First Clean Methods

BWC said:

Hi everyone. 

I’m wondering what the best method would be to do a first clean. 

My current method is -

I jet rinse the windows, frames, sills with a garden hose to get rid of any dirt, webs etc. I then use UBIK in a spray bottle on the ground floor frames and sills, spraying it onto the brush for the first floor windows. I then rinse that off with the hose pipe and finish them all off with pure water.

For the application and agitation of the UBIK I use a different brush - usually a Gardiner universal sill brush (not on leaded) and keep my regular sill brush for the pure water after. 

This takes quite a bit of time, but the end results are perfect. 

The reason I use the garden hose is pure water is at a premium, I use a Gardiner backpack and carry 25l drums in the 4x4 so I don’t want to waste it. I don’t produce my own, I have to travel to a spotless water site. 

I also change brushes so I don’t get the pure water brush covered in UBIK and leave spots.

Any suggestions or advice on a quicker/better method? 

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Poles Apart said:

I apply Virasol in a Backpack, then rinse down with a Bosch Fontas Pressure sprayer before Pure water the Bosch machine is really good, Gardiner invalidate the warranty on Backpacks if using detergent but that's rubbish the soap Backpack is 7 years old now.

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scottish cleaning service said:

Might be good for pvc cleans.

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Part Timer said:

I just slightly up my flow rate and take a bit longer. On really bad windows I will use warm water. Never used a chemical on just dirty windows.

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BWC said:

I’ve found the UBIK really brings the frames and sills up to another level of clean compared to when I’ve just used water. I got the recommendation from a video @Green Pro Clean Ltd did.

I have thought about when giving a price for a first clean breaking it into levels - 

Full deep first clean which involves the UBIK, sill and frame renovation (using unger rub out) for a higher cost or a standard first clean using only pure water for a lower price. 

That way it puts the option in the customers hands, gives them the choice of service they want and in turn I think it would close more customers. It also shows you the standards a customer is happy with or expects. 

Just trying to think of different way to do things. 

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BWC said:

I’ve found the UBIK really brings the frames and sills up to another level of clean compared to when I’ve just used water. I got the recommendation from a video @Green Pro Clean Ltd did.

I have thought about when giving a price for a first clean breaking it into levels - 

Full deep first clean which involves the UBIK, sill and frame renovation (using unger rub out) for a higher cost or a standard first clean using only pure water for a lower price. 

That way it puts the option in the customers hands, gives them the choice of service they want and in turn I think it would close more customers. It also shows you the standards a customer is happy with or expects. 

Just trying to think of different way to do things. 

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Part Timer said:

I just try and limit the customers expectations, if the sills and frames are in a really bad state then I prefer to tell them I'll get them as clean as I can. If you want them somewhere near restored that's a much bigger more expensive job. Everyone has declined the latter, then they aren't expecting great things and after they've been cleaned well they are surprised on how well they've come up. You're then good at your job in their eyes.

Rather than well if I put this chemical on they might come up better, they're then expecting shiny white plastic, and in my opinion, I'm leaving myself open for an unhappy customer if they don't. Everyone's different and you should do what you think is best for you. What I would say is 99% of this job isn't complicated and I try and keep it that way.

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Poles Apart said:

I only offer a deep clean and charge double my theory being if they haven't forked out for a window clean for ages or ever why would they object I'm a premium service and that has to be payed for. 

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BWC said:

I agree, but I definitely need to speed up my first cleans. I can get a bit OCD with the whole thing which adds time and lowers my hourly rate 

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scottish cleaning service said:

I charge the same price for first cleans but I take two or three times as long. I like to get up on ladder and soap up and scrap away. After that its easy with the wfp knowing I can't get them better. I usually fit in a first clean at the weekend or when I'm quiet. I'm actually quiet this week but today got a few calls to look at roofs and two calls to look at gutters. That's the strange thing about this game, it can turn on a dime.

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wezza13 said:

On initial cleans, I clean the window, frames and sills twice. Sure, you’re using more pure water (which you said you weren’t willing to do) but it’s a lot faster than messing about with UBIK (which I’ve used and still have some in the lock up).

I always charge double for the first clean and, when explained to the customer properly, they’re happy to proceed and can see why I’m charging extra for the first clean.

No need to over complicate things for yourself ??

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BWC said:

Do you mean charging the same price as what you’d quote them for a maintenance clean? In terms of ladders I only carry them telescopic ladders and that’s just to get up to flat roofs etc. Don’t really work off them, some people haven’t got a good work to say about them. The order is like to do things is invest in a good pole - SLX 22 seems to be the most recommended one and then maybe look at a gutter vac 

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scottish cleaning service said:

Everyone should charge double for a first clean but i don't because I'm quite expensive anyway. I like to use my ladders once to see the condition of glass, frames and to see if any units are blown and have streaks in them. I recently had a new customer blaming me for the state of their glass so I went up and checked with my ladders. I told them it was nothing to do with me as the units had failed and someone painted around the glass. I felt sorry for the customer who had tried to paint them and units were 30yrs old. Folk think glass and units will last forever and we all know they don't.

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BWC said:

I agree, but I definitely need to speed up my first cleans. I can get a bit OCD with the whole thing which adds time and lowers my hourly rate 

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BWC said:

I agree, but I definitely need to speed up my first cleans. I can get a bit OCD with the whole thing which adds time and lowers my hourly rate 

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Chris34 said:

Don't worry about your hourly rate with first cleans.  The first clean is your chance to gain the customers trust, once they trust you they will just leave you to it.  I did one earlier, took me just over an hour but the regular clean should take 20 minutes.  Customer was well happy, she couldn't believe how clean they were, she was very house proud and said she is very particular with her cleaning, makes you feel good when you can please somebody like that.  So now she trusts I can do a good job it will mean it's plain sailing from here on, so 30 minutes longer on the first clean can make your life easier for the following cleans.

I use screwfix degreaser and then clean them normally using pure.  I charge double on the first clean (unless they've recently had a wfp window cleaner) and explain to them that I am using degreaser first to try and bring them up as clean as possible, I tell them it will not look like new but I hope to make it look a lot better.  I explain to them that after using the degreaser I will be cleaning the windows with the purified water and this is what leaves the glass crystal clear.

I find it works well to soak up one set of windows with the degreaser and then move onto the next set and do the same, then come back to the first set and work it all in to the frames, seals, corners of the glass and finally sills, then go to the next set and do the same, I also put the controller on 10 when doing this for a short time, it just stops it all drying out but doesn't dilute the solution too much.  Then once I'm happy I've given them both a good scrub I just whack the controller up to 60 and clean as normal using pure.

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