[Luke Johnson]

Who invented wfp?
Where was wfp invented?
When was wfp invented?
How was wfp invented?

[Pat Purcell]

Who invented wfp? Irving Tucker
Where was wfp invented?Illinois
When was wfp invented?About 1947
How was wfp invented?someone stuck a hose up a pipe attached a bog brush and faffed it around for a bit

[Jeff Brimble]

Spot on 

[jouk45]

actaly it was mr longarm,  true :

[Clive McDonald]

I googled it and Peter Foghill came top,
I put in tuckers name and it was all about a celebrated phycologist.

With the greatest respect Pat I don't think this answer is correct.
When was WFP first used on domestic properties?
When did it's use become more wide spread?
Was it used for washing trucks first?
When was the pure water element introduced?

Bear in mind that Bill Gates didn't invent computers.

[Jeff Brimble]

I met a Guy called Tommy Tucker and he told me the family invented an aluminium pole for washing farm silos Ott brought it over here.n Joe was Mr Longarm partners with the Tuckers ?

[Clive McDonald]

Now that I think of it I'm sure I read that reverse osmosis was a system developed in the 1970's for the space race and to desalinate water.
Water fed pole wouldn't have been any good before this, a bit like a computer before the silicon chip.

[jouk45]

here you are jeff, http://www.mrlongarm.com/history.html

[Clive McDonald]

It says R.D. Newman invented the first telescopic aluminuim handle for paint rollers in 1958. Before that they used metal pipe that was too heavy.

The brush came (i'm guessing) from Vikan washing vehicles.

The pure water production was a by product of the space race.


I don't see that there is a clear answer.

[jouk45]

i would  not say tucker invented the wfp, the telescopic pole came first, the brushes and hoses, and everything else are just accessiorys  when you think about it,

[Clive McDonald]

In 1947 plastics was an infant industry. I'm not sure they had plastic bristles by then.

The component parts are not accessories. This system of wfp only works when they all come together.

And then, when was the transition from a gimmick to something that was commercialy viable?

[Pat Purcell]

i would  not say tucker invented the wfp, the telescopic pole came first, the brushes and hoses, and everything else are just accessiorys  when you think about it,

Can argue with you Jo, the only thing I have to go on is that Tucker says he invented it and nobodys called him a liar yet
Although Im pretty sure some guy called UGH used a stick to knock an apple off a tree back in the day

[jouk45]

they would have used horse hair or simular for brushs, things have move a lot since then, wonder what it will be like in 5 years from now, can not wait to see what happens,

[edd]

actually it was hog hair believe it or not and its still used today in the USA !

[Paul Coleman]

Now that I think of it I'm sure I read that reverse osmosis was a system developed in the 1970's for the space race and to desalinate water.
Water fed pole wouldn't have been any good before this, a bit like a computer before the silicon chip.

Well computers were around before the silicon chip but weren't exactly practical for home use.  Instead of loading a new program I think they had to actually re-route wiring.

[Londoner]

The original systems didn't use reverse osmosis they just fed water through a big DI container. They were used on office windows and the like so a few spots didn't matter that much.

[Luke Johnson]

Slightly off topic, but unger are going to be making brushes out of natural hairs, I've seen one, I think it was hog hair

[Clive McDonald]

Shiner lets qualify computers.
Most people mean pc which was only possible after chips were developed.
Most are unusable without an operating system, say windows 98 being one of the earliest?
Most people consider the internet to be integral to the use of a computer, and this wasn't properly usable untill broadband became widely available, what, about three four years ago?
Even the flat screen is a fairly recent development.

Even now computers are only used in affluent countries. A decade ago only geeks had computers and there use was really spreadsheets and word (numbers and writing). I don't think there were any digital camera's etc.

So computers as we know them, were invented about three years ago. Glad to clear that up for you shine.

[Londoner]

So my ten year old Pentium upstairs running on Windows 95 is just an illusion? You are talking about developments not history. The Engma computer was used for code breaking at Milton Keynes during the last war. OK its primitive by modern standard but thats progress for you.

Less than five years ago WFP was used by a few office cleaning companies and that was all. Look at it now.

The first person I ever heard of using it for domestic was Jason Ruggles who used to post on this forum. He inspired a lot of people to follow him down the WFP route and I would pin the medal on his chest as the man who made it popular.

[Clive McDonald]

That's more like it. I knew it would be an English guy.
What happened to him?

[Londoner]

He's still around, he comes on this forum ssometimes but most of the time he is on the other one I believe. He gave a talk at Windex last year which was very good I'm told.

Talking of windex, its at NEC this year I seem to remember. We really need to get something organised this year instead of just talking about it. Does anybody know a date?

[Jeff Brimble]

JUSTIN Ruggles is a mod on clean.ingpros.co.uk (without the . )  continues to set the standards. He was the fir1st non window cleaner to buy a wfp and without any experience has built a thriving business.Some of his earlier classic and informative  posts are saved in the A-Z archives of that other forum by me. He has been using rainwater recently.

[Justin Ruggles]

Thank you for the kind words. Not sure if I was the first person in the UK to start WFP on domestics, but I certainly caused a storm doing so with a lot of people telling me customers would never accept WFP and wet windows. Imagine there surprise when they did and even better when I did them in all weather and charged them a min £10 to do so. Amazing.. Had a few people thank me over the last few years with the min £10. Pricing is very important, your not there to earn the same kind of money when you where working for some one so that £10-£15 per hr might be more than what you was earning in the factory but as business is not very good at all.

I don’t use them car window wiper things  , I don’t thing I know how too. Thou some will say I am not a proper window cleaner. But hay I don’t care.

Yes I did a talk at NEC in 2006 and had a fully packed house with loads of people standing in the arena as a lot of the seats where taken, was a write up in the professional window cleaner magi, I did get paid for the talk (£50) that was donated to the NSPCC.

As for Business well just invested £10k into a brand new van with another system in it (that’s the 2nd van now), business is very good at the moment and this area is totally full of window cleaners, just goes to show do a totally professional job and use the best right equipment for the job and your 90% of the way there. Thou to get there you need to be very hard working, focussed totally committed otherwise you might as well give up now.

As Jeff has pointed out Rain water Harvesting is nothing new, I started a project on the subject in July 2006 just over 1 year ago now, I have many other projects planned for the future with one that I am really looking forward too is my Referral system that will be trailed within the next 2 months (then rolled out across the board) within a area that on paper looks like a real success story. Plus many more in there early stages and some that are distance thoughts all written down on paper, all ready to be developed.

Many Thanks

Justin

[Clive McDonald]

That was much appreciated.

Thankyou Justin'

We are standing on the shoulders of giants so to speak. Please keep me/ this forum informed of any ideas/projects as they progress.



Thankyou again.

[Alex Gardiner]

We are just copying the good ol' Americans again I am afraid.

I started WFP'ing in 2001 but I had friends in the US who had been using it as part of a very large commercial window cleaning firm for at least 10 years before that.

I would say though that the UK market is now leading the world, with our technology being exported back to the US!

[sair]

fraid so i   have to agree

i meet a chap called Colin "who now buys resin from me now", in 1993 he was cleaning windows with a tucker pole and a blue DI system, he bought all back from america , Imported

 the vessel has just been retired due to usage,  i think he used to import the resin then, and bought from the chemical companies,

in my opinion he must have been one of the first in the country to clean domestic properties with pure water, and thats still how he cleans today, uses 4 sacks resin a month not even from a tank

since then thew industry has defiantly evolved.

[KarlJones]

So my ten year old Pentium upstairs running on Windows 95 is just an illusion?

just thought I would nod in agreement and point to one of my first internet posts made in March 1996. On a 14mhz computer (yes 14Mhz not 1.4Ghz) which was pushing a whopping 4MB of RAM and a 60MB (MB not GB) hard drive.

Oh and I used an old 14" potable TV which needed repeated slaps for a monitor.  lol
edit,  i deleted the link because it made the page spread wide.