Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Steven White on February 28, 2014, 06:54:39 pm
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I got a job in a nightclub (£25 once a week) to clean a VIP lounge’s windows that is above a dance floor and mixing desk. It’s about 8 plate glass windows about 7ft high by 5ft wide. The initial clean was on a ladder which is really tricky with only a small lip above the windows to rest the ladder, all the obstacles at ground level and trying to blade through the rungs. The walls are black and lighting soft flourecent. Blade the lounge side in about 10 mins – perfect. Bought a dragonfly internal WFP for £600 (the job will pay for it in 6 months. Looks great. But now turn on the spot lights and dance lights, disaster. The dragonflyed side is smeared to buggery. I try to put on a minimum of water so the microfyber cloth (which is to big for the plate) is dampish and not wet. I’ve experimented putting more water on and less, but it’s still the same. I have to do the downright dangerous blade on a ladder because they are never any good. It’ looks like someone has put milky water on them. They are atrocious.
What do I do? Was the dragonfly a waste of money or am I doing something wrong?
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I cant help but so far that is the best topic title i have seen lol
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I never understand why people take on jobs like this. I just say sorry, too complicated.
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Gonna go look at all the nightclubs now and steal the job mohahaha
Where do you mainly clean Bedford?
don't know the name
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I try to put on a minimum of water so the microfyber cloth (which is to big for the plate) is dampish and not wet. I’ve experimented putting more water on and less, but it’s still the same.
Aren't you using those pads then? If not, try using the pads. Use a few if necessary so that you are always using quite clean ones. Use minimal water. That's how I've found it anyway.
Also, it's possible that such glass in a club will be the laminated type. That top surface may cause the issue.
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In short. The dragonfly isn't good enough for this kind of work IMHO.
Used at (say) 30ft, the results are ok if you're 30ft away.
In the club environment, heat rising and all, it's never going to be good enough.
What's to stop you tradding on an extension?
As been said, I'd walk away for £25 though, sorry.
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Very hard to get a smear free finish using a Dragonfly the mop needs to by as dry as possible.
Don't mist the whole glass just a few spots here and there.
Then go over it again with a dry mop.
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Replace the pure water with something like brite window cleaner.
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I got a job in a nightclub (£25 once a week) to clean a VIP lounge’s windows that is above a dance floor and mixing desk. It’s about 8 plate glass windows about 7ft high by 5ft wide. The initial clean was on a ladder which is really tricky with only a small lip above the windows to rest the ladder, all the obstacles at ground level and trying to blade through the rungs. The walls are black and lighting soft flourecent. Blade the lounge side in about 10 mins – perfect. Bought a dragonfly internal WFP for £600 (the job will pay for it in 6 months. Looks great. But now turn on the spot lights and dance lights, disaster. The dragonflyed side is smeared to buggery. I try to put on a minimum of water so the microfyber cloth (which is to big for the plate) is dampish and not wet. I’ve experimented putting more water on and less, but it’s still the same. I have to do the downright dangerous blade on a ladder because they are never any good. It’ looks like someone has put milky water on them. They are atrocious.
What do I do? Was the dragonfly a waste of money or am I doing something wrong?
use a karcher
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Are they greasy? Try using some isopropanol in with the pure water. We fit it helps greatly with the cutting through grease/dirt.
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sometimes a ladder is just the best way, if they dont like you using a ladder then they will have to accept the results you are getting. Now i am going to duck behind my desk and wait for the abuse ;D
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Pure water and these pads are not good enough for this job,
Your really looking at least a triple clean for the first time.
I'd use an applicator with strong solution of g101 or vinegar using a pole, then blade off. Finally use dragonfly, but with vinegar solution, and your looking at 2 pads per piece of glass and to be 100% you could finally "wipe over" with a clean damp pad
The next clean May then require just wet pad with vinegar and a "wipe over" with perfectly clean pad ( you'll still need 3 per window )
Personally I think you a way low on price.
Darran
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Oh yes,
Please give this man a prize for simply the best thread title
😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃
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🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
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Oh yes,
Please give this man a prize for simply the best thread title
😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃
🎉🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊🎈🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊🎈🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊🎈🎉
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
;D
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Hi Steven, i have been cleaning windows for over 30 years and there is a simple solution to your problem, yes unfortunately you did spend to much money, all you need for this weekly job are 1 x telescopic mop handle with 30cm aluminum mop frame and two little waffle glass cloths total cost 29 euro. use one little waffle glass cloth damp with water to clean the glass the 30cm aluminum frame is shaped to clean right into corners and edges, then take off the damp cloth and stick on a dry little waffle glass cloth which sticks onto the velcro strips on the aluminum mop frame to polish off for a perfect streak free finish. thats it simple and guaranteed they will want you back every week, also no splashes and no mess with this concept.
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Mr Tadgh O Shae
My Uncle has a farm in Wales and he has problems with a bull. It continuously deficates every where.
Does your product remove repeated bullsh*t?
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So many people swear by this concept, but its a fact you can talk about a product all you want and a person might try it but if you demonstrate it they will buy it, i have yet failed to make a sale to any window cleaner that is open and receptive to new ideas after showing them this new simple concept in cleaning glass, but as you know some people are not open and receptive to new ideas.
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Thanks for all your suggestions, I'm going to experiment with them all. I was considering putting something in the water like meths, but I'll check out what you say. Because it's above a dance floor, sometimes there is sweat literally running down the windows. And getting the ladders out over the mixing desk at one side and fixed table at the other every time is just not a option for the job to be viable. Particularly as you can't park anywhere nearby and have to walk with the equipment. Bedford has a rule you can park with your hoses out and they can see you cleaning they won't ticket you. They got a window cleaner in the first place because the kids who clean the club, one fell off the ladder trying to clean them. I think a grease busting addition to the pure water, then drying off with a dry pad is my next port of call. The dry [ad cleaning is very hard as you have to stand a long way out to clear the lip at the bottom as the glass is inset 6-10 inches and the dry clean the pad sticks to the glass and is hard to push up it when dry.
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Have you tried one of those wagtail flipper things on a pole?
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stick with the ladders ,you know you are getting excellent results
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Hi Steven, i see where you are coming from with the height you are cleaning at and the cill at the bottom of the glass, there is still a safe solution though, if you take a 3 x 2mtr alum ext pole to a local metal fabrication shop that have a tube rolling machine and get them to roll the top section of the ext pole to make it like a goose neck section, then you can insert the 30cm aluminum mop frame onto the top of your pole, these 30cm mop frames have velcro strips and will grip the little waffle glass cloth which you can use to clean at your required height, then take off the damp one and put on a dry little waffle glass cloth to polish off for a streak free finish, trust me steven if you are cleaning this glass every all you will need is water with the cloths, little waffle glass cloths are 38x45cm so when one part of the cloth gets soiled just bring down the ext pole and move the cloth up to the next clean section, you can do this three times then turn the damp cloth over and you can do it three more times on that clean side, so its like having six microfiber glass cleaning pads, this would be a very handy tool to have for any interior cleaning especially when you dont want any spills or splashes, i can supply you with this complete cleaning kit from Ireland but with the fabrication and shipping costs im sure you will get it sorted locally much cheaper.
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Well what happened was a window cleaner friend got the job and tried to blade it on an extension and they didn't like it. So he said I know a man who can and it got passed onto me. Because it was not a maintenance clean I trad cleaned both sides and they were well happy with it. But it just isn't viable to ladder clean every time as it take to long, or safe (I went over to WFP finally because of a ladder fall after 4 years traditional), you can't get a clean sweep of the blade through the rungs and you can't quite reach the top with the wide blade from if you rest the ladder on the bottom lip. The job is attractive to me for a few reasons. 1. It's out of hours and inside. 2. I can give up my job cleaning a shop in the evening for 1 1/4 hours six days a week. 3. I can look into the auction house every time I go. (It's in Mill Street, Bedford mate, if you give me your contact details and I can't crack the job I'll pass it on to you without you needing to steal it, can't see how it would be viable for you though having to travel from where you are, pay the parking and then have to walk your gear there). I'm a bit of a jack russel and can't let go, I can't let it beat me. High level interior cleaning is a new one for me, so it's intelligent to ask people who have experience in that area. Yes I use the light grey velco backed clothes (microfibre?) cloths supplied with the dragonfly that are twice as big as the head. And like you say I use that absolute minimum of water and don't let it get wet, just a little damp. I recon the guy is right about it being laminated. g101, vineger, isoproponol or something to add to the water is what I'm going to do next. I recon Ican convert the dragonfly and put my gooseneck on it and the waffle cloth will stick on to the velcro dragonfly head without going to extra expense of another pole. So I'm gonna go for the wet on then mutiple dry waffle clothes. If none of that works I'll try blading on a pole as a last resort because to get over the mixing desk you have to have the full 20ft length of the pole extended and the angle isn't great as you are standing further away from the window as it is from the ground. Yeah and the cost come down to £25 with them wanting every week, they barter hard and all their cleaners are kids paying off their drink tabs.
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The dragonfly takes a bit of getting used to - experiments with your technique.
Try again and it should be better as it takes a couple of cleans to get rid of the soap film on the glass.
I always add a little mentholated spirit (meths) into the pure water - it helps break down any grease.
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You can if you wish get an adaptor for your WFP this allows you to use a longer pole and angled gooseneck to reach over the sill
Do you not Velcro your pads to the rear of the swivel head ?
Darran
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Yes I velcro them on
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LOl, the thread tit;le had me in raptures :D
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Whats a waffle cloth ?
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Hi Ian, little waffle glass cloths are the highest performance microfiber available for cleaning glass, use one damp with water to clean then use a second one dry to polish off for a streak free finish, they are very durable and can be laundered up to 800 times, if you would like more info bang me an email and i will forward it on. Kind regards Tadgh
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This thread title has me in stitches every time I scroll through the topics hahaha! Top marks :D
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Have you tried one of those wagtail flipper things on a pole?
That's what I'd've done. If it couldn't be done this way I wouldn't have done it.
And any job that takes six months to recover the investment of the equipment isn't worth doing. All that time spent doing the job is money lost from other jobs you could've been earning from without spending £600 on the dragonfly thing.
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some jobs are just not worth doing.this is one of them in my book!if it was £250 instead of £25 i might just find a way of doing a good job!! ;D ;D
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Hi Ian, little waffle glass cloths are the highest performance microfiber available for cleaning glass, use one damp with water to clean then use a second one dry to polish off for a streak free finish, they are very durable and can be laundered up to 800 times, if you would like more info bang me an email and i will forward it on. Kind regards Tadgh
Mr O Shea, what the heck are these waffle cloths you keep going on about. I cannot quite get the word 'waffle' and quite what it has to do with the word 'cloths'. To me, 'waffle' is all you do about these cloths.
You keep saying how good they are, how they do such a good job but you never say the most important bit, as anyone can make promises and claims, which is the 'why' and 'how'.
Alex Gardiner has done a series of videos for his products, have you?
I did check out your website but it was 'under maintenance'. It has been for a while.
kesavaross@gmail.com
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I can get a streak free finish with unger microwipes just by using one damp with no drying as long as there is no soap residue.
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Hi Ian, little waffle glass cloths are the highest performance microfiber available for cleaning glass, use one damp with water to clean then use a second one dry to polish off for a streak free finish, they are very durable and can be laundered up to 800 times, if you would like more info bang me an email and i will forward it on. Kind regards Tadgh
Mr O Shea, what the heck are these waffle cloths you keep going on about. I cannot quite get the word 'waffle' and quite what it has to do with the word 'cloths'. To me, 'waffle' is all you do about these cloths.
You keep saying how good they are, how they do such a good job but you never say the most important bit, as anyone can make promises and claims, which is the 'why' and 'how'.
Alex Gardiner has done a series of videos for his products, have you?
I did check out your website but it was 'under maintenance'. It has been for a while.
kesavaross@gmail.com
:) Fair point on the website, its a bit of an internal saga at this stage, there are reasons why we have not launched again yet which I cant go into but it will be soon. The name waffle refers to the waffle like indentations that are present on the cloth.
Waffle Cloths are cloths we had specifically designed for cleaning glass and mirror surfaces. They are made from extremely durable microfiber allowing them to be used repeatedly (up to 800 times) without ever losing their effectiveness. I can honestly say in over 30 years I have never found a cloth as effective in providing the optimum result on any glass or mirror surface.
As I do not have a video at hand if you like I will send you a sample set which you can try out, if you want to receive please just send your address details to info@jskcleaning.ie and I will send on.
If after you receive you want to post up a review of how you find them (positive or negative) please do so.
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Mr O Shea
Email sent and I admire your diplomacy.
I will happily post a review.
Cheers and thanks.
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Hi Ian, little waffle glass cloths are the highest performance microfiber available for cleaning glass, use one damp with water to clean then use a second one dry to polish off for a streak free finish, they are very durable and can be laundered up to 800 times, if you would like more info bang me an email and i will forward it on. Kind regards Tadgh
Mr O Shea, what the heck are these waffle cloths you keep going on about. I cannot quite get the word 'waffle' and quite what it has to do with the word 'cloths'. To me, 'waffle' is all you do about these cloths.
You keep saying how good they are, how they do such a good job but you never say the most important bit, as anyone can make promises and claims, which is the 'why' and 'how'.
Alex Gardiner has done a series of videos for his products, have you?
I did check out your website but it was 'under maintenance'. It has been for a while.
kesavaross@gmail.com
:) Fair point on the website, its a bit of an internal saga at this stage, there are reasons why we have not launched again yet which I cant go into but it will be soon. The name waffle refers to the waffle like indentations that are present on the cloth.
Waffle Cloths are cloths we had specifically designed for cleaning glass and mirror surfaces. They are made from extremely durable microfiber allowing them to be used repeatedly (up to 800 times) without ever losing their effectiveness. I can honestly say in over 30 years I have never found a cloth as effective in providing the optimum result on any glass or mirror surface.
As I do not have a video at hand if you like I will send you a sample set which you can try out, if you want to receive please just send your address details to info@jskcleaning.ie and I will send on.
If after you receive you want to post up a review of how you find them (positive or negative) please do so.
Are they like the fish scale cloths?
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Hi Tadgh,
I clean every 2 months a nursing home,in and out. Inside i have high windows, i use vikan easyshine but can't manage to do them perfectly, when the sun shine i just want to cry lol
Do you recommend your waffle cloths on a vikan easyshine mop frame?
Would love to try them if any good in my case.
Many thanks
Ben
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Are they like the fish scale cloths?
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Hi No they are totally different to the fish scale cloths, they are made from a much different texture of microfiber
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Hi Tadgh,
I clean every 2 months a nursing home,in and out. Inside i have high windows, i use vikan easyshine but can't manage to do them perfectly, when the sun shine i just want to cry lol
Do you recommend your waffle cloths on a vikan easyshine mop frame?
Would love to try them if any good in my case.
Many thanks
Ben
Hi Ben,
I think they would work perfectly , send me your address details to info@jskcleaning.ie and I will send you a sample as well, you can assess how they perform versus your current cloths
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I've received a small pile of different sample cloths and some multi surface spray cleaner from Tadgh.
The last sample a cleaning company sent me was a miniature spray bottle and two 6 inch square cloths and they seriously expected me to come to some type of conclusion about their products. About the only thing I could have cleaned with what they sent was a dolls house.
Tadgh has sent a standard spray bottle full to the top with cleaning stuff and five different types of cloths, two of each, so at least I can give it all a proper and thorough try.
I'm very curious to try out his waffle cloths.
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Trad tools on a pole
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Hi Tadgh,
I clean every 2 months a nursing home,in and out. Inside i have high windows, i use vikan easyshine but can't manage to do them perfectly, when the sun shine i just want to cry lol
Do you recommend your waffle cloths on a vikan easyshine mop frame?
Would love to try them if any good in my case.
Many thanks
Ben
Hi Ben,
I think they would work perfectly , send me your address details to info@jskcleaning.ie and I will send you a sample as well, you can assess how they perform versus your current cloths
e-mail sent,many thanks :)