Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: johnny bravo on March 31, 2019, 03:03:51 pm
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the pasy 8 monthsor so ive been starting to get twinges in lower back, and lower sides. it felt it was something else, internal, too much to worry about.
went to docs, lower wear and tear on spine she says, im 55 now and when things like this take a hold its worrying, as you think you are invincible/ waterfed pole most days now. im going to have to stop taking newbies on.
Poles , im using SLX Poles, 27. 22. Would the Lightest Pole really make any difference.
Any one in this situation , did you change SLX to a lighter pole. Did it have any difference apart from your Wallet.
Thanks for replying if any
Still go to gym regular, no lower back workout though. steer away from that
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I have been having back pain for years but the last year has been bad im 51 this year and finally found the problem i have a lower collapsed vertebra need to have a spinal fusion which im not looking forward to 😔
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I’m 37 and hips and knees were getting bad from ladder work since 17 but when I swapped to wfp it’s now my shoulder and back and now have my back done every 8-10 weeks to keep on top of it. I was using a slx 25 every day but decided I needed to do as much as I could to prevent back problems and got the new phantom hi-mod 25 and it definitely made a difference and the slx now feels like a brick compared to the lightness of the lightweight pole so in m6 opinion definitely worth getting the lightest pole possible.
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I am 54, back OK so far. I do yoga 2 or 3 times a week after work (just at home) as preventative measure. Might be worth trying some yoga in addition to your gym work.
Only other exercise I do is play tennis.
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I don’t think you can put a price on your health, so buy the absolute best pole you can.
I use xtreme poles, and would never ever go back to slx. So much easier to work with, the body will thank you later. 100% recommend getting one.
It makes sense to me to use the lightest stiffest pole you can anyway, regardless of back ache etc.
It’s the tool that we Graft with, so unlike a van, you may as well get the best. Get on that gardiners site and order one now 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
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I made the move to an Xtreme 22 and Xtreme brushes two and a half years back. It's made a world of difference to me. I still have an SLX25 which I occasionally use but I can really tell the difference after just a short while using it. They may not feel vastly different in weight but when used extended there is a world of difference due to leverage and rigidity. I can even tell the difference between using the 26cm and 35cm brushes.
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mixed reviews on the phantom, extreme a bit cheaper
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looked on wcw and they charge for extras like bush etc, all adds up
ill have to invest in one or the other
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whats the cheapest site to look at the phantom poles with everything added on ready 4 use
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25 extreme £650
22 £614 all included delivered
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I think back pain is part of window cleaning unfortunately. I get it now and ahain, not bad, but I broke my back in 3 places about 11 years avo. The most recent thing has been neck ache, which jas obviously been brought on by looking up for so long. Im coming up for 52, . I visited an osteopath about 5 times and each time had my neck clicked and upper spine pulled, and its improved 100%.
Been money well spent.
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Hi Johnny, couple of years ago i was getting uncomfortable pain in my shoulder, long story short, had an MRI done,
which showed i had age related wear & tear on the Tendon i think it was, my every day pole was a 25ft SLX, i ordered
an 18ft Extreme straight away, you certainly feel the difference in weight of the pole when working, after a few months my
shoulder pain disappeared and hasn't come back fortunately, the Extreme is my every day pole now, 99% of my work is
2 storey houses, on the odd occasion i might get a 3 story house, then i get the 25ft SLX out, its only occasionally, so i can
live with that, but god it feels so heavy now compared to the Extreme, my advice is definitely buy the lightest pole
you can afford.
All the best
Larry
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the pasy 8 monthsor so ive been starting to get twinges in lower back, and lower sides. it felt it was something else, internal, too much to worry about.
went to docs, lower wear and tear on spine she says, im 55 now and when things like this take a hold its worrying, as you think you are invincible/ waterfed pole most days now. im going to have to stop taking newbies on.
Poles , im using SLX Poles, 27. 22. Would the Lightest Pole really make any difference.
Any one in this situation , did you change SLX to a lighter pole. Did it have any difference apart from your Wallet.
Thanks for replying if any
Still go to gym regular, no lower back workout though. steer away from that
Do you lift your hose reel in and out of the van or is it fixed?
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I got my phantom hi-mod on Black Friday from wcw and think it’s brilliant with no problems at all and like I’ve said before I treat it like my slx so far so good. The phantom is slightly lighter than the extreme but more money. I like the new clamp system and also no glue needed if clamp needs replacing. I still use gardiner brush heads as I use a swivel neck every day and like the ultimate flocked but now use the ultimate DuPont. I tried the extreme brush but couldn’t get on with it so still use the dupont I know it’s heavier but still lighter than the superlite.
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I'm pushing 60 and about 2 years ago felt shoulder and neck pain somewhat. I had used an SLX22 as my everyday pole and I then changed to the top 4 sections of an SLX25 (So 20ft but only 4 sections compared with the SLX22's 5 sections.)
2 years ago I changed to the top four sections of an Xtreme 25 so an "Xtreme 20".
This is much lighter than Xtreme 22 (5 section) and only about 10% heavier than an Xtreme 18 (4 section) while being only 4 sections and 2ft longer it reaches more stuff.
The neck pain and shoulder pain have disappeared and I do more in a day.
However it is not as robust as an SLX so treat it with care when closing windows or through juliette balconies. It will wear quicker too.
In the next post is the history of my Xtreme 20's.
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In March 2017 I bought the top four sections of an Xtreme25 and used it as my everyday pole. In May I tugged it over while it was leaning against a wall and broke the top three inches off the top section. So from that point I suppose it was an Xtreme 19 and three quarters. ;D
In October 2018 I bought new clamps as I wanted to extend it's life over the 2 year norm I hear posted about on here.
In 2018 my Xtreme 47 (older stepped version, about 5 years old) I broke the rather worn top section and so lost about 18" and then in January broke the next section and repaired it with the remains of the top section. As my 47 only comes out about twice a week I lived with it.
Then for various reasons I wanted to spend a bit of money before my tax year end and my Xtreme 20 was getting tired but probably had another six months life in it so I did a typical cheapskate Gold swap around after emailing Alex at Gardiners about options.
Upon his suggestion I took the top three sections of my everyday Xtreme "20" and replaced the top 3 sections on my stepped Xtreme 47. This now has a new lease of life and as the top sections are no longer stepped it is a better pole.
Then I bought 3 new top sections of an Xtreme 25and put them in the base section I already had which clamp was only 6 months old.
So I have a virtually brand new Xtreme "20" (except the bottom section - which has a newish clamp on it) and so failing catastrophe I have another two years plus to hope for with it.
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Compact domestic window cleaning was my problem, if its not being able to get far enough back from the property as not to have to look up and cause neck strain it was constantly having to bend down to free snagged hoses causing back pain.
I now do mostly large stand alone properties, commercial and so on, I rarely get pains now, what's the bet after this statement I pull my back out tomorrow. (http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/1554068181_grin.gif)
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Had shoulder pain since 2010 varying degrees.
Due to a pinched nerve in my neck
Started crap poles...that’s when I had first severe attack, literally in agony came on in an hour.
After diagnosis bought slx , huge difference
Now I use extreme
I have 18 ft for normal houses and a 30 ft for town houses.
I will always use shortest possible for each job, even one Velux I will take both poles out.
Ideal set up extremes, 18,25,35
Obviously each individuals work May or may not warrant this.
Also, standing as far back as you can
With these equations, once you’ve got the best gear, if you still in trouble you need to look at the time pie.
Reduce hours or take a little help from a part timer.
Or raise prices and lose a few PITA jobs.
That’s my take on it,
Mr B
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Had shoulder pain since 2010 varying degrees.
Due to a pinched nerve in my neck
Started crap poles...that’s when I had first severe attack, literally in agony came on in an hour.
After diagnosis bought slx , huge difference
Now I use extreme
I have 18 ft for normal houses and a 30 ft for town houses.
I will always use shortest possible for each job, even one Velux I will take both poles out.
Ideal set up extremes, 18,25,35
Obviously each individuals work May or may not warrant this.
Also, standing as far back as you can
With these equations, once you’ve got the best gear, if you still in trouble you need to look at the time pie.
Reduce hours or take a little help from a part timer.
Or raise prices and lose a few PITA jobs.
That’s my take on it,
Mr B
A little comment on the bit in red - in Brian's case this is understandable - however if the problem is neck pain then a longer (of the lightest type of pole you can get) pole allowing you to stand back might be better so you don't keep forcing your neck up at an angle.
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A must is an extreme pole or similar the second but imo the biggest improvement you’ll see is if you switch to an electric reel,this will improve you’re back and working day 10 fold.
These 2 combined with hot water is the best you can do to help yourself,the hot water and a very light pole will surprise you at how little you have to scrub a window to get it clean.
I found when I was getting lower back and shoulder problems it was purely down to manually reeling in hose upright or bent over.
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Electric pure freedom reel is my next purchase just haven’t got round to ordering one yet
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I had lower back and shoulder ache-pain and it was due to the reeling in as soon as I went electric it went.
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I don't take reel out of van, thankfully, when reeling in I just put left knee on rear van then reel in. no strain at all .
ill be looking at which extreme to get . 22 or 25, my main pole is a SLX25 that's ideal for most houses and 3 story, prob get extreme 25 and take a section or 2 off until needed, or just use my SLX if needed for higher jobs.
deffo ordering 2nite
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I don't take reel out of van, thankfully, when reeling in I just put left knee on rear van then reel in. no strain at all .
ill be looking at which extreme to get . 22 or 25, my main pole is a SLX25 that's ideal for most houses and 3 story, prob get extreme 25 and take a section or 2 off until needed, or just use my SLX if needed for higher jobs.
deffo ordering 2nite
Having back problems myself in the past (herniated lower disk) and having both an electric reel and extreme, personally i would get the electric reel first over an extreme the reel made a lot bigger difference then the pole by far.
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The Pole is the main working tool of our day and we use that a lot more than reeling in the hose each job so my opinion would definitely the pole first especially as you don’t lift the hose in and out each job which makes it easier to reel in and easier on your back than lifting in and out.
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Hit water is useless electric reels are pointless these are all things that are said by people that don’t or have never had them,don’t wait for a bad back get them before you get these problems or they get any worse.
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The pole is the main working tool yes but so is the reel both are used at every job and if you have similar work to me you’ll be reeling quiet a bit out at each job,reeling in will give you back and shoulder problems a heavy pole can give you a bad back if you are using it wrong. But a heavy pole is more likely to give you ulnar nerve problems or golfers- tennis elbow before a bad back.
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I would defiantly agree if you have a bad back upper or lower I would change out the reel first for electric.
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I will be getting an electric hose reel definitely before end of tax year as like everyone says definitely will notice the difference in the working day but I think the pole will still have made the biggest difference to my day but looking forward to the electric hose reel as all about making my day easier especially now I’ve downsized my round and gone back to working on my own with no staff.
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Light pole with the leccy reel can’t emphasise how much easier it’ll make you’re day,it did mine.
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You could also try core strengthening execersise (stronger core less pressure on the back) or a yoga program
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As reeling in and out doesn't bother me a jot I'll just put what I have done to ameliorate any issues.
My reels are cheap Clabers from Gardiners and the rear one sits in a tray and 9 times out of ten doesn't get lifted out unless there has been an awkward parking issue or if I want to have the back doors locked on the first latch for security over the feed hose.
My hose is 60 metres of microbore and about 35 metres of ordinary pole hose. This means I can loop off loads of very light weight hose for the first 40 paces of my jobs.
The hose is as light as can be and is easily wound on to the reel sat in the back of my van. Much much easier than lugging microbore everywhere.
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yep......lightest poles and brushes you can afford,electric reel and hot water if possible....combined they make your working days easier....
also try and cut your days down to 5 or 6 hours per day...i find i work more efficiently working shorter days over the course of a week.....
strength straining in the gym,a bit of cardio and eating a good diet most of the time helps big time too....
also if your using 8mm minibore,STOP NOW!and bin it when youve got some 6mm.....its FAR easier to drag around.....
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Hot water and playing the drums fixed mine.
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Add half a cup of Radox to your hot water too.
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Dodgy elbows and 54 years old.
Put aside my trustee slx 22 and got an Xtreme 22 plus 2 extensions.
I only use the Extreme stiff brush now plus a new Supreme flocked for leaded. Is it a bit heavy but just glides over the lead.
I also have an old (actually brand new) Gardiners Extreme soft brush, which is great for lead too. They need to bring that back IMO.
I also experimented with pole hose on my main reel, to make it lighter to use and reel in.
Did it make a difference...absolutely 100 percent.
Put it on a credit card and go and do it. Get an electric reel too. I shall be making one soon.
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Extreme 18 ordered. this is the main working tool. hope its worh it. let you know difference
thanks 4 replies and added advice, taken on board
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I’m not going to sleep tonight without knowing your going to buy the lighter hose :-)
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never thought id be buying a £500+ pole for cleaning windows lets hope it pays off
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never thought id be buying a £500+ pole for cleaning windows lets hope it pays off
id of bought the 25 ft xtreme instead....its still light as a feather and rigid as hell....
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I would have preferred the 25ft instead too just as it reaches 3 stories but the 18ft will still make a difference to your day
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I have a slx 25 + extension to make a SLX 40 if needed want it as light as poss.