Clean It Up

UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: ftp on March 07, 2010, 07:55:41 am

Title: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: ftp on March 07, 2010, 07:55:41 am
Had some large inside panes to do yesterday (I know it was Saturday  ::)) and used the wagtail whirlwind. Brilliant bit of kit really impressed. Hardly any mess and very quick and easy. If they sell these to the general public we won't be needed for insides any more.
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: paul rulton on March 07, 2010, 10:57:04 am
ive not tried any of them as of yet  :( but do wanna get 1 ;D ive always hated doin the inside windys ::)
i know its good £ but just never felt rite bein in some1 elses house :( dont know wot all u other guys
charge????? ..... but mine were at least double 4the insides ;D
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: clean on March 07, 2010, 11:41:30 am
Nice one,i`ve had mine over a month now and it`s the best bit of trad kit ever sooooooo quick and like you say not much mess to clean up,
i`ve got a new job to do (car show room) Tuesday i`ll have it done in no time  with the "whirlwind" ;D
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: michael papworth on March 07, 2010, 12:36:36 pm
... and used the wagtail whirlwind. ... If they sell these to the general public we won't be needed for insides any more.

What? Can you imagine Mrs Kennedy from No 43 buying a wagtail, sticking it on a pole and getting clean, streak-free windows?

Bring it on! It might make people realise that we do have a modicum of skill.
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: Window Washers on March 07, 2010, 12:44:45 pm
do you have a link to this product ?
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: michael papworth on March 07, 2010, 01:06:18 pm
http://www.windowcleaningwarehouse.co.uk/shop/vmchk/wagtail/view-all-products.html
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: ftp on March 07, 2010, 01:11:43 pm
http://video.aol.co.uk/video-detail/wagtail-whilwind-window-cleaning-tutorial/3414742751
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: Spruce on March 07, 2010, 04:52:16 pm
I hate doing insides, especially conservatories where the customer has carpets down. I spend such a lot of time putting towels down to stop the carpets getting wet.
I saw once there was a clip showing a wc running his applicator under his squeege to catch the water, but was never able to master that technique with any professionalism. Does the Whirlwind catch the water on the microfibre at all? Fanning was never my strong point.
Thanks
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: paul rulton on March 07, 2010, 05:06:03 pm
keep tryin the chasing tec m8, u will master it ;D n onde u ave u will b smokin ;)
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: steeley on March 07, 2010, 05:23:08 pm
ive not tried any of them as of yet  :( but do wanna get 1 ;D ive always hated doin the inside windys ::)
i know its good £ but just never felt rite bein in some1 elses house :( dont know wot all u other guys
charge????? ..... but mine were at least double 4the insides ;D


I in fact charge less for insides providing customer has moved ornaments and net curtains etc, as you don't have the ladder work/pole work that you have on the outsides at the most i have charged the same as in if the house is £9 then £18 inside and out but 9 times out of 10 i do a deal and say £14-15 for inside and out, hope this helps.
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: michael papworth on March 07, 2010, 05:35:28 pm
I hate doing insides, especially conservatories where the customer has carpets down. I send such a lot of time putting towels down to stop the carpets getting wet.
I saw once there was a clip showing a wc running his applicator under his squeege to catch the water, but was never able to master that technique with any professionalism. Does the Whirlwind catch the water on the microfibre at all? Fanning was never my strong point.
Thanks

Think this might be the one you mean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtQ2PsbrD4M
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: Spruce on March 07, 2010, 06:05:53 pm
Hi Wally

It is similar. The one I saw was the wc was dragging his squeege across the window horizontally and catching the water with his applicator underneath.

I can flan if I put my mind to it but don't get enough practice - the problem is that I came into this game and went WFP virtually straight away as we bought a round that consisted of mainly dormers. The other issue is that at 58 the old wrist is not that flexible anymore and I have trouble bending down to finish the fan at the bottom of low level windows due to my back.
If there is the odd window to blade down after WFPing them I usually blade them horizontally. You can't fan them as there is no fairy to make the blade glide better.

So the long and the short of it is that I hate insides as they take me forever, and even at twice the outside price are not worth it. I do it as a customer service but don't promote it anymore. We have more than enough work just doing outsides.

Saying that, I wish we had a better spread of work sometimes, (not all the eggs in the one proverbial basket) so we would have done more than we did during the freezing weather we have just had.

Spruce.
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: dazmond on March 07, 2010, 10:21:18 pm
i point blank refuse to do insides and gutter clearing now!hate going in peoples houses cleaning(you could always get accused of nicking something!it does happen!!andhas happened to windys on ere! ::))

increasingly ive usually got work to be cracking on with as ive a full round and also extras like soffits/fascia/conny roofs to be cleaning so i dont need this extra hassle!

never used a whirlwind.i use a swivelock squeegy or vise versa on a pole when needed.

regards

dazmond
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: jonnyald on March 07, 2010, 10:25:05 pm
ive hung back from buying a whirlwind as i prefer seeing the yellow colour on the earlier wagtail
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: pure tech on March 08, 2010, 12:55:04 am
Could I ask a question re these Wagtails ?
Are they ok to use on quite dirty windows that havnt been cleaned for a while.
Just wondering how much water the pads hold and if they need constant re wetting?
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: StanA on March 08, 2010, 04:01:59 am
i point blank refuse to do insides and gutter clearing now!hate going in peoples houses cleaning(you could always get accused of nicking something!it does happen!!andhas happened to windys on ere! ::))

increasingly ive usually got work to be cracking on with as ive a full round and also extras like soffits/fascia/conny roofs to be cleaning so i dont need this extra hassle!

never used a whirlwind.i use a swivelock squeegy or vise versa on a pole when needed.

regards

dazmond

I came across a pretty good bit of kit the other day made by Vileda of all companies.  It's called the 4 in 1.  Basically it's the swivlock (both normal angled and zero angled rolled into one) plus a scraper that can also be used at an angle.  Only drawback is that you need to use their own channels.  Hm.  That's 3 in 1.  Not sure what the fourth bit is but it's still decent kit for trad pole work.
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: jonnyald on March 08, 2010, 06:20:39 am
I came across a pretty good bit of kit the other day made by Vileda of all companies.  It's called the 4 in 1.  Basically it's the swivlock (both normal angled and zero angled rolled into one) plus a scraper that can also be used at an angle.  Only drawback is that you need to use their own channels.  Hm.  That's 3 in 1.  Not sure what the fourth bit is but it's still decent kit for trad pole work.
Quote

where did you see/get this stan a ?  how is the scraper?     ive a vileda squeegee only but i bought it without realizing it had its own channels and have never used it because of that
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: StanA on March 08, 2010, 07:55:35 am
I came across a pretty good bit of kit the other day made by Vileda of all companies.  It's called the 4 in 1.  Basically it's the swivlock (both normal angled and zero angled rolled into one) plus a scraper that can also be used at an angle.  Only drawback is that you need to use their own channels.  Hm.  That's 3 in 1.  Not sure what the fourth bit is but it's still decent kit for trad pole work.
Quote

where did you see/get this stan a ?  how is the scraper?     ive a vileda squeegee only but i bought it without realizing it had its own channels and have never used it because of that

I came across them in my local janitorial supply shop (nowhere near Suffolk I'm afraid).  The guy said that they had been laying around and they hadn't had any in for a while.  I can't find any trace of then on Vileda's website either.  Surely such a product hasn't been discontinued.  It was one of the better trad tools that I have come across and I would have bought it ages ago if I had been aware of its existence.  I wonder if this is a case of a very good product suffering from poor marketing?  The scraper blades it takes are the same as the ones in the swivel metal housing that can fit in a squeegee.
NB.  I am going to write to them via their website to see what they have to say.  I will post their reply on this thread if that's OK.  Maybe the increase in WFP has hit them.
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: jonnyald on March 08, 2010, 08:05:13 am
stan-maybe the vileda i bought (secondhand off ebay) is what you are describing- mine is a swivel-loc and also goes 0 degree or 30 degree by pushing an aluminium button. the squeegee is black and red , looks well made.  im thinking that the original owner bought it and then flogged it on after realizing the channels were viledas own, i even thought i could cut grooves into a normal channel with a mini-grinder so it would fit the squeegee but  not worth the effort in practice . 
   
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: StanA on March 08, 2010, 08:14:49 am
stan-maybe the vileda i bought (secondhand off ebay) is what you are describing- mine is a swivel-loc and also goes 0 degree or 30 degree by pushing an aluminium button. the squeegee is black and red , looks well made.  im thinking that the original owner bought it and then flogged it on after realizing the channels were viledas own, i even thought i could cut grooves into a normal channel with a mini-grinder so it would fit the squeegee but  not worth the effort in practice . 
   

Sounds like the same product.  Even using their own channels I reckon it would be worth having.  It would just mean keeping their channels separate and using your current squeegees as normal.  I regard it as a tool to put on the end of a pole when needed.  If it's kept just for that I reckon it would be fine.  I use WFP these days but I reckon it would be a decent indoor tool for tricky angles.
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: StanA on March 08, 2010, 12:05:15 pm
Vileda did get back to me.  I won't paste the response here as it seems that the person who replied misunderstood which product I meant.  I have since lo9cated the product elsewhere on their site at:
http://www.vileda.com/servlet/PB/menu/1003169/index.jsp?action=family&objectId=39girziv5nz1z408z8zomnv
Title: Re: Loving my whirlwind
Post by: dazmond on March 08, 2010, 02:36:56 pm
im happy with the gear ive got!

unger swivelock squeegy/swivelock T MOP

i have them fixed for normal trad work then swivel them when needed on my unger extension pole!

ialso have angle adaptor on pole for deep ledges etc.