[evil genius]

was on a new job this morning.
was a first floor flat and by the looks of it hadnt been cleaned since it was built

all the frames were caked in mess and a lot of green  on them too.
was 5 windows in total and would normally take me around 10 minutes and maybe 8 litres of water.

this took me around 35 minute for the 5 windows and 20 litres of water.
was scrubbing and scrubbing and still i could see the rinsing water running green/brown

as it was a good friend i said to them that i wouldnt charge for the job as i had a feeling there would be a fair few water marks and told her to give me a ring when she got in from work on how they look.

got the phone call this around 4 saying they looked pretty bad and i said i would redo them in the next week.

being a good friend and more of a favor i can get away with it but would dread this if it was for a new paying customer.

anybody have this trouble or any tips on really soiled first cleans

thanks
ian

[jonnyald]

i use a  BALCONY FLOOR SCRUB  pad that i got in lidls  ,this kiddy is a harsh as you can get but doesnt scratch glass or plastic  .theyre only about 3 quid ,a grey colour and the make is Aquapur ,holds a bit of water

[Martin ccs]

im no wfp expert but i guess if the window and frames were so bad the second  clean should be alot better.

maybe if it was a normal customer you should advice them that the frames are so bad that they will need a frame clean first at an agreed price.

hard when friends ask you for a favour and that. always end up costing you money and time!

[geoffreyspecht]

i use a ladder,clean trad way first

[daz1977]

had one like this the other week,  just tfr all the windows then rinsed off and told her i would be back the day after to clean them properly, she was happy enough, came up ok on second clean

[evil genius]

thanks for the replys chaps

daz1977,
tfr sounds like a good idea.
was it a get the ladders out  job with the tfr? did you just have it in a spray bottle and aggravate it with a brush?

ian

[dazmond]

sounds like a nightmare!i bet you would have done that job in 20 mins trad! ;Dthats why ill always have my trad gear when i go wfp!

[Martin ccs]

sounds like a nightmare!i bet you would have done that job in 20 mins trad! ;Dthats why ill always have my trad gear when i go wfp!

have to agree with that. trad kit will always have its place as a back up

[evil genius]

wel i will learn from this one.
80% of the time i do but from now on i will ALWAYS have my ladders and trad gear with me.
if i get another one that looks simlar ill put aside the extra time to get up there and scrub them myself. and extra half spent scrubbing will be easily regained on a pleasant 2nd and 3rd clean me thinks
ian

[daztheger]

why go wfp if it takes that long for a first clean,  its not properly cleaned and uses so much water , i dont understand this , there are wfp crews in my area and i'm getting plenty of they're customers cos i do the job properly and  traditionally . (ps dont mean to slag off wfp crews but i cant see the benefit)

[Ste M]

my van fits all my trad gear inside including my ladders, these go everywhere with me so if i come across a bad window or job then i will get the trad gear out and give it a good going over close up, then after that i know i will fly over it every time with my wfp

[jouk45]

theres something far wrong here, what brush did you use, mono is best for first cleans like that. also you only wet scrub for most of the first clean, then rinse, saving you water,

[evil genius]

why go wfp if it takes that long for a first clean,  its not properly cleaned and uses so much water , i dont understand this , there are wfp crews in my area and i'm getting plenty of they're customers cos i do the job properly and  traditionally . (ps dont mean to slag off wfp crews but i cant see the benefit)

i see where your coming from but its only on the first clean. for the next maintenance cleans it going to be quicker than tradition and the main reason, safer

ian

[evil genius]

theres something far wrong here, what brush did you use, mono is best for first cleans like that. also you only wet scrub for most of the first clean, then rince, saving you water,

the brush used was a brodex mono brush.
i was having to do a lot of wet scrubing to loosen the baked on green.
i admit im no pro yet and have only been doing  wfp for a few months but its the only clean ive had a  real problem with, hence the reason for asking fir some tips/pointers

thanks
ian

[jouk45]

as you said, it was a first clean, if it is as bad as you said, i would charge in future for the first clean, because they will take longer to clean, i use ecover on really bad first cleans, but as mentioned charge more,

[daz1977]

no i just put some tfr in my bucket with water  got a old brush and pole out of van and sort of washed the windows as if i was washing a car,  lots of suds and that, looked really good, then just washed off with wfp

[elfords]

no i just put some tfr in my bucket with water got a old brush and pole out of van and sort of washed the windows as if i was washing a car, lots of suds and that, looked really good, then just washed off with wfp

I agree thats exactly what I would suggest on particularly stubborn cleans, and of course charge more

[John Walker]

I would expect to use more water than you did for a first clean on really dirty windows/frames. 

Where possible in these situations, I use an adapter to connect to mains water until all the muck is off and then do a normal pure water clean.

[Londoner]

Just turn the water up and give it loads and loads. Don't worry too much the first time just scrub all the framesand shift everything, then blast everything with a good rinse . Then leave it to drip and move on to the next window. When you have finished all the windows come back and redo just the glass.

Its the dirty water dripping down off the frames that causes the trouble and you have to give it time to drain away. Once its gone its gone forever and won't ever be a problem again. The windows will look so much better for having the frames cleaned its worth it.

[Martin ccs]

why go wfp if it takes that long for a first clean,  its not properly cleaned and uses so much water , i dont understand this , there are wfp crews in my area and i'm getting plenty of they're customers cos i do the job properly and  traditionally . (ps dont mean to slag off wfp crews but i cant see the benefit)

your not the first and def wont be the last to slag off wfp for years then end up buying one.

you cleary dont do many big commercial jobs - alot have a no ladders on site policy. costs of hiring cherry pickers and so on just add costs for the commercial customer so wfp is loved by the on site h&s officer .....