Traditional Cleaning Without Ladders

Hi all, Just a quick question for all you experienced traditional window cleaners, is it possible to set a successful window Cleaning round up by cleaning using poles only and not using ladders.  

I don't mean a Clear water system just maybe using a water fed system ( normal water ) to wash second, third floor house windows then squeegee them with a pole attachment. Is it possible and effective or not. ???

TIA. 

Hi Peter

The way your suggesting would be a very long winded way of cleaning windows not very cost effective.

If you water fed pole with normal water on all the frames they could end up with more dirty since tap water in some areas of the country is so hard it can be over 400ppm where as rain water is almost pure.

People would be paying you to put dirt on their window frames yes you could scrub off all the green etc but the frames would not really be clean.

Trading the glass would leave the glass perfectly clean.

If your going buy wfp gear test your water get a correct system and just make pure water if you do not want go use ladders and have a easy life trading bottoms wfp tops. You can trad pole 2nd 3rd story but wfp will clean the frames better traditional pole does not have a solid method really for doing that.

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Not wanting to do anything half arsed that's why I asked the question,

I'm not in a position to get clear water at the moment will have to wait until May then I can purchase the water as making it myself is not an option. 

So the answer is No then !  Thanks for the reply. 

With a bit of training you can do fine traditional pole work with a moerman fli*q or similar.

Using only water is no good as the squeegee won't have proper slip, so you need some soap.

Ok thanks for that,  looks like it takes a fair bit of practice at 2/3 storey heights. 

Where in the country are you based Peter?

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Just outside Birmingham mate how about you ?Im out of work at the moment with no work coming in and nothing off the agencies either, bills don't stop Lol.

I have a car so thought I would get some advice and try to buy the right equipment and get some flyers done and give it a go but don't want to waste what money I have left by getting or doing the wrong things. 

Looked at the pure water system backpack but we live in a flat and it's not feasible to make clear water where we are so maybe go down the traditional route for now but not sure to be honest ???

Peter Morgan said:

Just outside Birmingham mate how about you ?Im out of work at the moment with no work coming in and nothing off the agencies either, bills don't stop Lol.

I have a car so thought I would get some advice and try to buy the right equipment and get some flyers done and give it a go but don't want to waste what money I have left by getting or doing the wrong things. 

Looked at the pure water system backpack but we live in a flat and it's not feasible to make clear water where we are so maybe go down the traditional route for now but not sure to be honest ???

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I started 9 months ago and just leafleted  and canvassed bungalows and single storey commercials. You would be surprised how many bungalows there actually are out there. A lot of older folk can't do their own and are generally good customers. As my round built up I invested in trolley wfp and now take on 2 storey houses as well. Any money you spend on trad gear won't be wasted as you can use it for insides even if you convert to wfp later. I would avoid ladders if I was you, apart from a v ladder. I bought a 6ft one for about 70 quid which actually fitted inside my car along edge of passenger seat!

I have a small van now but started out with my car and an initial spend of about £200.

There is a bloke online who has developed into a specialist bungalow cleaner doing all the plastic and gutters. It will take time to build a round but there is a lot of single storey work out there if you look for it.

Sorry to bang on about this, but you don't need to buy an RO system to get pure water. You can use rainwater. It's not 000 ppm, but it's good enough collected off a fairly clean roof. You can build yourself a trolley system for just over £100. Another £100 will get you a Harris pole and brush plus water fitting and hose. Say another £50 for a rainwater collection system and storage and you're in business. It'll get you started and earning straight away.

Hi Steve + Seymour,  Thank you for the information, very much appreciated will have a look into it. ??

I started 10 years ago just doing bungalows.  Yes it is possible to clean the glass & sill well with liquidator but frames not so much...in fact that's what i was using during the snow to keep going.  Even if you don't go full time you can still have a handy round on the side.

Peter Morgan said:

Not wanting to do anything half arsed that's why I asked the question,

I'm not in a position to get clear water at the moment will have to wait until May then I can purchase the water as making it myself is not an option. 

So the answer is No then !  Thanks for the reply. 

Click to expand...

Moerman exelerator & fliq, ideally 10 inch. Takes practice (go on YouTube and search for trad man, very good explanations and demonstrations of what to do), but we'll worth learning. I started trad, converted to wfp, then decided to learn trad pole. Now I tend to do it if theres only 1 upstairs window as easier then getting the backpack out. Took me a couple months to perfect it, but it's another invaluable skill to learn.

Steve E said:

I started 9 months ago and just leafleted and canvassed bungalows and single storey commercials. You would be surprised how many bungalows there actually are out there. A lot of older folk can't do their own and are generally good customers. As my round built up I invested in trolley wfp and now take on 2 storey houses as well. Any money you spend on trad gear won't be wasted as you can use it for insides even if you convert to wfp later. I would avoid ladders if I was you, apart from a v ladder. I bought a 6ft one for about 70 quid which actually fitted inside my car along edge of passenger seat!

I have a small van now but started out with my car and an initial spend of about £200.

There is a bloke online who has developed into a specialist bungalow cleaner doing all the plastic and gutters. It will take time to build a round but there is a lot of single storey work out there if you look for it.

Click to expand...

I lost my licence and from that I lost my job I'm thinking of just doing bungalows and just bike the work or use public transport and trad them there a lot of bungalows where I live do you think this will be worth doing until I regain my licence ?

James102 said:

I lost my licence and from that I lost my job I'm thinking of just doing bungalows and just bike the work or use public transport and trad them there a lot of bungalows where I live do you think this will be worth doing until I regain my licence ?

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If you can get enough customers yes don’t see why it wouldn’t be doable go for it ?

Clisty1989 said:

Moerman exelerator & fliq, ideally 10 inch. Takes practice (go on YouTube and search for trad man, very good explanations and demonstrations of what to do), but we'll worth learning. I started trad, converted to wfp, then decided to learn trad pole. Now I tend to do it if theres only 1 upstairs window as easier then getting the backpack out. Took me a couple months to perfect it, but it's another invaluable skill to learn.

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Watch polzn bladz on YouTube and Wagga (Christopher dawber)

James102 said:

I lost my licence and from that I lost my job I'm thinking of just doing bungalows and just bike the work or use public transport and trad them there a lot of bungalows where I live do you think this will be worth doing until I regain my licence ?

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The reality is that these bungalows are what every window cleaner wants. So competition for their business will be strong.

I've heard from a number of older window cleaners like me wanting to hold onto their bungalows after retirement for a bit of booze money. Because they are single story, many owners/tenants can clean them themselves with a small kitchen size stepladder. Grandkids also want to clean their grandparent's windows for a little extra pocket money. (We've had that a number of times.)

We have a lot of council owned old age one and two bedroomed bungalows where we live. There is an old man who cleans 90% of them for a pittance. He's a right scruffy fellow. If I canvassed the area, I might get the odd one, but would always be at a pricing disadvantage and not worth the effort. Mother-in-law lives in one of these, and she has never had a window cleaner canvass the area except this cleaner when she first moved in.
We hadn't even moved her in yet when he knocked.
"This is my window cleaning patch and I will clean your windows for £x."
"No, thanks" was my response. (I didn't tell him I was a window cleaner and have always cleaned her windows.)
"Well, you won't find another window cleaner who will do it for less than I charge." He was right about that.

1/2 an hour later, I see him walking across the road to the corner shop and coming back with two cans of lager. He sat on the entrance porch steps of the next door bungalow, rolled up a cigarette and polished the first can of beer off. (I estimated that his visit to the shop cost him the money he got cleaning two bungalows). He then chucked the empty can onto the grass verge. (He walks past numerous residents recycle bins he could have put the empty can in, but no, just litter the place.) The other can was put into his bucket of dirty water.

James102 said:

I lost my licence and from that I lost my job I'm thinking of just doing bungalows and just bike the work or use public transport and trad them there a lot of bungalows where I live do you think this will be worth doing until I regain my licence ?

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I met a bloke who was tradding using a kinda hand cart, he had a ladder and step ladder and bucket on there, it seemed ok for local work anyway.

I have just discovered an easy way to clean internals? I have begun using a window cleaning spray from my PVC stockist. Always did my own house with the spray because all I need is a spray bottle and some clean clothes. Wish I had found this out years ago. Yesterday I did a big PW job and cleaned all pvc and windows and put the wfp away. Had a walk round and seen some marks on patio doors so I got spray out and quickly cleaned them without getting wfp out again. The spray costs less than a fiver and 50 cloths for £35 from screwfix. If you want to quickly clean glass by hand then get the cloths and spray and keep it in your van because the time it saves is astonishingly.

Yes can build a round with bungalows .my round is about 80-90% bungalows

paulben said:

Yes can build a round with bungalows .my round is about 80-90% bungalows

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Oh brilliant any advice on how to go about it

James102 said:

Oh brilliant any advice on how to go about it

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Only canvas bungalows????