Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: d s windowcleaning on April 10, 2009, 11:54:48 pm
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IF it wasnt for wfp would you be cleaning windows now , i spent many years on ladders and went wfp around 5 years ago , i now come across wfp users who dont even touch a squeegee .
WHAT IS THE PERFECT WINDOW CLEANER ?
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I would still be doing it now. But probably stil out of my old car and no big vans with sign writting, earning no where near as much...but then again no where near as much expence
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ofcoursre it is a job for life regardless how you clean the windows
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i still do plenty of inside work plus shop fronts, but wfp has been the best move ever, not even trad can compete imo
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WHAT IS THE PERFECT WINDOW CLEANER ?
Well it is certainly not one who cannot use a squeegee.
As a professional window cleaner,and i mean one who does the job properly not one that looks the part,they should have an allround understanding of various methods of cleaning.
To just use wfp imo not only suggests you cant be bothered to learn differant techniques but also stops your potential earning capabilities.
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Ive got a mate whose been doing this for over 25 years (since he was 18) he has been wfp for 9 years started with ionics, he trads the ground floor of everything as he says wfp is just a tool, hes commercial only, but then theres people local who do shop fronts wfp, this i dont understand pulling the hose 50 mtrs up a busy high street to do shop windows, all shops ive got get done trad, it would be quicker to do some of them wfp but i enjoy doing them trad also safer for public,
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Daniel ... Just because someone does not use a particular method does not make them unproffessional does it now.
And if I were to remove the amount of work from my particular round that requires me to get the ol' squeegee out it would not add up to much more than a couple of hundred pounds per year.
So do you clean buildings upto 80ft, if not why not, this is surely capping your earning potential, do you also use cherry pickers, cranes, rope work? again these must be stopping you earning. If your not using the whole range of methods and access methods you must...must be the unprofessional one that just cannot be bothered to learn different techniques...but to just tar everyone with the same brush just because they do not use a particular technique is not so professional is it?
We are window cleaners not brain surgeons...come on now..
Respectfully Dave.
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Dave,
You are right there.Sorry that did come across as a bit arrogant and that was not my intentions.
What i really should have got across was that if you have the ability to use various techniques in differant situations then you would be able to maximise your earning potential.
Of course not using them is choice and not anything to do with being a professional...
Dan :)
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Morning Daniel...have a great weekend ;D & Hugs
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Probably, but would have started to target bungalows.
And subsequently been bored out of my skull and restless, grouchy, tired, achy bored some more, and even more bored.
I HATE trad ;D
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lol. trad can get very tedious.
And the ladder work!! did a first clean on a 2 storey building last week - trad of course. boy was i glad when i was finished!! it was like it was my first time on a ladder again!! was a little shakey, and was much more tired after!
but as someone mentioned on here before, there is a slight bit more satisfaction doing windows with trad i find. but that soon wears off lol!
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If it wasn't for WFP I wouldn't have started window cleaning! :)
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i do feel WFP has led to a sort of dumbing down (maybe not the best phrase) of the window cleaning trade. Its not very difficult to lift a pole and scrub round a window. I fear some customers might start thinking its too easy and why am i charging them money to do that!
too controversial!?
...runs scared...
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I think WFP would be great for alot of the work I do. However, if people price up cheaper than they would if they were trad, they are defeating the idea of WFP if you see what I mean.
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cozy if some want to price work a little cheaper thats up to them
they do that to get custys on wfp bit like zonal or man marking each to there own. :D
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lol. trad can get very tedious.
And the ladder work!! did a first clean on a 2 storey building last week - trad of course. boy was i glad when i was finished!! it was like it was my first time on a ladder again!! was a little shakey, and was much more tired after!
but as someone mentioned on here before, there is a slight bit more satisfaction doing windows with trad i find. but that soon wears off lol!
My experiences and thoughts also!
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cozy if some want to price work a little cheaper thats up to them
they do that to get custys on wfp bit like zonal or man marking each to there own. :D
Yes mate, but what if someone is twice as fast with WFP and only charges half what a trad cleaner would take, the only person that profits then is the custy.
I'm still going WFP later this year though :)
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I think WFP would be great for alot of the work I do. However, if people price up cheaper than they would if they were trad, they are defeating the idea of WFP if you see what I mean.
I changed 3 1/2 years ago. Why?
Because it was faster. And there's no limit, apart from hotels!, to the work I can take on single handed.
But I have held my prices at the trad level. Because any change you make has to be of benefit to the custie. Else itsxa waste of time, a vanity, a striving after the wind.
So now my custies can have their awkward windows cleaned and cheaper than the trads around here. IMO.
Kevin
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lol. trad can get very tedious.
And the ladder work!! did a first clean on a 2 storey building last week - trad of course. boy was i glad when i was finished!! it was like it was my first time on a ladder again!! was a little shakey, and was much more tired after!
but as someone mentioned on here before, there is a slight bit more satisfaction doing windows with trad i find. but that soon wears off lol!
I do quite enjoy these trad vs wfp threads. They show up how differently we view things. It was probably me who recently mentioned that I get more satisfaction from trad and it doesn't wear off for me :) I also find wfp physically harder than trad, but I would never give up wfp. It's safer and mostly earns me more, but that's not taking into account capital and running costs. For me it is, and will continue to be, a case of cleaning windows the way I see fit. That includes safety, earning capacity, customer satisfaction and personal satisfaction.
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If it wasn't for wfp I wouldn't be spending my time on this forum because I wouldn't have become a windowcleaner in the first place. Using ladders all day isn't my idea of a living.
Funny thing is though, that since starting out completely ladderless I had to buy some and now seem to spend more and more time up them. Certain gutter cleaning jobs need them an difficult access areas. I find them better for conservatory roof cleans where I can get up close and personal with the finials with my pole collapsed instead of wrestling with an extended pole from the ground. How can you empty something as simple as conservatory gutters without a set?
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I would still be cleaning windows off a ladder like i used to and still do on a few jobs.
I'm now unemployable due to the length of time i have been window cleaning as i have no experience in anything else.
So i think i'm in it for life.
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It's my opinion that when the general public get to understand or here about the large amounts of "Waste" water that is produced, during the purifying stage...
God help anyone who try's to use WFP ONLY during a DROUGHT!
I will use any style wfp, trad, hey I'll even use windowlean if they ban the bucket!
(but just to clarify I am not using ladders again, i'll buy one of those wagtail/poles before I do that!)
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I can`t for the life of me see why anyone cleans trad all the time anymore,it`s a tool and i use it often but to use it all the time is crazy.