Residential Window Cleaning Utility Cart

Hey guys,

Just thought I would share the design of the cart I recently designed and constructed for residential interior work.

I, personally, have had too many close calls nearly knocking over a vases, lamps etc with one of the squeegees hanging out of my boab as I was trying to squeeze behind furniture. Maybe I’m just clumsy… maybe also lazy because I don’t want to move all of a customer’s valuable around.

The challenge was making a cart that was maneuverable (slim enough to squeeze through tight spots) - the swiveling casters accomplish that, light weight (I can easily carry this up a flight of stairs without breaking a sweat) easy to throw in the back of my truck too, and cheap and easy to construct (total cost of construction: $10)

As a base I hacked up an old mop bucket. However, it may be cheaper and easier to use a furniture dolly.

Want to see a video? Just click on my website below and go to “Tips & Tricks” on the home page’s menu bar.

Are you taking this cart inside the houses? Seems like lots of stuff, do you need all this at every job? I manage with small bucket and belt. I would be afraid of scratching floor or leaving marks

This isn’t for everyone - personal preference. I haven’t had any issue with wheels scratching the floor. I have worked in carpet cleaning an janitorial work where I have been wheeling stuff around on glossy floors - always check the wheels first. But seeing as I never use this cart on asphalt, only indoors, I don’t see how it will get anything embedded in the wheels.

The big advantage is using this in a larger house where you would have to cover a lot of ground to retrieve an item, even if you leave an organizer in a strategic place like the entrance/lobby.

You can always use both the rolling cart and a belt - moving the cart every few rooms.

The cart is lighter than it looks, everything is light weight plastic. Weighs less than a bucket of water.

I like the idea. I think I could get away with just one crate on the wheel base. But the I guess it would be kinda low to roll around. You’d have to bend over more to move it around. It would be lighter though. Nice idea though.

make a balsa wood frame to elevate the solo milk crate.
You can use a dolly or attach some casters to your own self constructed frame.

The little light weight folding dolly that He-man uses would keep you from bending over.

Collapsible Hand Truck, Fold Up Hand Truck in Stock - ULINE

He Man makes awesome stuff: NO BUCKET WINDOW CLEANING TOTE. - YouTube

                                       [WINDOW CLEANING TOTE ON WHEELS FOR STORE RUNS (Now with CC) - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RLL62-PtUc&list=UUTozS5-SG_IMAjs3ogaYkPg&index=29)

Jesse you and I both think alike, I made something similar for a few more dollars.

I agree that walking interior residentials with a belt can get messy, I once scratched the wall ledge with my bob while reaching outside to clean the glass.

the biggest advantage of a tote is to keep your tools off your body but in a central mobile location, and at hip level so you dont have to keep bending over.

I will post my home made cart later, I thin you will like it.

Let’s see Jesse, If it don’t move and you want it to, WD 40. If it moves and you don’t want it to, duct tape. If you want to build something, milk crates and zip ties. Nice job.

Hope you filed off the “PROPERTY OF ACME DAIRY”. ROTFL. I like it. Necessity is the mother of all invention. I smell a patent.

[COLOR=#333333]Jesse you and I both think alike, I made something similar for a few more dollars.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#333333]I agree that walking interior residentials with a belt can get messy, I once scratched the wall ledge with my bob while reaching outside to clean the glass. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=#333333]the biggest advantage of a tote is to keep your tools off your body but in a central mobile location, and at hip level so you dont have to keep bending over.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#333333]I will post my home made cart later, I thin you will like it.[/COLOR]

I would love to see it. I love to see different people’s organizational ideas. He Man’s stuff is top notch and an inspiration.

[COLOR=#333333]milk crates and zip ties. Nice job.[/COLOR]

I love milk crates. Zip ties, too. You can do a lot of things with milk crates. I haven’t nabbed them from a back of a supermarket since I was a kid. They are almost obsolete nowadays as many stores are moving towards a new method of product delivery. So if you buy them from a vendor at a flea market, it’s fair to assume that they could be surplus inventory from a store that switched over to the new system. You can buy them legitimately. Though, I think covering up the old dairy affiliation is good common sense - maybe stencil in my window cleaning logo.

Thanks for the feedback. I look forward to seeing fellow window cleaners totes. Is their a “tote section” for the forum. It could be the budget alternative to showing off your van. I don’t have a “shareworthy” vehicle yet :slight_smile:

Great Idea!! While i will not be using it for my rezy work it will help me organize my milk crates in my vehicle WAY better!!! THANKS!!!
pags

its a weird looker , unique in the industry with the jaggedy bucket base . whats its top speed before it tips?

Why not simply wear a tool belt? You could avoid pushing that around. I have a tool bet that carries my washer, towels, squeegees, blades, sponge, etc. No need for pushing something around the customers home, and looks much more professional. IMO

The tool belt sometimes get in the way, especially if you constantly need to go behind furniture, move small tables with fragile items. Its easy to accidently knock something over when you have extra bulk around your waist.

the belt is awesome but sometimes i too need to take my belt off in some rezi rooms and then all of a sudden I dont have anything to hold my stuff.

the cart comes in handy and acts as a central location to keep you organized instead of running back to the truck when ever you need something.

What’s interesting about window cleaning preferences is that they are often regional. I have a lot of houses here in the Northeast that are filled with french panes of different sizes. A lot of those old true divided windows have caulk, sealers and paint on the glass. I often need razors, steel or bronze wool, and magic erasers. It also really helps having an assortment of small channels in the common sizes.

The old northeast houses usually have hardwood floors with oriental rugs. You can push a little cart like this rather easily around the rugs on the hardwood.

On the west coast, window cleaning was a much simpler affair. 98% of the houses I cleaned had new 1 over 1 windows (I never even came across any storms), many of the houses had wall to wall carpeting which would make pushing a cart around much harder.

He Man’s tote NO BUCKET WINDOW CLEANING TOTE. - YouTube would work really well in those homes.

From my experience, window cleaning techniques and preferences are very regional and for good reason. Even how many windows you can wet before squeegeeing depends on the regions humidity. I’ve seen a few videos from this very impressive UK window cleaner where he wets about 15 storefront windows before he pulls out his squeegee.

There’s no way you could do that in Arizona - too dry.

A lot of it also just boils down to preference. There are the minimalists who prefer to carry the least amount of items on them and there are the “kitchen sink” folks who like having every possible tool on them just in case. The longer I have been doing physical work, the lazier I have become. I would rather push around a cart than have to go all the way out to my truck or even to a customer’s lobby where I put my bin.

Some of the houses I have worked in would take 5 minutes just to walk all the way through their massive house to get to the lobby.

As far as looking “professional”, I think that that too varies by region. In Seattle, you can be a graphic designer or computer programmer and have full sleeve tattoos (so long as they are high quality and artistic looking) whereas in another region of the country such a look would be viewed with with suspicion or even outright derision.

Similarly, with regards to “uniforms”, different regions have different attitudes as to what a proper “uniform” is. I notice in the humid Southern United States that a lot of window cleaners have polyester cool-max high performance sportswear type shirts with their company name embroidered on them. In this region that is the professional look.

In other areas synthetic fabrics are seen as a fashion faux pas and will lower you in the customer’s esteem rather than elevate. I wear a cotton polo shirt with no company name or my own name embroidered on it for high end homes in my area.

I don’t know how this monologue touched on all these topics (must be this new columbian coffee I’m drinking this morning :)) - I’m just reiterating that what works in one area for one p[erson may not work in another area for another person.

I think it’s a great idea. Thanks for sharing

[h=2][/h] Good idea, thanks for sharing.
Gonna be staying w/ the 'ole bucket on a belt … interior work for now.

That paragraph alone is justifiable for the mere need of WFP pole system!
This is one of my accounts,imagine doing ALL these w/ a squeegee :frowning: PITA :mad:
Now imagine, doing 'em a WFP :smiley:
From here on out w/ my Reach-It, I welcome all the cut outs I can find.

Most of the windows Jesse is talking about cant be WFP’d, he’s talking about wooden sash true divided single panes held in with glazing that is usually in poor condition.

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