[David 'Duck' Clare]

Ive just had a call from a new customer (1st clean today)

saying she has got home and the windows dont look good and they are smeary

when i left they were ok - she says 5 windows around the house (12 windows in all) are very poor!

im a little ashamed to be honest and ive appologised and said i will go over on monday to reclean for the lady, but i was wondering if this has happened to anyone else?

i clean two of her neighbours already and this customer was the middle one i cleaned......should i call the other two customers and see if their windows are ok???

i must admit her windows were filthy and she said to me just now she cleans them regularly...i dont think so.....but the smears are smears if they are really there.........

i was using fairy and unger gel today, as always and had a newish rubber in the squeegie .  I did clean this one about 1pm so i was thinking hot window might have caused this issue? and why didnt i see it when i did it?

all thoughts welcome..

DC

[niceandclean]

Yes i have had this problem! I now put  glass cleaner and  Fairy in with the water, dont have any problems with smears now. The cleaner is a cheap 4.99 5 litre bottle, lasts for months.

[David 'Duck' Clare]

hi niceandclean

how did you deal with this problem?

where do you get the 5 litre glass cleaner from?

DC

[Sir Squeaky]

I haven't had a problem yet, although I used to.

If it's pretty dirty just use loads of water and squeegee it instantly before it had chance to warm on the glass.

[David 'Duck' Clare]

obviously i m going around on monday (maybe tomorrow im not sure as its eating me up now!!!)

do you think ill lose this customer over this (it was a 1st clean  ) ??

whats the best way to keep the customer?

DC

[niceandclean]

I had it on a few, what i did was re-cleaned the smeared windows and only charged half price for there next clean. Still have the customers.
The cleaner i get it from the warehouse clearence shop, along with microfibre clothes, 8 for 3.99.
Hope this helps.

[wazzz]

hi

before you get too worried , make sure it is you at fault.
smears could be inside , had that happen to me , customer very embarased after i cleaned inside to prove it .
could be the seal gone in the glass, 4 sides of glass to a double glassed unit.
if seal has gone it may only show up in certain lights .

of cause if it is you , then correct it for her and a simple appolagy sholud be enought ( we all makes mistakes ....its if we try to fix them that counts ?)

now to ask the question ? how do you get smears with trad if you use a squeegy ( cant spell that ) .......i can see how cloths smear  but cant see how to smear with squeegy.

or its just a word people use to describe any sort of mark ... opps am talking to my self now

hope it works out ok

[carl stanton]

i will ditto what wazzz says, more often than not they are inside or perished sealed units!! 
chin up mate if sorry when you go back im sure she wil be happy with you being prompt go asap and then enjoy your weekend!! 

[KJG]

As Squeaky said, in hot weather, lots of water on the glass and squeegee it off immediately as fast as you can. If it's ridiculously hot with direct sun, try Turbo Terry's speed technique, sure he stole it off me where you have the mop a few inches in front of the blade and work both together.

[pjulk]

If you clean the frame's aswell do these first.
Then wash as normal but i use it a bit wetter in hot weather.
And squeegie straight away.

Then detail before it dries

Paul

[abacus]

 Hi  I found that useing less detergent inthe water and wet up more less paynes at a time or use gg4 Expensive but very good

call asap and she be happy that youve put it right

regards grant

[dave0123]

i using fairy at the moment havent had any problems have tried the unger gell keep seem to be going back the the bucket to put more on the sleeve as with fairy i do the same but go to your bucket dip it on water you can do say another house at least. to the point in this wether use less fairy and lots of watter in ur BOAB aslo any big widows soap up half blade it off n and then the bottom, its the only way! clean out your sleevs in this weather reguarly and your scrim!!!!! ad clothes just everything keep it clean! i run my scrim under the tap every day and a proper clean at weekend.

Hope that helps Dave

[jeff1]

I haven't had a problem yet, although I used to.

If it's pretty dirty just use loads of water and squeegee it instantly before it had chance to warm on the glass.

Spot on squeaky,
I worked right through the day, Loads of water, and you blade of straight away, one window at a time, get great results every time. run out of gg4 last week and so just useing fairy this week.

[chris@c.m.s]

On all my first cleans I squeege the windows twice and clean the frames if there really grotty, Ive never had a complaint yet.
I always think the first clean will always be the one judged on so its important to get it right, if you have cleaned them twice I cant see any reason for your problem other than squeege technique 
 

[Londoner]

Are you sure its not just a customer problem. She may be one of those that always find fault.

What happened to her previous cleaner? If you do the houses on both sides you might be able to learn a little more.

I have been in this game a long time on and off. When I get a new customer out of the blue they often turn out to be one that has been dropped by another cleaner. Look for signs before you blame yourself.

[AuRavelling79]

... any big widows soap up half blade it off n and then the bottom, its the only way! .....

Hope that helps Dave

not really Dave - if I do that to any widows on my round I'll get arrested!

[holland1945]

Yeah, I'm having similar problems. I've started using GG4 to avoid the 'Fairy' smears and the results were mixed.

Altho I definitely had to do less detailing, I found that 'slip' was practically non-existent, and where my blade was sticking (mainly in the corners) I was getting a smear in the outline of my blade. Annoying.

What am I doing wrong?

Also, does anyone know of a Mop and Blade tool combined as I cannot master the 'Turbo Terry TwoHanded Technique' (how's that for alliteration) at all.

[dave0123]

not really Dave - if I do that to any widows on my round I'll get arrested!

sorry i should of made it more clear i mean if its a big window say patio door maybe soap the top up blade down half way and then soap the bottom half and blade it off to stop it drying, same with big type windows at shop fronts in the sunlight.

[David 'Duck' Clare]

To my never ending shame this was my fault 

i think what happened was as follows - new customer caught me when iwas on the flat roof of her neighbours house and asked if i could do hers i said yes and that was that.

however the new customers windows were very dirty and i didnt 'double wash' them as suggested i should have done above...as when i went there today and re did them (all of them!!!) they now look great like my cleaning normally leaves windows 

morals of this story

1. always double wash very dirty windows and charge extra for a 'real' 1st clean

2. if someone moans justified or not and i waste a lot of mental energy on it - im gonna dump them - they arnt worth it and ill feel better for doing it!

3. dont take my frustration out on my wife - as i wont get laid for at least 3 days - in which case window cleaning will be the last thing on my mind - and that wont be good for £££'s....i wont discuss how i know this.

I will now consider this matter closed and never to be spoken of again.

Regards a very ashamed DC 

[mick40]

ive heard of problems with smears on the first clean and the cause normally turns out to be what they were cleaning the windows with before.ie windowlene etc.