I’m new to this forum and new to window cleaning (only started 2 weeks ago) so am going to ask a question that is probably more than just common knowledge to most on here.
Would it make sense for me to invest in a wfp and all that comes with it?
I recently purchased a run that has around 110 houses but have had to turn potential new customers away as I just couldn’t access their windows with my ladder and mop.
I’m getting faster day by day doing it the traditional way but wondered if the wtf would also speed me up?
Unfortunately on this run, there are few houses close together, I maybe have 2 in one street and 3 in another and so on so would the setting up of it all slow me down?
Thanks in advance
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I’m based in Scotland and have two separate runs around 80 miles from one another. I’m based roughly in the middle of both (50 miles from one, 30 from the other). On the routes there are flats (apartments) bungalows, shops and standard semi detached houses. Like I said, I’m lucky if I have more than three houses on the same street so the back pack may work. Does it take longer to set up than taking the ladders on and off the jeep and if so, would that time be saved when doing the actual job?
Apologies for being so clueless
Thanks.
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WFP has a learning curve as well. Doing wfp work 1-2 years after you have been using it. You will learn something new and more effective.
Buy pieces at a time while you get trad under your belt. Your always going to need your trad skills. If you roll on a job you thought perfect for wfp… Only then to find out,nope gotta switch to trad.
I would say faster than trad in most cases, but sometimes trad is faster!!! All depends on the job.
But i do love seeing my ladder in the truck while i wfp
So I just picked up a wfp in july. It was a big learning curve. And for quite awhile I was much slower with the wfp than I was with trad. Now though I’m much faster but still have room to grow. As for setting the system up I keep my tanks in the truck with a 300ft hose reel . I simply hook up to the customers water and go. It takes me all of 5 min to get the system running. As with wfp and traditional practice makes perfect. When I started I would clean my windows at the end of everyday.
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Maybe it’s just me, but I have a hard time removing silicone, sap, paint over-spray, hard water etc. with WFP systems. I like them for big projects, and maintenance cleans for office buildings, but I can still see the difference between a hand razored and wooled pane next to one I’ve WFP’d if they are dirty.
All the things you listed usually do require nose to glass, an the use if a blade . If those things are not present even on a first clean you could do just as good of a job with a wfp then you would with trad tools .
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I’m brand new also, but I’ve found so far, in my LIMITED experience, that an unger pad holder with blue 3m scotbrite pads get 98% of the junk off the windows.
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Those pads work great i use the white pads never used those blue ones yet. They won’t take silicone or paint off though . Are you talking about using it on a pole then water fed it , or nose to glass
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I have a Reach-it Mini with an aquadapter on it, and the midget/widget connection opposite the brush. That’s what I have the unger pad holder mounted to. It gets pretty heavy, but it works great. I found the blue pads to be a lot more aggressive than the white pads. I buy them at Wal-Mart in the cleaning section. Only thing is, you have to put two pads on the pad holder and trim about an inch and a half off of one of them. They wear like iron though!
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This gives me an idea. I saw Fish do my condo (HOA), and they used a pole with an abrasive applicator and some dawn and water in a bucket, then a hose/pump system connected to a DI squirt thing I’d never seen before to rinse the windows clean. It seemed to do a good job. Maybe a 0000 steel/bronze wool applicator would be nice for those large jobs where it would be worth it… sort of like when you cut 3 channels to single-pull 3000 colonials; make it worth your time.
I personally try to do everything traditional with residential due to the fact that the clients usually want stuff done that DI won’t remove.
I hardly use steel wool at all for that reason, but when I got the blue pads I did an experiment on a dry piece of tempered glass, TRYING to scratch it, and couldn’t. I haven’t had any trouble at all with scratching. The nice thing about the blue pads is that you can even remove SOME paint flecks, etc with them. (It does take a lot of effort though) I haven’t tried the green pads, as they are a lot more abrasive, and I am pretty sure they would scratch.
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You and that dang brush…
[MENTION=37432]Atlas1[/MENTION] do you have link to that blue pad that you are using from Wally World so we can see exactly with one it is.
You HAD to mention that brush…Thanks a lot, now I’m crying and can’t sleep!
I don’t have a link to the pad, but it’s the one at the bottom of the picture in the post above this. It comes in a three pack in the cleaning section. I’m out of town tonight, but I’ll get a picture of the label posted sometime Monday.
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I used the handled blue pad in pic. On a ccu I did about a month ago, Commercial tempered glass, Never have had an issue with the handled ones yet. I do re-wet my glass before using. Haven’t found the three pack in awhile @ homedepot. Would like to , so I can use them with the Unger pad holder ( handled one ) . Handled blue pads have been harder for me to find lately. Always look at lowes, homedepot when I’m there tho.
Orange pad is almost like the white pad.
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