Changing over from trad to wfp advice

Today I started converting a big round from trad to wfp and I have to be honest I almost gave up on the first house ??, I followed the advice on many of these forums to start on the frames and top seal, giving them a very good and thorough scrub and rinse, after going round all the frames I then came back to the first window and did the glass but I kept getting streaks and spots which was from either the seals or frames.....it got to the point where I was standing in the garden of the first house thinking shall I just get the ladders off and do it trad ?? but I persisted and I’ve heard the more work you put it on the first clean the easier it is in the future. The advice I’m looking for is at what point do you decide to instead of doing all the frames of a house, then back to the glass do you approach the house and do the frame then glass of the same window in the 1 go and are confident that it will dry fine. Thanks for taking the time to read this and any advice or helpful tips will be much appreciated.

p.s I’m not talking about the new pvc windows as I’m very confident with them it’s the older ones with black rubber seals etc

Personally I'd  have used a mild degreaser on first clean and then gone round with pure. It will also depend how much soapy suds you've stuffed under the seals over the years of trad. 

It will get better!

Not so sure about the advice to scrub the top seal thoroughly, if you have cleaned them properly trad then they should be reasonably good and just need normal cleaning. The more water you push behind that top seal the more trouble you will get, especially as it may have years of soap residue hiding behind it. My advice would be to try to limit the water on the top seals.

Martyn said:

It will get better!

Not so sure about the advice to scrub the top seal thoroughly, if you have cleaned them properly trad then they should be reasonably good and just need normal cleaning. The more water you push behind that top seal the more trouble you will get, especially as it may have years of soap residue hiding behind it. My advice would be to try to limit the water on the top seals.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply, I thought the only way to flush out the seals was through rinsing and once clean any water that drips from seal will be pure.

I know exactly how you feel I was the same 17 years ago , it took me two weeks with the pole to do a weeks trad work , the first month was a nightmare I thought I had made a huge mistake , but by the 3 rd visit a weeks work trad was taking me three days with the pole , start at the top of the frame clean all the vents thoroughly , rinse the top frame , then do the glass and side frames , practice and experience will tell you when it’s going to be ok , now Ime 99% confident that any first clean will be spot free , there always will be a problematic window hear and there , the more you do the more your confidence will grow , I didn’t use any detergent when swapping over but a solution of virisol might help with first cleans ti speed up Siam removal m but it can be a two edged sword as virosol will need to be thoroughly rinsed off or it will cause spotting .stick with it short term pain for long term gain is very true . 

We purchased a trad round and converted it to wfp straight away. The previous cleaners only cleaned the glass. The frames were filthy from years of dirt buildup and sea salt.

I could only clean 6 houses a day. For me the process was; first house all top windows, frames and glass and then the bottoms. Move onto the next house and repeat. Move onto the third house and repeat. Then go back to the first house and repeat the whole clean again but concentrating on the glass. Then repeat with 2nd and 3rd house. Go back to the first house and address any streaks glass only. Then start the second batch of 3.

It would be quicker nowadays with much superior wfp equipment.

It took ages to complete the first cleans on that estate. The negatives from our new customers very quickly turned positive.

Once that first clean drama was over the second clean was as normal. We did a thorough visual when the glass had dried before calling the job good. That was 16 years ago. We still have that round although a young couple are working half of it for us now.

When I introduced that young couple to the round some of the older ones insisted that they use the pole and not a squeegee. Funnily enough, they were the ones who were the most skeptical to begin with. We were the second cleaners to start wfp in our area and back then, wfp was a new concept to many. Most were suspicious of it.

Back in those days you went it alone. Much of what we did was trial and error. The other wfp cleaner wasn't fully committed to wfp because of negativity. He had been cleaning windows trad since he was 16. I helped him convert a large portion of his round to wfp and we bounced off each other in those early days.

All I can say @Steven culley is to stick with it. You will question your sanity and whether you should have just changed sections of your round bit at a time rather than all at once. You are starting at the right time. The windows do dry off quicker in summer than in the dead of winter which is a great help.

I'm coming in with the same advice as @Pjj and @spruce and say stick with it! I also transferred my round over from trad and like you that first month was an absolute nightmare essentially 'prepping' each window for WFP, whilst also trying to deal with existing customers during the switchover and learning the technique etc. It's very stressful but trust me, stick with it and it'll pay off when you're getting through your work in nearly half the time and making more money. 

Maybe explain to your fussy customers to be patient with you for a few cleans while you flush out all the years of suds. Or explain you'll go back and check/redo the bad windows if needed.

Good luck mate.