[lee_dewing]

New customer done 6x now-monthly job.

But last clean sent a text 72 hours later saying water marks everywhere.

Went back this morning couldn’t really see anything
One window did have spotting very faint.

I re did back of the house
Rinsed and rinsed
Told leave the front we’ve re done them ourselves.

By late afternoon customer was saying she could see water marks again but not as bad
So here’s the info

1930s style 4 bed semi detached house
White upvc square leaded.
Windows are 13 years old.
No vents
My water is 015 ppm higher than some like but never had issues
I’ve been Wfp 20 years now

Customer said that husband use to clean the windows off ladders 3x a year

Oh yes on this job i use a backpack 🎒
As I have to walk through the house for access
But I have 2 days work where I use the backpack only no problems / complaints
I use fan jets

That’s all the info I think of
Any ideas
Don’t want to say customers are mad
But I don’t know what is going wrong

[Simon Trapani]

Firstly I’d sort my water quality if it was 15ppm.

Secondly I’d bin off crap jobs like that. Especially when they start complaining. They’re lucky they’ve even got a window cleaner.

[Spruce]

Firstly I’d sort my water quality if it was 15ppm.

Secondly I’d bin off crap jobs like that. Especially when they start complaining. They’re lucky they’ve even got a window cleaner.

I can see faint spotting on our lounge windows on the inside in the early morning sun using water of 5ppm. At 10ppm I may as well use the garden hose.

[M & C Window Cleaning]

Could they have used a garden hose to water plants etc, and splashed it up the windows. This is common in my area in spring and summer. I get customers who also let their kids loose with a hose in the hot weather too. I even had one customer with a neighbour who used to regularly wash his patio doors down with a garden hose due to his dogs making such a mess. He would spray it over the fence in the process onto my customers windows and I'd get called back for leaving the splash marks. Took me a while to figure out what was going on with this one.

Our tap water is very hard and leaves marks on glass that is hard to remove with just pure water. The more they do it the worse it gets. I've had to pre wash some with a limescale remover to get it off and then rinse with pure afterwards.

[alank]

If its only one job out of the hundreds that you do i would not worry about it. i would clean the next time with the water at zero and if this does not sort the problem blame the old lead oxidation on the windows dump it and move on to the next job on your list

[AuRavelling79]

Leaded windows.
15ppm. (Is that going into or out of the backpack?)
Fanjets.
Early morning/late evening sun.

Could be a combination of any or all of these.


But if you have gone back and can hardly see anything except on one window then maybe the customer doesn't fit your profile?

[dazmond]

015 is ridiculous Lee.....it should be 000-005. You ve no idea how much of that is calcium,etc

I reckon the problem will be either leaded windows or the customer watering nearby hanging  baskets.

Also she sounds like a fussy customer. Most people wouldn't notice faint spotting....

Personally I wouldn't of took the job on as I won't go through houses to access the rear windows

[Scottish Cleaning Service]

I did a clean yesterday and there was run off between the hopper windows. House had been empty after a burst pipe inside. Glad I saw it because I just went and did it again with spray and cloth. Its a south facing window and I see this alot due to dust build up and running down the glass.
As in your case it all points to your tds of 15. I wouldn't be happy with 5 never mind 15. So that's your first course of action to resolve. Good luck.

[lee_dewing]

Thanks for all your opinions guys
Much appreciated

I’m not bothered about dumping
They really do fit the fuss pot mentality
OCD house when walk through
It’s good to be tidy and neat
But only so much time 🕰️ should be allocated to aspects of your life


Takeaway is get water 💦 back on track
But honestly i just don’t get pulled up on
My workmanship

Either I’m perfect 🤩🤣
Or customers don’t go up to windows with magnifying glass 🔍🤣


Thanks 🙏🏻 all
Smudger would have been on this post
And reprimanded me too on water 💦
🥲🙏🏻

[NBwcs]

"Told leave the front we’ve re done them ourselves.."

Mmmmm, bit odd, what customer would go to the bother of calling back the window cleaner to redo the windows, then do half of them themselves, especially leaded windows... that would fit in with the theory that kids with water pistols had been playing  in the back garden.

[AuRavelling79]

"Told leave the front we’ve re done them ourselves.."

Mmmmm, bit odd, what customer would go to the bother of calling back the window cleaner to redo the windows, then do half of them themselves, especially leaded windows... that would fit in with the theory that kids with water pistols had been playing  in the back garden.

Good point.

[tlwcs]

Firstly I’d sort my water quality if it was 15ppm.

Secondly I’d bin off crap jobs like that. Especially when they start complaining. They’re lucky they’ve even got a window cleaner.

Completely agree with this

[Stoots]

15ppm 

I panic if mine gets to 1 or 2ppm

Ive had spotting issues at 3 or 4 tds

I use 0 tds because i can work faster and rinse less and if i get any spotting issues i know its not my water. Dont get me wrong in winter i might let it creep to  2 when its more overcast and raining but thats about my limit...Especially in summer you need to be as close to zero as poss.

15 is just insane, if i saw 15 in my tank id dump the lot or take the day off i wouldnt even attempt to get away with that.

[AuRavelling79]

I work between 5 and 10 all day and every day.

15 isn't 'insane' but it's not leaving any wriggle room if other factors come into play.

[Rob.Hall]

Fan jets???
In hot weather these have left spotting on some of my jobs.
I have now gone back to pencil jets with a higher flow rate.

[Tam1872]

If its only one job out of the hundreds that you do i would not worry about it. i would clean the next time with the water at zero and if this does not sort the problem blame the old lead oxidation on the windows dump it and move on to the next job on your list

I wouldn't take that attitude with a complaint, the vast majority of people don't complain, even if there not happy. They just accept it because they don't want the confrontation of complaining. 

It might only be one complaint, that doesn't mean it's only 1 house it's happening at.