[Lee Burbidge]

Visit the Window Cleaning magazine section in Clean It Up here http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=208833.new#new to watch how a real customer called me saying that she had three previous window cleaners that left unsatisfactory windows, spotting etc.
Most window cleaners might say, complaining customer ( never happy) I will avoid this one ....  Me? I said I would investigate...oh and by the way, can I film it?

Watch how I try and work out what went wrong with the previous 3 window cleaners.... and the steps I took to work out the problem.

[dazmond]

yep ive had the same lee(loads of times over the last 7 years!)usually its the last window cleaners not cleaning the frames properly or not adjusting their technique for dodgy top rubber seals.sometimes its guys with backpacks skimping on water and not rinsing enough too.

[Dry Clean]

The woman's a messer you can spot them a mile off, 3 shiners all not cleaning the frames and three months since the last
actual clean, if true the frames would have been thick with dirt cobwebs and all sorts of crud from the busy road nearby.

[M & C Window Cleaning]

I had a similar situation a few years back.  A woman approached me and said she was on the verge of going back to a trad cleaner because the company that had been cleaning her windows for the last six months had not cleaned her windows once successfully, leaving spots and dribble marks everywhere.  This company is still active in my area and has a nice website and at least one very nice sign written van that up to three guys work from.

I explained a number of reasons why it may have been happening and offered to do them and accept no payment if she wasn't happy.  When I went back, guess what?  Not a mark anywhere.  And I cleaned them like they were any other regular clean of mine.  I gained three more customers through her. 

My feeling was that the previous window cleaners were either running with a low flow so they weren't able to get a good rinse, or their water wasn't pure.  It was more likely the former as I think the marks would have been more difficult to remove had the water still been contaminated from the tap.

Funnily enough I prefer hydrophobic glass.  I've never had a problem with it as long as I use a high flow.

[nathankaye]

This is why I explain to these types of customers not to blame the equipment but the men/women who use them.
You will still get customers who moan at trad workers for leaving streaks or not cleaning sills etc yet they never blame the trad tools but the cleaner using them!
Same principle as a good wfp cleaner knows about cleaning frames, what to do with vents, drip time and good water quality.
"A good workman never blames his tools" quote. As the saying goes

[8weekly]

I find it hard to believe that three wfp firms in a row failed to clean the frames. Messer.

[Soupy]

Even if you take it on face value, 3 in a row didn't do a good job. Really it's only 2 because the 1st one had a first clean and spots on the first clean are almost forgivable, it happens. That's why we tell our customers to LET US KNOW otherwise we don't know what's happening and you end up with Lee Burbidge at your door.

The house is next to the M1. I've had houses too near B roads that have needed a couple of cracks at the first clean. Some poor sod probably spent ages doing the first clean on that house.

[Dry Clean]

Anybody in this game who thinks they don't leave the odd run and a few spots now and again is delusional. its one of the negatives of the wfp method.
That said with a bit of care you should achieve a more than an acceptable clean in which 999 out of 1000 customers sorry I mean accounts will be more than happy with.
The woman above is either a hard to get money from or an OCD type who will inspect every window looking for the slightest flaw in the clean, either way best avoided.

[8weekly]

Anybody in this game who thinks they don't leave the odd run and a few spots now and again is delusional. its one of the negatives of the wfp method.
That said with a bit of care you should achieve a more than an acceptable clean in which 999 out of 1000 customers sorry I mean accounts will be more than happy with.
The woman above is either a hard to get money from or an OCD type who will inspect every window looking for the slightest flaw in the clean, either way best avoided.

I think that's about the size of it. No one will ever do a good enough job. At one time if I got an enquiry where someone said they don't like wfp I'd try to "turn" them. Now I just say "no problem " and hang up. It never works out - ever!

[M & C Window Cleaning]

Got to say, I have quite a few on my books who at one time said no to wfp for various reasons, who are now fine with it.  But like as had been said, you can often tell from a telephone conversation if someone is going to be a messer

[tony day]

Visit the Window Cleaning magazine section in Clean It Up here http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=208833.new#new to watch how a real customer called me saying that she had three previous window cleaners that left unsatisfactory windows, spotting etc.
Most window cleaners might say, complaining customer ( never happy) I will avoid this one ....  Me? I said I would investigate...oh and by the way, can I film it?

Watch how I try and work out what went wrong with the previous 3 window cleaners.... and the steps I took to work out the problem.

It's because the other windys were using the Constructor Brush! I do remember Lee giving the Constructor Brush a good review. But funny enough every video he does it's not to be seen! Odd that!!

[Marc Stock]

I found the best way to troubleshoot spotting windows is:

1) Lick your thumb/finger and wipe the frame. If a chalky white deposit is left on your finger, no amount of cleaning will ever solve this as the UV light has destroyed the UPVC composition and it will always powder up and chalk... clean the following way:

ON A LOW FLOW RATE ! Clean all the frames first. Start from the top  and work your way around the house only doing the top windows, just the frames only forget the glass for now. Once you have finished cleaning all the frames on the tops, go right back to where you started and do the bottoms the same way.

NEXT.....ON A LOW FLOW RATE, just clean the glass only, do not touch the frames, do not get the bristles on the frames, do not 'rinse' the window with gushes of water as you will wash chalky deposits back on the glass. JUST DO THE GLASS, slowly and on a low flow rate, continue all the way round the house as before doing tops first then go back to the beginning and do the bottoms.

This way you will end up with perfect results on bad windows..

Oh and make sure your water is...000 tds not 001 or 005 or 015!!!!!!!

ZERO ZERO ZERO is your HERO



 

 

[8weekly]

I found the best way to troubleshoot spotting windows is:

1) Lick your thumb/finger and wipe the frame. If a chalky white deposit is left on your finger, no amount of cleaning will ever solve this as the UV light has destroyed the UPVC composition and it will always powder up and chalk... clean the following way:

ON A LOW FLOW RATE ! Clean all the frames first. Start from the top  and work your way around the house only doing the top windows, just the frames only forget the glass for now. Once you have finished cleaning all the frames on the tops, go right back to where you started and do the bottoms the same way.

NEXT.....ON A LOW FLOW RATE, just clean the glass only, do not touch the frames, do not get the bristles on the frames, do not 'rinse' the window with gushes of water as you will wash chalky deposits back on the glass. JUST DO THE GLASS, slowly and on a low flow rate, continue all the way round the house as before doing tops first then go back to the beginning and do the bottoms.

This way you will end up with perfect results on bad windows..

Oh and make sure your water is...000 tds not 001 or 005 or 015!!!!!!!

ZERO ZERO ZERO is your HERO

Do you charge more for those as they will take twice as long.

[dazmond]

on oxidised frames i usually just clean as normal with a high flow but either miss the top frame(using a cloth on ground floor)  or clean as normal then go back to first window and carefully clean and rinse the glass only.

[dazmond]

also i find its just the odd window here and there that have oxidised frames.usually just on one side of a property.NEVER THE WHOLE HOUSE!

[Marc Stock]

I found the best way to troubleshoot spotting windows is:

1) Lick your thumb/finger and wipe the frame. If a chalky white deposit is left on your finger, no amount of cleaning will ever solve this as the UV light has destroyed the UPVC composition and it will always powder up and chalk... clean the following way:

ON A LOW FLOW RATE ! Clean all the frames first. Start from the top  and work your way around the house only doing the top windows, just the frames only forget the glass for now. Once you have finished cleaning all the frames on the tops, go right back to where you started and do the bottoms the same way.

NEXT.....ON A LOW FLOW RATE, just clean the glass only, do not touch the frames, do not get the bristles on the frames, do not 'rinse' the window with gushes of water as you will wash chalky deposits back on the glass. JUST DO THE GLASS, slowly and on a low flow rate, continue all the way round the house as before doing tops first then go back to the beginning and do the bottoms.

This way you will end up with perfect results on bad windows..

Oh and make sure your water is...000 tds not 001 or 005 or 015!!!!!!!

ZERO ZERO ZERO is your HERO

Do you charge more for those as they will take twice as long.

Yes I do charge more.

[Dry Clean]

also i find its just the odd window here and there that have oxidised frames.usually just on one side of a property.NEVER THE WHOLE HOUSE!

Somebody will have been at them with a Brillo pad or similar, its very rare for a UPVC window to oxidise, maybe some of the early ones may have manufacturing problems but more modern ones are guaranteed  for 25 years so you can expect a lot longer without problems.
The biggest problem with very old upvc frames is the seals no longer keep the water from getting into the frames which can then  leak out onto the glass for hours after the clean leaving runs everywhere.

[Dry Clean]

I found the best way to troubleshoot spotting windows is:

1) Lick your thumb/finger and wipe the frame. If a chalky white deposit is left on your finger, no amount of cleaning will ever solve this as the UV light has destroyed the UPVC composition and it will always powder up and chalk... clean the following way:

ON A LOW FLOW RATE ! Clean all the frames first. Start from the top  and work your way around the house only doing the top windows, just the frames only forget the glass for now. Once you have finished cleaning all the frames on the tops, go right back to where you started and do the bottoms the same way.

NEXT.....ON A LOW FLOW RATE, just clean the glass only, do not touch the frames, do not get the bristles on the frames, do not 'rinse' the window with gushes of water as you will wash chalky deposits back on the glass. JUST DO THE GLASS, slowly and on a low flow rate, continue all the way round the house as before doing tops first then go back to the beginning and do the bottoms.

This way you will end up with perfect results on bad windows..

Oh and make sure your water is...000 tds not 001 or 005 or 015!!!!!!!

ZERO ZERO ZERO is your HERO

Are you saying anybody who works with water above 000 isn't leaving the glass clean ?