[pjulk]

Any window cleaners on here changed back to traditional from WFP.

The reason i ask is i went to my dads house today and his window cleaner is a good freind of mine we used to work together about 18 years ago but do see other from time to time.

Anyway he has been a window cleaner for about 16 years he got into it as we both worked at a dairy he was my manager anyway i was window cleaning after work and he kept asking me questions about it anyway in the end he left and went window cleaning full time.

Last year he changed to WFP and was getting a lot of problems with it and ask me if i could help and show him what he's doing wrong.

Anyway he water was to high but soon sorted that out with new resin and he was giving the windows a quick whip over and not rinsing any way sorted that out.
And as far as i knew he was doing fine.

When i see my dad today he told me he has sold a lot of his round off and sold all his WFP equipment as it was really stressing him out and he was not happy with it himself.
And said he has now gone back to ladders.

I must agree i get stressed out sometime's with WFP and have often thought of going back to ladders.

And i think i was happier on ladders just wondering if anyone else had changed back

[NWH]

It would be weird if in the beginning you didn`t have problems,the key is to stick with it and work through them.You only see the real benefit of WFP once the learning curve has been acheived,this can`t be done in a few months i would say more like a year before you have the confidence to know what your doing from the ground.

[dd]

Been wfp 2 years, previously 16 years trad. Life is more complicated and have more problems with wfp, but I am earning more money and safer.

Have switched a few customers back to trad, but 90% wfp and aim to keep it that way (most bungalows trad).

Worry about potential of pure water to damage wooden frames, esp. sills. It is differnt to rainwater because I notice I get small holes in cotton T-shirts if they get wet with pure water.

[pjulk]

I have also switched a few back to traditional as its easier and quicker for these particular properties but mostly 90% wfp

[TennetClean]

IMO you'd have to be insane to go back to trad after going WFP. (with the possible exception of shops)

If you're not getting good results WFP then you're probably not doing it properly.  You should not have to sacrifice standard of work at all, and you should be much quicker.

[windowwashers]

We are now about 98% wfp, I would not change back to full time ladders I would rather work in mcdonalds

[james44]

I must agree i get stressed out sometime's with WFP and have often thought of going back to ladders.

And i think i was happier on ladders just wondering if anyone else had changed back

Know where you are coming from paul, i feel as though i was not enjoying my work anymore, northing to do with not getting good results, never lost a customer through bad work,

i was getting up in the morning dreading going to work could not get motivated

wfp is quicker on some jobs but not all and you can do more in a day, when i say do more you have done more so earned more?

But you go home and you are not finished for the day you have to sort things for the next day and hope that nothing breaks down,

i used to be in engineering and was on good money but did not enjoy it anymore so you lose interest  so then you find it hard to get motivated to get up in the morning wfp makes me feel like this i did not feel like that on ladders,

there are people on this form who have quit good jobs to go window cleaning, so you know if you are not happy at work it will get you down, me i feel go and do what you know best and enjoy,

since going back to ladders i have took on more work than i have ever had, by customers not happy with wfp Now we know it`s not the wfp but the operator, are they no good or just lost the interest in it

There will always be opinions on wfp but thats not the issue here, i look forward to getting up in the morning now up with the birds, i am happy to be a window cleaner again

and for those who say you must be mad to go back trad think again

[sjm]

James, that was a lovelly honest post mate  , At the end of the day thats what its all about - enjoying your work not wfp versus trad  All the best friend 

[pingu]

Have to admit that I do most of my work wfp and when really thinking about it...I know I could find certain houses or even just certain windows that wouldbe faster with trad...but I continue to do most with wfp...

[cat9921]

I think the key here is to find out what works best  :

I love my Reach & Wash but it does not work on all windows  

There are rounds that I hated doing with a ladder and windows that were leaded that took forever to clean.

trade is faster on some of my round   but wfp seems to be faster on the majority

So what I say is this use the WFP if it does not work then use Trade its as simple as that..  

I am 97% WFP

But have to say if WFP worked on all windows I would not go back to trade. I only trade shops...small bungalows and the odd window that WFP does not work on

Long live Trade  

[macmac]

I use both wfp & trad, to be honest i would hate being 100% wfp, having said that though, i would also hate being 100% trad. I don't find wfp as easy on the body as many make out on here, after a day wfp my arms are knackered! I'm never knackered after a day of trad though I use whichever method suites best. I like a mixture of the two, it works well for me & doesn't restrict me to just cleaning houses that are wfp friendly. Two of my top contracts require trad & ladders to clean inside windows every month, so where would i be if i ditched ladders on these jobs? I still earn the same per hour with both as i charge more for trad, so as long as i can come home with the honey i'll keep on enjoying the best of both worlds.

I think some wfp converts may feel the need to justify the expense & effort put into the change by trying to convince themselves & others with completely over-hyping wfp & that they will never need to climb a ladder ever again


Tony

[Paul Coleman]

I'm very surprised anyone would revert to tradition W/Cing after using WFP for a while.  Admittedly I thought about it at first because I had a lot of teething troubles to iron out, but once I got through that it was pretty plain sailing.  Having said that, I do use trad on a few jobs like shopfronts and some bungalows - and I also do a couple of small houses trad as WFP caused stuff to leech off the frames.  Apart from those jobs though, the only circumstances that might push me back to traditional cleaning would be a drought situation.

[Dave Turley]

I nearly went back to trad 3 times during the first 3 months.

I wasn't earning as much, things kept going wrong, and the hoses wre so infuriating catching  on anything and everything!

i'm so glad I stuck with it though as now i'm 95% hot wfp but do also trad if it is quicker or easier or will do a better job in a certain situation. plus i'm earning a lot more.

things are going fantastically and I LOVE my job...... happy days!   
 

[twt]

Worry about potential of pure water to damage wooden frames, esp. sills. It is differnt to rainwater because I notice I get small holes in cotton T-shirts if they get wet with pure water.

Do you carry you battery into the house to charge it up? i ask this because i had strange holes appearing in my jeans then i realised my battery was leaking, you wont notice it leaking until the holes appear! I get pure water on my clothes all the time and no longer suffer from any holes now i have changed battery.

[Neil271052]

I think some wfp converts may feel the need to justify the expense & effort put into the change by trying to convince themselves & others with completely over-hyping wfp & that they will never need to climb a ladder ever again


Tony

I think that could be true Tony, after all 95% of the posts on this forum now are from queries and problems/trouble shooting with WFP.

Also  of course with the last bit of very cold weather we had people  finding that their WFP stuff had frozen up overnight. 

Before that last summer the chance of drought orders where people were getting in a right state and saying they would go to prison etc rather than go back to trad. LOL

There is obviously a lot more effort expense and maintenance involved with WFP at the end/beginning of each day compared to the trad lad who just parks up or drives off.

It's certainly a trade off and an interesting post from the OP Paul.

[dd]

Charge battery in garage. Only get holes on cotton T-shirts. Higher up than I would carry battery. Don't wear any decent cotton T-shirts for work now, they just get holy.

[twt]

is the battery a sealed lead acid battery as if its not you could still be getting the acid on your t shirts.

[dd]

is the battery a sealed lead acid battery as if its not you could still be getting the acid on your t shirts.

Just an ordinary leisure battery, not aware of any acid leaking from battery but will bear in mind, thanks.

[pjulk]

James 44

are you back to traditional full time or do you still use WFP on some properties

[MSTAV]

paul. you used to work at a dairy... was you a milkman or something. just i used to work for the dairys too.