ready hypo would have killed it off far quicker , my personal opinion is hypo it first rinse off then apply bio to continue as a preventative  that’s just my personal experience , we have a number of on going jobs at the moment where we are using different products on the same buildings some in shade some in sunlight etc to see what works best , 

 

[Incheck]

Yes we have used algi clear pro  and I have just been using Kevin Martin from tyling logistics  spray and walk away , both work but it’s not instant results , it takes time and that’s the problem you never know exactly how long it will take or what the finished result will be some times you have to re apply a bit more , with hypo the job is clean and you have instant results that the customer can see , I have done a roof job for a customer and he specified  he wanted bio using , it’s now two weeks since I did the job and it’s looking ok but ime not happy with it , we will continue to monitor it over the fourth coming months , I also did test patches on the roofs either side of it , it’s difficult to see from the ground as it’s in a narrow one way street  but time will tell how it works out , but I can say all ready hypo would have killed it off far quicker , my personal opinion is hypo it first rinse off then apply bio to continue as a preventative  that’s just my personal experience , we have a number of on going jobs at the moment where we are using different products on the same buildings some in shade some in sunlight etc to see what works best , 

Yes i understand where you’re coming from. It must be annoying waiting for results. In my mind there is clearly a benefit to providing instant results and not having to worry about repeat journeys to make subsequent applications. Job done get paid go home and nothing looming over anyones head for weeks or months to come. Simplicity is a big thing and if any product struggles to provide that then i imagine it would cost the customer and the contractor more time and money. Cost and expense of materials play a key factor as well, some of these bios cost significantly more than what hypo would cost i dare say. On commercial the difference may not be a problem but when working for residential customers, a service simply has to be affordable to the average Joe. Labour in itself is a big cost so if the material costs are sky high then it wouldn't do any favors towards winning quotes. I hope things go as planned for you regarding the different products and would be interested to know about the algoclear as i’ve been looking in to that ?

 

[Pjj]

Yes i understand where you’re coming from. It must be annoying waiting for results. In my mind there is clearly a benefit to providing instant results and not having to worry about repeat journeys to make subsequent applications. Job done get paid go home and nothing looming over anyones head for weeks or months to come. Simplicity is a big thing and if any product struggles to provide that then i imagine it would cost the customer and the contractor more time and money. Cost and expense of materials play a key factor as well, some of these bios cost significantly more than what hypo would cost i dare say. On commercial the difference may not be a problem but when working for residential customers, a service simply has to be affordable to the average Joe. Labour in itself is a big cost so if the material costs are sky high then it wouldn't do any favors towards winning quotes. I hope things go as planned for you regarding the different products and would be interested to know about the algoclear as i’ve been looking in to that ?

Bio products range in price from £45- 85  for 5  ltrs the amount used varies on what you are doing , dilution rates are from 10-1 to 50-1 we tend to use around  20-25  to 1 mix  for most jobs again beacause it takes time to work it’s difficult to determine what strength is needed , also needs to be kept dry for 5 hours after application which isn’t easy a lot of the time too , hypo is cheap we pay £10-12. For 20-25 ltr of 10-15 % strength but you know when you walk away it’s clean as you can see it , both products have there place no one product is suitable for everything 

 

[Iron Giant]

This is for everyone to take notice of as a moderator of this forum I want everyone to be aware that this course isn't what it seems and I have been informed this course is NOT CITY & GUILDS ASSURED, ENDORSED AT ALL 

 

[Incheck]

Bio products range in price from £45- 85  for 5  ltrs the amount used varies on what you are doing , dilution rates are from 10-1 to 50-1 we tend to use around  20-25  to 1 mix  for most jobs again beacause it takes time to work it’s difficult to determine what strength is needed , also needs to be kept dry for 5 hours after application which isn’t easy a lot of the time too , hypo is cheap we pay £10-12. For 20-25 ltr of 10-15 % strength but you know when you walk away it’s clean as you can see it , both products have there place no one product is suitable for everything 

Aye the more knowledge i can gain over time the better, take it as a marathon not a race i guess. I dont want to do it on a big scale and dont have the capacity to but it would still be nice to do every now & again

 

[scottish cleaning service]

This is for everyone to take notice of as a moderator of this forum I want everyone to be aware that this course isn't what it seems and I have been informed this course is NOT CITY & GUILDS ASSURED, ENDORSED AT ALL 

So if it turns out it is endorsed ? Then Michael Conway will serve you with a writ Iron Giant and you will have to defend what you have wrote on this open forum in court. Then he will sue you for libel because he reads this forum each night. FWIW 

 

[Incheck]

Lets keep calm guys ? the whole reason we are all here is to help and protect one another. Im sure no-one has the wrong intention, this could all turn out to be a great misunderstanding after all. We are all learning constantly ?

none of us are always correct 

 

[Part Timer]

The below is off their Facebook page dated April 16th

The first ever :
“City & Guilds Assured Professional Softwash Technicians”  in the UK. 
A pleasure for both Kevin Gifford and myself to meet this group of eager, friendly and knowledge hungry exterior cleaning contractors. 
www.softwashtrainingsolutions.com
The Busby hotel staff and service was also 10 out of 10 
???

 

[Pjj]

So if it turns out it is endorsed ? Then Michael Conway will serve you with a writ Iron Giant and you will have to defend what you have wrote on this open forum in court. Then he will sue you for libel because he reads this forum each night. FWIW 

If he reads this forum then it would be good for him to give an explanation as to why c& g have never Hurd of him , if he is c&g approved don’t you think it would be emblazoned on his web site ?.. surprise surprise there is no mention of it there , I wonder why ???  

 

[scottish cleaning service]

If he reads this forum then it would be good for him to give an explanation as to why c& g have never Hurd of him , if he is c&g approved don’t you think it would be emblazoned on his web site ?.. surprise surprise there is no mention of it there , I wonder why ???  

Think about this logically for one moment. Michael has 10 folk with this City & Guilds Cert and fairly soon another 10 or 20 after each course. If it is illegal then we can all sue him and get our money back because of fraud and then C&G will sue him. Surely no one is going to be that stupid. We will soon find out if the rest of his courses are quickly cancelled. Anyway, us 10 will win, we will get our money back and 2 days of free training.

 

[Pjj]

The below is off their Facebook page dated April 16th

The first ever :
“City & Guilds Assured Professional Softwash Technicians”  in the UK. 
A pleasure for both Kevin Gifford and myself to meet this group of eager, friendly and knowledge hungry exterior cleaning contractors. 
www.softwashtrainingsolutions.com
The Busby hotel staff and service was also 10 out of 10 
???

Thats very interesting I hadn’t seen that website there is nothing about that on his other one , however if you read what he is saying it still isn’t a c&g course , I cannot comment further at the moment , but all is not what it seams .  

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Thats very interesting I hadn’t seen that website there is nothing about that on his other one , however if you read what he is saying it still isn’t a c&g course , I cannot comment further at the moment , but all is not what it seams .  

The below is off their Facebook page dated April 16th

The first ever :
“City & Guilds Assured Professional Softwash Technicians”  in the UK. 
A pleasure for both Kevin Gifford and myself to meet this group of eager, friendly and knowledge hungry exterior cleaning contractors. 
www.softwashtrainingsolutions.com
The Busby hotel staff and service was also 10 out of 10 
???

Is there a picture of us? Can you see my good side?

 

[Part Timer]

Thats very interesting I hadn’t seen that website there is nothing about that on his other one , however if you read what he is saying it still isn’t a c&g course , I cannot comment further at the moment , but all is not what it seams .  

What I don't understand is he states they were the first ever C&G Assured Softwash Technicians in the UK. Does that mean everyone before yesterday wasn't?