Ettore members Club Forum

was cleaning the windows on monday and as the weather was sunny and warm a lot of my customers have the windows wide open ,only problem was i was cleaning the windows with the wfp and water was going inthe windows,how do you combat this problem especially if we get a sunny and warm summer...

I personally never worry about it fish4fun. After-all, its pure clean water & wont stain ! As long as your not letting loads of it spray inside that is!

My main problem was the water was bouncing off the bottom window ledge and went inside the windows downstairs and over a mobile phone sitting inside the window sill..OOPS!!

OOPs indeedy !

THE PHONE BELONGED TO A CONTACTOR who was fitting carpets in a new housing estate,who opened the window wide and said look what youve done to my phone,i said it was not me it was the water!!!

I have read a couple of comments on here about the wfp system, and from past experiences i know what this system is like. These points just prove to me and a couple of other guys i know that the wfp is not meant for use on domestic houses. Why do window cleaners pay out all this money for a system that many customers do not like? this has never made any sense to me!

The old way is still the BEST way!

Your so unbelievably wrong smartshine! I,like all the others who have invested money in wfp,have done so, cuz its faster, safer & actually does an extremely good job! Im using it over 3 years now & havent lost a single customer, ive gained plenty though! You will find that the people ridiculing the wfp system, are the ones who still use ladders & almost certainly have never even used one! If you wish to continue risking injury or death, when you dont need to, well thats your business! The best of luck mate......

Hi Jd,

risking injury using ladders is a little funny mate as all the window cleaners i know that use ladders have never fallen off and take out the necassary risk assessments to keep them safe. i have picked up so many customers through the wfp system due to them not liking hoses running round making it unsafe for the customers to walk around there home, they do not like that the windows are left wet, they dont like the water running down the walls,and they do not like the results. I have had two guys use the system, and on both occassions after looking at the results on the glass, i have not rated it. bird lime still on upstairs windows, dirt running down from the rubbers running around windows, plastic scratches on the bottoms of glass, and the big one was the water spots that were left. After speaking to one of my guys after a job he claimed that his reading on the water was 99.99% pure yet it still left these water spots. I cannot see the sense of using it on domestic work and i now will not have it used on my domestic work.

The guys are simply not using the system properly or professionally, simple as that! I dont gets spots, runs or streaks & my customers often comment on how good the system actually is. If you guys are still managing to get insurance for using ladders, then you must be paying an absolute fortune! Todays home owners have their brains switched on, and are now actively seeking wfp cleaners, cause they know the high risk injuries and damage to property, that ladders users can cause! The law is on our side, as well as the customers side, and thats a fact! Try getting large domestic or contract window cleaning work these days, using ladders & chances are you'll be given the heave ho ! You say that you have never fallen from a ladder, either have i, when i used them, but thats just good fortune. It takes just one fall & your dead, simple! I get the feeling your trying to convince yourself mate, but your taking a massive risk with your well being! The very best of luck, cause i truly believe you will need all the luck in the world, i really do.

Hi mate

i have a lot of the contracts for industrial cleaning from wimpy homes, barratts etc to go on work sites cleaning show homes and new home cleans and use ladders all the time and never get questioned. The way the site managers see it is its less dangerous than having trailing hoses everywhere for both site staff, builders and public for walking round. As for liability insurance i have up to ten million and it costs me maybe 100 quid or so and thats for use of ladderwork. I just cant rate the system at all, there is only one guy i know that uses a system from ionics and thats the best one i have seen, but still gets spots on glass. Maybe its the different area and the hard water where i am, but i definatley have no plans on changing, and for any window cleaners starting i would definatley advertise for the traditional way, just because there is a massive market for it.

Im dumbfounded smartshine! Everything you have said is the complete opposite that i & any other window cleaner i know have found. The entire industry & its clients, particularly retail & commercial, are absolutely against ladder work! I really am baffled to hear your experiences, its a no brainer. Anyway, Happy window cleaning mate, keep up the hard work.

I am astonished mate how different it is where you are domestic work definatley still thrives for the tradtional method and for commercial and industrial work i have not had any tell me that i have to get this new system, the only difference i have found is a few want risk assessments every time we go there to do a job. I think the quality of water we have here must be different and be a big difference in my remarks to you. I do get a little annoyed when people often tell me that a wfp cleaner has canvassed to them stating that ladders are banned, however my work with the fire service tells me that this is not the case and most probably wont ever come into force. Anyway in my books like alot of many other things in this world is that the old way is still the best way!

Hi their smartshine,jd,intresting debate on wfp and traditional window cleaning methods,i clean my windows with both methods i prefer traditional methods as i cleaned the windows this way for 25 years but now with the health and safety side i use the wfp system for a lot of my houses as more decking ,more paving and more gardens with pebble are making using the ladder more dangerous.
I use the wfp for my own safety and also for the future as im not getting any younger.
I do agree their is advantage and disadvantages with both systems but like it or not the 2 are here 2 stay.

Your quite right fellas, the ladders are here to stay & they have never been banned, nor ever will! As you say, a lot of window cleaners say they are banned, as they have paid a lot of money for their systems! But of course its completely untrue! I tell my customers its a request from government, that a safer method be used if available & wfp is a safer method. Like fish4fun, my main reason for wfp, is the safety aspect! This far out-ways everything else by a mile!!!!

Never a truer word jd,the wfp is being encouraged by the goverment on health and safety grounds thats what i tell my customers if their a safer way to clean windows other than ladders then why not use it.
I have picked up new customers lately as a lot of the public dont want you looking in their windows,ie more privacy and leaving marks on their lawn..

Ditto fish4fun.

Hi All,

I don't think I'll bother tuning into the Election Debates on TV at moment, your's are far more interesting - was engrossed reading the above !!

I see pro's & con's to both system but like Fish4Fun say's, they'll both be here to stay for a very longtime - I think there's a market for both styles of window cleaning.

Hi mark,yes their is definitely a place for the 2 styles of window cleaning,i like to clean all mty top windows with the pole system and clean the bottom windows with the squeege.

I think your doing yourself an injustice fish4fun! Do all your customers houses top & bottom. If you dont show confidence in the wfp system, then how are your customers going to show confidence? By only doing the top level windows, your portraying to yourself and your clients, that you dont rate the wfp way of window cleaning!

hi fish4fun, just out of interest whats your reason for not using the wfp on the downstairs windows?

Hi jd and smartshine,Quite a simple question to answer really,i use the wfp on the top windows so i dont have to use the ladders and my partner who works with me does the bottom windows with the squeege and it works wqell for both of us and the customers are happy also.

fish4fun, surely the water drips from the top windows onto the bottom windows & spoils your co-workers bottom windows?

Jd when i start cleaning top windows i will start 5 minutes before my partner cleans the bottom windows and they have usually stopped dripping by then.