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lippy

  • Posts: 64
Is the wfp taking over the world
« on: March 19, 2006, 07:20:40 am »
Reading all these topicks it seams to me that most of you glass technicians out there use theWFP.

Out of curiosity could i start a small survey,i am sorry if it has been covered before please forgive me iam new to this site.
Am i the only 1 that does not use a wfp.

Please give an answer, thank you...... lippy

Grafters Cleaning Services

  • Posts: 1287
Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2006, 07:56:15 am »
i use wfp tops, trads bottoms

like it or not wfp is the future

jay
JAY "GRAFTERS"
From Southampton
www.high-shine.co.uk

beefy

  • Posts: 142
Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #2 on: March 19, 2006, 08:11:14 am »
dont use it at all mate but ive got some jobs that i like but are starting to make me a bit nervy specially as i normally work alone, so im giving it a lot of thought-and with some of the brilliant ideas & help you get on here it it will probably only cost a weeks wage :-\

sunshine windows

  • Posts: 2361
Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #3 on: March 19, 2006, 08:50:25 am »
Traditional only, but thinking of converting soon.

Sunshine
To climb mount fuji you must first find a path
(Swindon, Wiltshire)

www.sunshinewindowcleaning.co.uk
www.sunshinesoftwashing.co.uk

Chris Cottrell

  • Posts: 3162
Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #4 on: March 19, 2006, 08:52:55 am »
98% WFP now since November 05

Londoner

Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #5 on: March 19, 2006, 09:00:58 am »
the simple answer to you question is yes WFP is taking over the world. If you look at this forum even a year ago and compare it to now you will see the most amazing change.
Its not all about safety either, WFP users report they can take money faster with a WFP compared to traditional methods and that is the clincher for me personally.

I will be starting to canvass a whole new round starting next month and it will be WFP only. I won't even take ladders out with me.

Sarah Sarill

  • Posts: 1537
Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #6 on: March 19, 2006, 09:19:33 am »
wfp Commercial for over 5 years and now 100% wfp - we dont even carry ladders for access.  If  we cant get access without them we dont do them.

To get to this point has taken many years though.  We have been very selective with the properties we take on and are in a good position to do so as we have a well established round of over 8 years.

It would not be the case if we were just starting though as you have to build a round - any round before you start to dump the bad payers etc.

WFP tops and bottoms and no bladding on bottoms now since the new year.

Sarah
Sarah

lippy

  • Posts: 64
Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #7 on: March 19, 2006, 09:36:17 am »
sarah how much water do you use to clean a house]

Terry_Burrows

  • Posts: 1643
Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #8 on: March 19, 2006, 09:41:54 am »
it will be interesting to see if the goverment take any action against wfp with the hoses and the amount of water they need to clean windows :-\ if the hose ban hots up :-\ at the end of the day there using hoses ???
WWW.FASTESTWINDOWCLEANER.CO.UK
GUINNESS WORLD RECORD HOLDER
BURNING RUBBER FASTER!
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF MASTER WINDOW CLEANERS.

Londoner

Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #9 on: March 19, 2006, 09:55:54 am »
The most interesting part is the way it has gained acceptance so quickly. That becomes self generating eventually. A friend of mine, nothing to do with window cleaning, said the other day "everywhere i go now I see blokes cleaning windows with those yellow poles you told me about"
The old trad diehards have always said that people prefer to have their windows cleaned by a man on a ladder. That was my wife's view as well when I first put the idea of WFP to her.
That was also what they said when squeegees first appeared and I am old enough to remember that. Sqeegees meant you could halve the time to do a lot of jobs and the leather and scrim brigade were history virtually overnight.
The more the public see other people getting their windows cleaned with WFPs the more they will come to regard it as the modern way.

Sarah Sarill

  • Posts: 1537
Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #10 on: March 19, 2006, 09:59:07 am »
Because we are now on our 8th clean using wfp we are not using anywhere near as much water as the first 2 or 3 cleans.  On average we refill the 50 litre Omnitrolley every 5 houses.

We have a 100psi pump and no Varistream though so know we are using more than we should be.

Am currently sourcing and building a second DIY trolley which will have the Varistream and shouls save us both time and water.

To answer the original question,  I dont think wfp is taking over the world YET as there are still more trad w/c in my town that wfp, however its gonna be the case soon that there will be a higher percentage of wfp users.

There will always be trad though - I cant honestly see the 'beer-money' brigade spending the sort of money needed to switch over and there do see to be as any of those around in conparison to the declared businesses.
(Please dont pick up the cowboy w/c issue - I mentioned it as it was relevant to the question - been there when I first joined and caused uproar).  ;D

Sarah
Sarah

Sir Squeaky

  • Posts: 8341
Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #11 on: March 19, 2006, 10:04:43 am »
100% proper job done by hand.
No plans to use wfp....ever.

Bit of a misguided thread. :-\
The only place you'll hear lots of people have wfp is on this forum, as they all wanted what their mate's got.

Apart from the 3 people I know from this forum I've only ever seen 1 or2 w/c ever using it.

So yes, maybe it will become the most popular choice.
But no, it's miles less popular so far.

Why do people start these things? ???
Unsurprising user name......


Londoner

Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #12 on: March 19, 2006, 10:46:03 am »
I don't agree, I see loads of WFPs around my area. Still see more trad I must admit but the WFPs are definitely on the increase.
The first one I ever saw was only a year ago.

Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #13 on: March 19, 2006, 12:33:01 pm »
Lippy,

Take no notice of squeeky, he's pinned his flag to the mast and is so stubborn (or short-sighted), that he refuses to even consider the possibility of maybe thinking about WFP.

Most people with anything resembling good reasoning ability, realise that if they dont have acsess to one, they will get one sometime, even if it's only as an add on to trad work.

We don't have one at present, but will in the next few months, yes they will take over, and for very good reason.

They are safer!!

The Bear

macc

Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #14 on: March 19, 2006, 01:28:49 pm »
i reckon sooner or later squeeky will be wfp, he will come out with some lame reason but deep deep down he wants one realy, but he will be one of the die hards going on about the good old days.

me, wfp all the way,  ;D

Franky2020

  • Posts: 73
Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #15 on: March 19, 2006, 03:22:26 pm »
Traditional for 7 months and to be honest have yet to see a wfp window cleaner in all the time Ive been around.

Ian_Giles

  • Posts: 2994
Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #16 on: March 19, 2006, 03:34:47 pm »
In defense of Squeaks, unless he moves home he is unlikely to go WFP, even allowing for his dislike of WFP, for him to produce pure water and get it to his vehicle would be a real pain in the backside.

We work in the same area and there are now at least 8 or 9 different teams out there using WFP, we have window cleaners coming out of our ears in our area :-\ Both trad and WFP.

However, any window cleaner that does not have a WFP of some description in his armoury, or is at least planning to add it at some point in the furure is going to be the poorer for it as a result.
In the last 2 years the take up of WFP has been huge, much bigger than I actually expected it to be, I personally thought it would take another year or two before we got to this point.

WFP will replace the ladder, It won't replace traditional window cleaning though, that will always be around.

Over the next few years Health and Safety will continue to tighten it's grip; either fortunately or unfortunately, for the window cleaner the alternative to ladders is now here, Health and Safety, insurance companies and public perception will marginalise window cleaners working off ladders.
There simply isn't a valid reason to clean windows off ladders anymore.
Ok, there are times when the only way of cleaning windows is going to be by traditional methods, and sometimes that will be at height.
Most of those occasions are going to be on large complexes and mostly commercial.
The average house is almost always going to be able to be cleaned (at least the upstairs) with WFP.
So with exceptional circumstances notwithstanding, within a few years we will NOT be allowed to work off ladders.

Most window cleaners are traditional and work off ladders, but that is now changing at an increasingly rapid pace.

Ian
Ian. ISM CLEANING SERVICES

Franky2020

  • Posts: 73
Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #17 on: March 19, 2006, 04:11:27 pm »
Whilst I agree about the obvious safety about wfp and honestly not knowing the full in and outs of wfp,who exactly is going to stop an individual going up a ladder to clean some ones windows.

rosskesava

Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #18 on: March 19, 2006, 04:16:03 pm »
We're about 50/50.

A few places are a miture.

Nearly all out commercial work is trad because it's quicker unless there are large quantities of outside windows all lined up in which case it's wfp.

For some jobs wfp is blinding but boy oh boy, wfp can be a pain in the rear. We carry a spare for everything to do with our setup including a spare pump.

The only 'spare' we carry for trad work is rubbers.

Ian_Giles

  • Posts: 2994
Re: Is the wfp taking over the world
« Reply #19 on: March 19, 2006, 04:17:05 pm »
Any passing H & S officer :-\
Not much of a worry at the moment, but it may well become one.
All he needs to do is video you working to obtain evidence.

The DHSS do it all the time with dole cheats, and if it is good enough for them, I am sure it will be good enough for other official bodies.

Most prosecutions will occur after accidents though, or they will for the moment.

Ian
Ian. ISM CLEANING SERVICES