NOTHING SHORT OF DISASTER..!!!

To anyone who can help..today I've cleaned for 3 houses, by the time I'd done two, I'd wish I never...my Windowcleaning looked shocking..white mucky messes. My water is 000 and comes out the jets as 000. I believe it's how I'm cleaning. I start with the frames and do the glass second but now I'm just destroyed in confidence..can anyone suggest anything. I've got a new round but won't have if this carries on x

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I'd just go back and redo them mate.were they first cleans??

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Don’t mean to sound idiotic, but did you rinse them well after the clean? This is a crucial part of the process. 

Did the water run-off like milk?? This can occur on first cleans where the pvc frames have become weathered. I had this on my Folks house when I started out with WFP. 

Its is always good to give first cleans a deep clean with Ubik (see eBay/Amazon) Just spray some on the end of your brush for the top ones, and direct to the frames on the bottoms. This will clean them up proper, ready cleaned for your next visit. 

All the the best of luck mate. 

M&J WINDOW CLEANING said:

To anyone who can help..today I've cleaned for 3 houses, by the time I'd done two, I'd wish I never...my Windowcleaning looked shocking..white mucky messes. My water is 000 and comes out the jets as 000. I believe it's how I'm cleaning. I start with the frames and do the glass second but now I'm just destroyed in confidence..can anyone suggest anything. I've got a new round but won't have if this carries on x

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Stick with it I remember it  well going from trad to pole and after a couple of days thought ide made a huge mistake . Practice 

ractice and learn you will get through it , start with the frame at the top first give it a really good scrub remove all dirt spiders webs etc when you think it’s clean give it a couple more passes with the pole then do the rest of the frame rinse the top of the frame then go over the glass good scrub rinse well then go over just the glass again and rinse just the glass , move on to the next window and do the same then go and look at the previous window if it has run marks etc then just clean the glass again and rinse just the glass be accurate with your rinsing I find pencil jets much better and accurate than fans , some windows are more problematic than others you will learn that as you go along , don’t get discouraged we have all experienced the same thing , hope it goes better next week 

Sorry to hear that mate, if you’re scrubbing & rinsing thoroughly then it’s probably not you. I have a set of French doors on a bungalow I’ve probably cleaned 10 times now, the top frames leave a faint white streak about 2 inches wide from the top to about half way down the glass. The customer pointed it out ages ago, So now I generally don’t touch that top frame, but when I have to I thoroughly dry it with a sill cloth. 

Lesson for me:

Not every single window & door will come out perfect with Wfp.

But it sounds strange you had this or something similar on two houses!? Keep practicing, technique first, speed next year. 

Sounds like the PVC frames haven't been cleaned in years and are breaking down. On these jobs you literally have to spend ages scrubbing and then rinsing. You were extra hyper the other night and totally down tonight. I promise you this is part of the ups and downs of starting up a new business, be it window-cleaning or breeding pink orangutans. 

Were the windows on the permanently sunny side of the houses?

Usually it is where the frames have not been touched for ages and have oxidised (worse on frames in the sun all day) and need a real good scrub for the first clean to remove it

If I have that problem I scrub the frame and glass as one usually with a touch of chemical on the brush and then rinse the whole unit as one then do the next few windows then go back and clean glass only with a good rinse 

Clearview Lee said:

Don’t mean to sound idiotic, but did you rinse them well after the clean? This is a crucial part of the process. 
 
Did the water run-off like milk?? This can occur on first cleans where the pvc frames have become weathered. I had this on my Folks house when I started out with WFP. 
 
Its is always good to give first cleans a deep clean with Ubik (see eBay/Amazon) Just spray some on the end of your brush for the top ones, and direct to the frames on the bottoms. This will clean them up proper, ready cleaned for your next visit. 
 
All the the best of luck mate. 

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Thanking you so much...I'll try anything to stay in business from the start...

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Pjj said:

 
 
Stick with it I remember it  well going from trad to pole and after a couple of days thought ide made a huge mistake . Practice 
ractice and learn you will get through it , start with the frame at the top first give it a really good scrub remove all dirt spiders webs etc when you think it’s clean give it a couple more passes with the pole then do the rest of the frame rinse the top of the frame then go over the glass good scrub rinse well then go over just the glass again and rinse just the glass , move on to the next window and do the same then go and look at the previous window if it has run marks etc then just clean the glass again and rinse just the glass be accurate with your rinsing I find pencil jets much better and accurate than fans , some windows are more problematic than others you will learn that as you go along , don’t get discouraged we have all experienced the same thing , hope it goes better next week 
 

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Thanks so much.. great advice and I'm really appreciating it..huge thanks

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RWCleaning said:

Sorry to hear that mate, if you’re scrubbing & rinsing thoroughly then it’s probably not you. I have a set of French doors on a bungalow I’ve probably cleaned 10 times now, the top frames leave a faint white streak about 2 inches wide from the top to about half way down the glass. The customer pointed it out ages ago, So now I generally don’t touch that top frame, but when I have to I thoroughly dry it with a sill cloth. 
 
Lesson for me:
Not every single window & door will come out perfect with Wfp.
 
But it sounds strange you had this or something similar on two houses!? Keep practicing, technique first, speed next year. 

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Huge appreciate...like I've said to others I'll try anything to stay in business...I'll clean for free if the customer isn't happy...I get paid when I'm happy.. cheers for your support

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Part Timer said:

Sounds like the PVC frames haven't been cleaned in years and are breaking down. On these jobs you literally have to spend ages scrubbing and then rinsing. You were extra hyper the other night and totally down tonight. I promise you this is part of the ups and downs of starting up a new business, be it window-cleaning or breeding pink orangutans. 

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You've summed me up totally...today was horrendous...I was borderline tears as I'm maticulous to detail...and I let people down.. embarrassed, a learning curve yes, but I'll practice practice practice..I'm just going to learn hard..

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We have all been there in the early days, It's simply learning about the problem windows and how best to deal with them that's all the vast majority of windows will be trouble free once a thorough first clean has been carried out. 

M&J WINDOW CLEANING said:

You've summed me up totally...today was horrendous...I was borderline tears as I'm maticulous to detail...and I let people down.. embarrassed, a learning curve yes, but I'll practice practice practice..I'm just going to learn hard..
 

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Sometimes you don't need to know what you're talking about, you just need to sound like you do. If you word it to the customer professionally then you will have very little come back.

It seems to me you have spent a lot of time speaking to us and taking our advice and not enough time practicing and watching training videos. There are a lot of resources on Youtube to help you. I mean this with the greatest of respect but you have been asking questions about tax and what you should keep in your van but failed to ask any questions about technique. You have wrongly assumed the actual job is easy... I reckon lesson learned, give yourself a slap and get back on it.

Here are some links to YouTube Channels that may help. Sometimes you need to be able to see the job visually done to understand, then get out and practice. I have included Trad man in the list but his most recent videos are just him sat in a van chatting ? to some random or reviews of products, look at his older videos if you find him helpful.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSQ9VL4EeZOBX3vgEQe5pIA

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCct7HPBHuBkzW-rk2wRHfgQ

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYgIUkKO4SqaayMM4sU-ovg

https://www.youtube.com/user/alexWCR

P4dstar said:

Sometimes you don't need to know what you're talking about, you just need to sound like you do. If you word it to the customer professionally then you will have very little come back.
 
It seems to me you have spent a lot of time speaking to us and taking our advice and not enough time practicing and watching training videos. There are a lot of resources on Youtube to help you. I mean this with the greatest of respect but you have been asking questions about tax and what you should keep in your van but failed to ask any questions about technique. You have wrongly assumed the actual job is easy... I reckon lesson learned, give yourself a slap and get back on it.
 
Here are some links to YouTube Channels that may help. Sometimes you need to be able to see the job visually done to understand, then get out and practice. I have included Trad man in the list but his most recent videos are just him sat in a van chatting [emoji90] to some random or reviews of products, look at his older videos if you find him helpful.
 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSQ9VL4EeZOBX3vgEQe5pIA
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCct7HPBHuBkzW-rk2wRHfgQ
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYgIUkKO4SqaayMM4sU-ovg
https://www.youtube.com/user/alexWCR
 

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I'm respectful of your comments and response entirely. For me I've not had the chance to experience a difficult situation. What I've found from this site tho is true and honest advice and so that's why I've found it easy to just ask the questions. Starting out has hundreds of questions and in this business, learning, watching and doing all come with experience. People on here have been so helpful and yes I fully agree with you that this has come as a slap. I've s weekend off now to digest and study some facts about it all. Respectful of your honesty. Many thanks

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M&J WINDOW CLEANING said:

I'm respectful of your comments and response entirely. For me I've not had the chance to experience a difficult situation. What I've found from this site tho is true and honest advice and so that's why I've found it easy to just ask the questions. Starting out has hundreds of questions and in this business, learning, watching and doing all come with experience. People on here have been so helpful and yes I fully agree with you that this has come as a slap. I've s weekend off now to digest and study some facts about it all. Respectful of your honesty. Many thanks
 

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If it's any help I can tell you what I did. I went and cleaned friends and family for free. I sat and had a coffee with them until they dried and checked them myself. Over time you develop your own technique and in fairness the youtube videos will have a lot of conflicting information.

I have 2 different brushes. I clean the frames first with a flocked brush that has fan jets on. Keep scrubbing till all the milky stuff has gone. Get any big bird strikes from the glass with this brush. Then I move to a normal brush with pencil jets. Clean the glass. Upstairs I kink the hose and wipe excess water from above each pane, downstairs I wipe with a microfibre cloth above each pane before cleaning. This is to attempt to stop the drip down from the dirty frame above. It sounds like a long process but once I got into the swing of things it only adds a few seconds per window.

Some of the guys who have been trading longer may not bother with this but I developed the technique from starting out. I had a lot of first cleans, I have a lot less nowadays but with less than 2 years in business I have a lot more first cleans than some.

Whatever technique you decide to demo get out there this weekend if you can. Keep trying it. I'm sure some friends and family would love to let you practice. You may even find you get some walk ups and pick up new customers. Whatever you do, don't do them straight away. Book them in for next week. Gives the impression you are a little busier than you are and will give you a chance to practice.

M&J WINDOW CLEANING said:

You've summed me up totally...today was horrendous...I was borderline tears as I'm maticulous to detail...and I let people down.. embarrassed, a learning curve yes, but I'll practice practice practice..I'm just going to learn hard..

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It just shows you care about your job, all you have to do from now on is spend a little more time doing first cleans. Keep an eye out for the milky frames, spend even longer on those, and at the end explain to the customer that first cleans can sometimes not come up brilliantly and if they're not happy you'll pop back and do them again. 

I seem to recall on one of your early posts you were asking if using 25 litres on a house was good and I replied forget about how much water you use just make sure you do them properly. 

M&J WINDOW CLEANING said:

I'm respectful of your comments and response entirely. For me I've not had the chance to experience a difficult situation. What I've found from this site tho is true and honest advice and so that's why I've found it easy to just ask the questions. Starting out has hundreds of questions and in this business, learning, watching and doing all come with experience. People on here have been so helpful and yes I fully agree with you that this has come as a slap. I've s weekend off now to digest and study some facts about it all. Respectful of your honesty. Many thanks

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Another idea would be to get some trad equipment and use that method as your final finish on first cleans. It will take a little longer but at least you know your leaving the property with a good finish whilst learning your wfp skills. You don’t want to end up losing custys and giving yourself a bad name before you’ve even started.


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Dave Shaw said:

Another idea would be to get some trad equipment and use that method as your final finish on first cleans. It will take a little longer but at least you know your leaving the property with a good finish whilst learning your wfp skills. You don’t want to end up losing custys and giving yourself a bad name before you’ve even started.


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A lot start trad to see if they like it, that’s more around cost of set up than skills though surely. I got myself trained in both but I ain’t picked up a squeegee other than to turn my pump on and off in months. Do you not think trad skills are more difficult to master Dave?


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P4dstar said:

A lot start trad to see if they like it, that’s more around cost of set up than skills though surely. I got myself trained in both but I ain’t picked up a squeegee other than to turn my pump on and off in months. Do you not think trad skills are more difficult to master Dave?


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I wouldn’t say more difficult as both methods need a certain level of skill in different ways. The only thing with trad is that you have to be competent on a ladder but it’s certainly a good asset to have in your arsenal. I like to use a combination of both on first cleans to ensure a perfect finish as first impressions are everything and I find that explaining to a new customer that their windows might not up to standard for the first couple of cleans especially if you charge a premium first clean rate is a little unprofessional. It’s not the customers fault if some are too stubborn to take advantage of everything at their disposal and certainly shouldn’t be charging premium first clean rates if you can’t guarantee that when you leave they are spot on. That’s just me and each to their own as there are lads that point blank refuse to trad. I grew up tradding so it’s no biggee to me and quite enjoy the physical break from constantly doing the same thing. Like I said first impressions are everything and if your starting from scratch then even more so.
P.s why the hell do you use a squeegee to turn your pump on?


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I’ll also add that I’ve found on first cleans that by using both methods it saves a lot of time and energy than by just using one or the other alone. I treat every job being different and will initially work out which method to use that will produce the best results the quickest whilst still being thorough and efficient.


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Makes sense...[emoji3] really appreciate your feedback

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M&J WINDOW CLEANING said:

Makes sense...

really appreciate your feedback

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Where abouts are you? Might be an idea to go out with one of the more experience guys on here?

If your anywhere near the Kent/London border, I’m happy to help ?

Hey thanks sincerely...I'm further up North in hard water area.. Lincolnshire. It's a great idea and I've asked two lads I know already.. I'm dealing with this matter better today and I've already draught a letter to all of my new customers explaining they will be treat as a first clean and I'll treat the house in that way with a few pennies extra. Thanks kindly for your time tho

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