[mark mann]

Hi Guys hope you can help have read many threads about many of you making 30-40 hour by doing 3-4 houses in an hour - i take it they are grouped together
as many of you are able to manage 20 houses a day.

my round is not that compact and but coming together and im baffled by the speed of clean claims on here. for instance a standard lound window with 2 openers above it would take me 3 minutes upto 2 minutes cleaning and upto a minute rinsing multiply this by 8 and add 2 doors upto 2 mins per door) easy access house is 28minutes this does not include set up, pack up, getting paid at the door and time taken to get to job not to mention time taken to feed hose round building the best ive done once turned up is 25minutes for one a bungelow and same time for a 2 bed semi.

time is money and your help will be extremely helpful to me and very much appreciated. im finding hard to see how i cna be any quicker than this my techniques has improved and rythm to cleaning getting good (no i dont use an ipod lol) a 10 window house with 2 doors and easy access you guys seem to be doing in ten minutes i dont mean to offend or insult because i want to speed up but do really get good results being this quick?..........

[dazmond]

i clean 4 small 3 bedders an hour(sometimes 5!)now im wfp.they are very compact and pretty low priced so i need to get a move on!

i spend 10 seconds on some small windows inclu wiping sill!


your probably spending too long rinsing.try halving the time you spend cleaning a regular cleaned window and go back and see if its spotty!sounds like your too anxious that if you spend any less time on the window it wont come up good.i bet you could get it clean in half the time!!


how much water do you use on a long day by the way?


dazmond

[mark mann]

hi dazmond thanks mate

i have a 450 litre van mount and i reckon i get (mixed customers ie first cleans, some mingers, and maintenance cleans) 15 cleans out of it max.

i have turned up my variflow a few notches coz the extra water pumped seems to be compensated by quicker rinsing time.

your right i know am still a bit paranoid about removing everything i see - some times rinses only to see few minute gritty bits that have stuck 1/4 of way dowm from top of window and find my self re-rinsing or chasing them down with brush as sometimes the rinse dont always chase them down.

i have for example one house 19 leaded windows and a small to medium sized conservatory its a big house overall in my view and have to run 70 metres of hose roubd it as acces from one side only despite being detached i charge 20 quid it takes an hour 15 to an hour and half regularly have cleaned it 4 times now (should be in my eyes at least 25 really maybe 30 but id never get that for it)

[mark mann]

dazmond incidentally the 15 cleans arent in one day just what i get out approx at the moment. (i dont have any day that is full on yet i average 4/6 jobs a day 6 days a week)

at this moment intime most cleans are in a comfortable radius of me but not necssarily in same street (have 4 in one street all on different schdules entirely)

i reckon id struggle at this moment in time this time of year to start at 9 and do more than 8-10

[SB Cleaning]

How long you been going Mark??

[Richy L]

a standard lound window with 2 openers above it would take me 3 minutes upto 2 minutes cleaning and upto a minute rinsing

For a window this size on a maintenance clean should take 10 seconds brushing and 4 second rinse. You just need the confidence that it will be ok

[mark mann]

How long you been going Mark??

since about june/july time part time whilst i build my round - im getting george software soon as round is getting more tricky to manage on a paper diary system.

10 seconds to clean a long window is incredibly fast but like the sound of it - think will practice on own home more in terms of speed and see results befpre i commit to field. the added bonus of speeding up whilst working quicker id imagine is less muscle fatigue - often my hands ache from gripping pole, back, shoulders and neck so speeding up will help me in more ways than just financial.

[chopsie]

I have been using too much water and taking too long to clean windows, I have speeded up considerably over the last month or so, But sometimes still struggle, i.e aquaphobic leaded windows(think thats right term)  still take me quite some time and am not convinced even then the results will be ok, Did these houses yesterday(x2) and still took more time than other houses. But after nearly a year I have had no complaints off them so must be ok. The way I look at it is how easy is it to clean with a mop and squeegee, I do not mean the technique, I mean you just quickly soap up window with mop and then squeegee off, Simple. So as regards to regular window cleans I have just started to give them a quick scrub, about 2 passes of brush (one quick one on frosted) and then a reasonably quick rinse off with water on highish flow. Seems to be working ok, But not hitting the 10 seconds a window mark like some claim (unless a small frosted window), But I clean all the frame every time incl top frame so have to allow for time for dripping off top frame.

[Sean Dyer]

How long you been going Mark??

since about june/july time part time whilst i build my round - im getting george software soon as round is getting more tricky to manage on a paper diary system.

10 seconds to clean a long window is incredibly fast but like the sound of it - think will practice on own home more in terms of speed and see results befpre i commit to field. the added bonus of speeding up whilst working quicker id imagine is less muscle fatigue - often my hands ache from gripping pole, back, shoulders and neck so speeding up will help me in more ways than just financial.

once you have done them a few times, and kept the whole unit clean , you will see how fast you can do them , if they are 4 weekly they will almost be clean to start with

make sure your water is ooo
and use a decent flow rate

[Frankybadboy]

dont worry about other cause we well know there are a few billy bullxxits on here.

as long as you are happy then dont worry it come together,everyone round is different.

[prestige cleaners]

easy just charge double. 

[clearlyclean]

If you only been doing it part time for a couple of months you ll be slow but you ll pick up speed as time goes on and know which windows need more time and others that only need a quick wipe and more visits you make you automately work an effecent route to earn the max money out of your round I use to have a day spread out and take me 6 hrs to earn 50 pound now its more compact and earn triple that now.takes time to seed a lawn!

[bobby p]

speed might not be in your makeup. i say that as i know a lad who has been w/f/p a few years and he takes 1.5 hour to clean a 1st floor flat  and it doesnt concern him . he also carries a 15 rung triple ladder on his shoulder , yet again at a slow rate. seems happy enough

[andyM]

I can wfp a 2 bedroom semi-detached house with doors in around 7 or 8 minutes. For this I would charge £8, and I make a profit and the customer is happy with the result.
I could comfortably do 4 or 5 of these close together for £32 to £40 in an hour.
If I were working at the speeds that some have quoted here, those houses would be done in 1 to 2 minutes.
I in all honesty would not and could not have confidence that I had done a good job cleaning a house in that amount of time. And I don't think the customer would be impressed either.

[Skyglide]

If you clean too fast you'll risk losing customers - they begrudge paying what they see as splash and dash.

[John Walker]

If you clean too fast you'll risk losing customers - they begrudge paying what they see as splash and dash.

I agree.  It's a matter of finding a balance between speed and what the customer sees as perceived value.  When I know the customer is in and likely to be watching i work at a steady pace and even go round wiping the ground floor sills with a cloth.  When I know they are not in I can whizz round and still do a good job.

I've had some where I thought they were out but they were in, and had the comment of "that was quick" with the customer giving a few glances at the windows.

[Dave Anderson]

If your able to earn what you want per day in a time that is good for you, then your speed is about right.

Some houses I bet you will speed through and some will seem to take an absolute age..

Dave.

[Clive McDonald]

We all seem to have different ways but in general the higher the flow, the faster you can move the brush.A light brussh such as a supalite increases this speed, as does warm water.Rinse on, or not really rinsing at all but brushing down at the end.

Brisk snd methodical.If you think about it and you were a robot, the lower the flow and the slower he would move, as the flow increased his brush could move across the glass faster and still be effective.

Lifting the reel out and in of the van is good way to waste time.You should arrive, open the van door, grab the hose and pole and be on the glass in about ten seconds.

Being methodical helps, bring your hose back in straight lines rather than loops to avoid tangles.

Your card should be already date stamped for that day and paper clipped to the envelope and stored in a handy grabbing place in your van.

Once you understand that time is money, you get the best kit.

[Richy L]

dont worry about other cause we well know there are a few billy bullxxits on here.

as long as you are happy then dont worry it come together,everyone round is different.

Do you think 15 seconds a window is unrealistic?

Im not saying you can clean 4 windows a minute every minute of the day. But 15 seconds is realistic after a bit of experience, and if you dont mess around to much.

[mikecam]

im baffled by the speed of clean claims on here.

 I personally wouldn't try to measure yourself by anyone elses times. Its all circumstantial, and as you've noticed with first cleans you can spend a long time getting them to a good standard so your re cleans are easy. Whilst my first cleans are quicker now than when i started using WFP, it would of been nothing to spend an hour on a semi to get it right first time. I know this to be true for many others too.
 As some has said here it is possible to clean a pane in seconds, but if the same window sits under a tree and the frame is covered in leaves and cobwebs then it aint gonna be taking seconds.
 Everything will get quicker and you won't even know why, where to park the van, best way round the property, whcih windows to do first will all just come to you. Eventually a days work now will only take you a morning.