Cleaning windows the pure water way...what order do you go?

thank you, sir

I work out of a car with the passenger seat removed so I can transport s DI tank :stuck_out_tongue: Ghetto I know, almost have enough saved for a truck!
Thought I would put a pic on just to show that sometimes you have to work with what you got.

Hmmm. This post has got my brain working. I am thinking about ditching the crap 100 ft garden hose i got for $13, and get a quality garden hose only 50 ft in length. Bring DI tank to water connection, connect the 50ft hose from water supply to DI tank. And now if I got another say 150ft of air hose (total of 200ft of air hose) I could probably leave the DI tank in position for the entire clean on most houses.

Would save me 15 - 20 minutes on every job by not having to relocate DI tank 2 or 3 times.

Thoughts?



I commend you for doing whatever it takes to get the job done.

  1. Raise windows from inside, brush out tracks and sills. Remove screens and float them if it’s safe to do so.
  2. Clean inside of windows. If I’m working by myself, I’ll clean each window right after step 1.
  3. Brush screens outside.
  4. WFP
  5. Reinstall screens. If there aren’t a lot above ground floor, I’ll put them on with a ladder. If there are a lot, I might reinstall them from inside. Or if they’re half-screens, they usually HAVE to be reinstalled from inside.
  6. Do a walk-through inside to spot check.

I don’t clean the exteriors first because most misses are on the first side that was cleaned since it’s harder to see on which side the debris is. And it’s easier to reclean the interior. Plus, a lot of the double hungs around here (especially wood sashes) leak. If you do the outside first, then the top sash leaks your solution all over the bottom pane, you have to go back outside and redo all the bottom panes.

I find it easier to spot check when the screens are off.

I’d rather complete the exterior first when using a WFP to allow for as much drying time as possible, and to inspect the exterior as I clean the interior. I find that most debris is on the exterior – except the money window – in most cases.

This is why I do insides first when using traditional methods.

We use to WFP outside first but after a tip from another cleaner we have changed our procedure this season.

We start by remnoving all the screens going clockwise around what ever floor we start on and move furniture out of way at same time, then do the next floor keeping screens in order etc…

We then clean the screens keeping them in order and leave to dry.

Back in side mike starts on the far left of a floor and I start far right and then meet in midle then repeat for other floors.

We are then outside and removing all the hard water on the basement and 1st floor glass and careful to water/rinse down hard water remover with sponge.

Depending on how big house is we will either break out two back packs and put water round the house or if a big house or house has hydrophobic glass Mike will take back pack and pre clean and I will follow up with my WFP pole with Aqua Adapter and a ton of rinsing power from Reach Higher Ground 5 Stage and I do one more quick scrub and then blast the dirty water off.

Back inside checking glass and putting screens in. If by myself and there is a runner or spotting will mark window with blue painters tape and hit again unless it can be touched up from inside.

We also carry walkie talkies for communication(thanks to whoever suggested that, best $35 I have spent) and some times MIke will be outside with back pack still on and as I am putting screens back in he will hit any problems I find.

We like this system but always looking to improve, so any suggestions are welcome…

I wash the screens in the window first. Then I remove all the screens from the inside, then do the outside first and then inside

Wouldn’t that make a muddy mess if the screens were really dusty? Or will the WFP clean them well enough that you don’t have to worry about carrying wet screens through a house? Or do you float them down?

We have really dusty screens here. I hate carrying them through a house dry-- let alone after being wet.

Before I had my WFP I almost never brought screens into the house. I’d wipe them down from my ladder and hang’m on a clamp while I washed the window. QUICK and easy.

Managing the screens with the WFP is a pain. Off the window then down the stais to the outside then back inside and an awkward reinstaul from inside the window is becoming a pain. I’d rather ladder up and get’r done.

PS
I do use the WFP and hassle with the screens on third floor windows.

I suppose that screens can be a problem, but if i use the wfp the homes do not have screens on them, if they did the inside person cleans them and the sills

Severn,
It sounds like you’re cleaning the screens inside the home. Could you explain your inside the house screen cleaning process? How do you avoid getting dirt on the home owners carpet and drapes?

I have an Exploder, but I find its easiest to put the passenger seat in the upright position and strap the tank to the back of the seat with a ratchet strap. Theres just enough leg room back there that it fits nice and snug :slight_smile:

I spoke on the phone with a cleaner who puts down a large drop cloth the size of a bed spread. He cleans the screen inside at the window it came out of over the drop cloth. Anybody else doing this?

Sounds cumbersome and still a risk to soiling the home’s interior.

What is the actual cleaning method? Moving dirt around?

If the screens are inside screens we clean them inside, if they are outside screens, the inside person releases them and we wfp all the windows and then clean the screens and the outside person puts the screens back on.

Severn,
Are you guys moving the ladder and climbing up and down the ladder twice for every window, ounce to get the screen and then again to put it back?

I don’t understand the process.

Scrub screen with wet but not soaking strip washer and towel dry with terry cloth bath towel. He takes them outside if they are really dirty.

Somehow I can’t imagine customers appreciating their house being used as a screen washing station

How is cleaning a screen any different than cleaning storm windows inside the house?