[Marc Stock]

Did a new job yesterday, 1st clean on a busy main road, the type of dirt was black soot all over the framework. 

Came up OK,  customer pleased. But i drove away with a nagging feeling that these windows were going to be a problem.

Anyway next day, i decided to go past the job and check it over. I was shocked.

Soot spots on the glass, a bird poo that clearly didn't come off properly, and some other defects.

So I thought, right I'm doing this again....so I started and the customer comes out -"hello!; thanks so much for checking them, we were thinking that it wasn't very good "

I'm like of course Mrs xxx not a problem, we always come back to inspect first cleans, especially if they are particularly mucky like yours were    it's all part of our quality control.

So I gave them another clean and they now look wonderful..she was very happy.

So sometimes it's worth just going with your intuition. Probably would have lost her after the 1st clean and thought ohh another messer but really....the windows werent all that good on the glass 1st clean and clearly she didn't want to make a fuss and would have just polilitely canceled

Worth remembering on 1st cleansm

[NWH]

Thats when the good old hot water comes into its own I'm afraid.

[Splash & dash]

We do random spot checks on quality but like nhw said dont get these issues with hot , the soot after you cleaned it cannot be avoided that's on going dirt in the atmosphere, but bird poo should be able to be removed in one hit , when I used cold only I would use virosol on first cleans to prevent the problems you have described, might be worth a try as you would only have to clean it the once with confidence

[Marc Stock]

We do random spot checks on quality but like nhw said dont get these issues with hot , the soot after you cleaned it cannot be avoided that's on going dirt in the atmosphere, but bird poo should be able to be removed in one hit , when I used cold only I would use virosol on first cleans to prevent the problems you have described, might be worth a try as you would only have to clean it the once with confidence

These were soot runs actually.

Bird poop was more of a case of not seeing it under all the soot.

But yes...I get what you mean.

[NWH]

I agree if you use cold water you would have to use virisol or similar they won't get clean with cold alone not with soot it gets in every part of the window,the only time they'll look clean with cold is from the ground. Like Lee Pryor said yesterday on another thread when your using water above or on 60 degrees the difference is phenomenal on glass and especially on PVC. Any area with heavy traffic film on the Windows requires hot water imo.

[NWH]

My water was at 58 degrees yesterday I did a job with a fair bit of birds mess one of the first of the new pooping season,I tilted the brush with a jet on it and it removed it with no scrubbing at all almost. That's the thing with cold your never 100% sure a lot of the time,they look good at a distance but if your doing an in and out job cold can leave an outline of the mess that was there where's hot removes it all.

[Stoots]

Another way round this is to
take extra time and make sure it's done properly first time surely?

Personally I clean the lot then dry the frames off to stop any drips. Then redo the glass.

[JandS]

I always do first cleans twice...if they're next to other work I'll give them a good flooding  and scrubbing on all frames and glass, do a couple or 3 regulars then go back and clean them again as normal.
Last week was approached on street saying their w/c hadn't been round for months so gave her my number.....she text me  back with 6 to do in a cul de sac of 12,,,,did them Tuesday and picked up 4 more on the day so took nearly all day with messing about for 10 houses......lost one of the originals though, when she came and asked how much she owed and didn't like it when I wouldn't price match the old w/c....in fairness she paid me what I asked but wasn't prepared to pay more than the old price.....so 9 new in one day and they were filthy especially the frames but came up good.

[Shrek]

I always do first cleans twice...if they're next to other work I'll give them a good flooding  and scrubbing on all frames and glass, do a couple or 3 regulars then go back and clean them again as normal.
Last week was approached on street saying their w/c hadn't been round for months so gave her my number.....she text me  back with 6 to do in a cul de sac of 12,,,,did them Tuesday and picked up 4 more on the day so took nearly all day with messing about for 10 houses......lost one of the originals though, when she came and asked how much she owed and didn't like it when I wouldn't price match the old w/c....in fairness she paid me what I asked but wasn't prepared to pay more than the old price.....so 9 new in one day and they were filthy especially the frames but came up good.

So you cleaned someone's house without giving them a price 

[chris turner]

With all due respect Marc, wouldn't it have been more professional to do the job right, first time?
I would feel like a right fool turning up the next day to do a re-clean because i was paranoid the job wasn't done properly.

On very dirty first cleans i will always soak the windows in chemicals ( screwfix no nonsense degreaser is the nuts ) then scrub them senseless until they look like new.

I wouldn't walk away from the job if i had any insecurities that it wasn't finished correctly.
Especially at your prices

[Marc Stock]

With all due respect Marc, wouldn't it have been more professional to do the job right, first time?
I would feel like a right fool turning up the next day to do a re-clean because i was paranoid the job wasn't done properly.

On very dirty first cleans i will always soak the windows in chemicals ( screwfix no nonsense degreaser is the nuts ) then scrub them senseless until they look like new.

I wouldn't walk away from the job if i had any insecurities that it wasn't finished correctly.
Especially at your prices

Duely noted.

 

[chris turner]

With all due respect Marc, wouldn't it have been more professional to do the job right, first time?
I would feel like a right fool turning up the next day to do a re-clean because i was paranoid the job wasn't done properly.

On very dirty first cleans i will always soak the windows in chemicals ( screwfix no nonsense degreaser is the nuts ) then scrub them senseless until they look like new.

I wouldn't walk away from the job if i had any insecurities that it wasn't finished correctly.
Especially at your prices

Duely noted.

 

At least you have a conscience. Few, if any would go back out of their own perogative to do a free re-clean. It shows you care, the customer must of appreciated that.

[Marc Stock]

With all due respect Marc, wouldn't it have been more professional to do the job right, first time?
I would feel like a right fool turning up the next day to do a re-clean because i was paranoid the job wasn't done properly.

On very dirty first cleans i will always soak the windows in chemicals ( screwfix no nonsense degreaser is the nuts ) then scrub them senseless until they look like new.

I wouldn't walk away from the job if i had any insecurities that it wasn't finished correctly.
Especially at your prices

Duely noted.

 

At least you have a conscience. Few, if any would go back out of their own perogative to do a free re-clean. It shows you care, the customer must of appreciated that.

She did yes, and in fact made me a cuppa.

 

[SB Cleaning]

Another way round this is to
take extra time and make sure it's done properly first time surely?

Personally I clean the lot then dry the frames off to stop any drips. Then redo the glass.

Have to agree with this....

I can't remember the last time i had a complaint about a 1st clean...

I offer a 24 hr guarantee with every clean...been called back probably 2 or 3 times in 7 years.

[Tosh]

I agree with everyone.

[Marc Stock]

I agree with everyone.

I agree with your agreement, I'm sure everyone would agree.

[jk999]

If you was a good window cleaner you shouldn't have to be going back 😉😁

[dazmond]

if its a really dirty first clean then id defo spray all the windows and frames with virosol in a 5l pressure sprayer.i always have this in the van ready to go.leave to soak for 5 mins and then scrub and rinse really thoroughly.jobs a good un.

i spend twice as long on a very bad first clean to get all the windows and frames up to scratch.