[Sir Squeaky]

My first day with the pole was a mixed bag.

I found it so hard on my wrists trying to scrub top edges and vents.
There was so much dirt around the vents and they were so near to the glass that I had to do them.

Customers seemed ok with me doing it, but they might not be when they see the results.

I reckon at least 50% were spotty.
The trouble is with this system is it's so bloody inconsistant.
By hand you know you've done a good job.
With this you do them all the same and some are good, some are crap. :

I only managed to get about £50's worth done and the pump packed up (or so I thought).
Turned out I had an airlock, and it just wouldn't pump any water.
I don't want that to keep happening.

To be honest it'll have to get better, because I'm not impressed so far.
All it's doing is proving all my old criticisms correct.

Flaky georgians tomorrow, so I'l look forward to them. :

Ho-hum...

Rog.

[NWH]

Stick with it Rog,look forward to the 3rd cleans mate that`s when your see what all the fuss was about you`ll have to do hardly anything to them to get them clean.Get yourself the lightest pole you can afford ,if you can get a superlite there ideal for first cleans as you can really scrub and rinse a lot more than you can with a heavier pole with a heavy pole it`s not to long before fatigue sets in and your arms will feel like there dropping off.Also try a mono brush it`s a lot easier to direct the brush to exactly where you want it to go.Keep going it does get better,once you`ve got the hang of it it`ll make you cry the way you used to do leads,gergion the list goes on.

[niceandclean]

Yeah its only your first day, stick with it!
With all the dirt that you had on the frames and vents, i take it when you were trad you didnt clean the frames?

[Sir Squeaky]

Nah, never did frames for free.

I've already got a Superlight.
It's excellent.
I'm happy enough with the kit, when it's working!

It's just the spots that are gay.

[Chris Cottrell]

Rog

Please its been said before and you can never stress this enought RINSE RINSE RINSE then some more for good measure
I must have forgotten the bad times cause I never remember it being as bad as 50%, I had 2 complaints in the first 3 mths 1 was cause I did a real poo job which I went back to redoo them and the other blamed me for shoddy work on a door I didnt even clean ( iguess they didnt like the wet left)

As I said before most first cleans I can now do straight off and expect 99% perfection if not better, if the water is 100% theres no reason why not

Chris

[trevor perry]

 squeeky the first few weeks can be really disheartening and like you say the iritation comes when you do exactly the same on the window and some dry good yet others are spotty, when i first went wfp i seriously thought about binning the lot a few times, the worst part is when the customers complain because really there is nothing you can say as they have paid for their windows cleaning and they arent clean.
   you obviously have a good relationship with your customers so just do as i did ,i told them that due to health and safety i have to give this new method a go other people using this system say it takes 3 cleans to remove the debris from frames and rubbers and then the results are good if you can just give me 3 cleans to prove this then if i am not getting good results i will go to the health and safety and argue that i will have to use ladders to get satisfactory results, i found my customers appreciated my position and after the three cleans they did come good.
    Like you i first started in spring which is really a bad time as the sun is out we have long days and every mark shows so i always would recomend people to start wfp in winter the marks dont show the same and people are not as bothered because of the bad weather and dark nights and by the time spring comes the results are good so they have nothing to grumble at.
  stick at it although frustrating it will come good but from now on you will always have the odd day that makes you wonder what is going wrong, from now on 2007 will be called squeekys summer of discontent.

[Sir Squeaky]

I've really hammered home the cleaning of the frames.
This has helped me get away with some iffy results.

To the last few people I said that they should think of it as a good thorough frame clean for the same price as usual, and although the windows should be pretty good, it's all about the frames.
Next month it's back to windows properly.

This seemed to please people, as they were happy for not quite 100% windows if it meant lovely bright plastics.

I'll think I'll go on with that.
Along with telling them about my painful month off and having to use this now! 

[Jeff Brimble]

We are all thinking sympathetically about you. (well I was today)
I dont and never have done frames for free. Controversilly I get by just doing the glass, I dont go within a mile of vents.
Maybe you could fast blade the bottoms afterwards, they may accept the odd spots on the upper floor. Or do the bottoms trad till you and the cust. get the hang of it.

[EasyClean]

Failure cannot live with persistency!!!!! Stick at it Squeeky and be prepared with some good answers for any complaints you may encounter from your customers.

[Paul Coleman]

Nah, never did frames for free.

I've already got a Superlight.
It's excellent.
I'm happy enough with the kit, when it's working!

It's just the spots that are gay.

Stick with it Rog and I promise you it will get better.  I don't care if the spots are gay, straight or transexual.  Most of them won't be there in a couple of cleans time.

[Davew]

I'm on to second cleans now and you can see the spots from the first cleans but no one really complained. I agree with all the posts so far, apart from scrubbing really hard with a Supalight I don't think it will take too much pressure. The most frustrating thing with first cleans is the time it takes to go round twice. I'm now at the stage of experimenting with different brushes and altering my technique here and there.

[Sir Squeaky]

Flaky 3 storey georgians today.

They're really close to a busy street too, so I'm going to get wet I guess.

[ronaldo]

Flaky 3 storey georgians today.

They're really close to a busy street too, so I'm going to get wet I guess.

And a brush full of paint flakes 

[cactus11]

squeaky clean all the frames and windows farely quickly then go back on all the windows as normal, this gives the water from your frames a time to drain.And remember plenty of rinse!!!

[Sunshine Cleaning]

Dont worry. After 3 months or so it gets easier.

[Bobs Window Cleaning]

Squeaky How did you get on with the flaky frames?

I also am new to wfp  and need all the advice I can get.

Im still practising on my own windows at the mo.

Bod

[NWH]

Rinse off the flakes and then rinse off the glass when it`s flake free,try not to scrub to hard if the customers are in the room your doing as it don`t look good when the paint is being rinsed down the glass,they do tend to think your damaging there windows if you scrub these types of window`s to hard.The reason as we all know is because there poorly maintained.

[Bobs Window Cleaning]

Cheers for that. I may try the cheeky approach and say "my your windows need painting"....i wish

Bob

[Sir Squeaky]

I had trouble all day with wetting people's interiors.

Half the windows I did today leaked.
Including one house where 7 out of 8 windows were soaked inside.

I spend ages getting it as good as I can, and leave spots on the inside!

Thing is, with old glass most of it sheeted when I rinsed it, and it just flooded down in one big wave, so I guess they're unlikely to spot.

Back to UPVC and spots again tomorrow.

[Bobs Window Cleaning]

I know its not funny but boy squeeky do i look forward to your posts.

Please keep us informed cos Im looking at you for any problems that i may come across. What did you do with the ones that leaked inside? Did you just apologise or leave it.

Bod