Old wives' tales

Is vinegar really a good way to get your windows clean?  Can you get the best results with newspaper?  We put those old wives’ tales to the test.

Pick up any tips and wrinkles book and they’ll insist that nothing gets windows cleaner than vinegar or newspaper.  And they have a point.  Diluted vinegar (and a heavy dollop of elbow grease) or newspaper (and a heavier dollop of elbow grease) are pretty effective at getting windows clean.  But the problem with these old wives’ tales is that they are from olden times.  Yes, if you have nothing better, diluted vinegar or newspaper will get you reasonable results – often better than you’ll get with detergent and a cloth.  But when the sun shines you will still be able to see all the marks where you have rubbed.

But the 21^st century is not the place for these old wives, or even desperate housewives.  The 21^st century offers something much better, which means the old wives’ tales are destined to be reduced to mere folklore.  And that’s Waterfed Pole WindowCleaning.  Even the best balsamic can’t compete with the sparkle achieved by pure water and gentle brushes.  And it doesn’t matter whether you use a tabloid or the FT, you won’t get the long-lasting results that you get from gently washing the frames before you clean the panes.

So if a bird leaves an unwelcome greeting card on your window and I’m not due to visit again for a few weeks, by all means resort to emergency measures.  But for clean windows that stay clean, leave the old wives’ tales in the history books and embrace the Waterfed Pole Window Cleaning revolution!

Protecting your plants

With the truly awful summer that we’ve had this year, many of the gardens that I work in in Kent, Sussex and Surrey are enjoying colour much later in the year than usual.  If your plants are only just coming to their best, you’ll want to enjoy their blooms for as long as you can. Unfortunately, window cleaning and plants don’t always go well together. 

Picture the scene: Wisteria wandering along the walls.  An Albertine rose rambling over the porch.  Colourful wallflowers brightening the bed under the windowsill.  And then along comes your window cleaner, trampling on the wallflowers, clipping the wisteria as he positions his ladder and knocking the Albertine buds off with his bucket as he climbs. 

If the image is enough to make you consider living in gloom until the autumn, fret not!  There is a way to enjoy both clean windows and your garden.  The solution is Waterfed PoleWindow Cleaning.  Our ladder-less system means we can reach up to six storeys high from ground level, so there’s no risk of trampling on flower beds or knocking down climbers.  We deliver sparkling windows while respecting your garden. 

So you can enjoy your blooms, even if the rain returns and you have to admire from behind the comfort of your clean panes.

Pane sailing

Picture a chocolate-box cottage.  Perhaps with a thatched roof, ivy climbing up the wall and those romantic, leaded windows.  It's traditional England at its best, right? 

Yes - until the bills start coming in.  Then you discover that the thatch needs replacing every ten years, the ivy is pulling the walls down and your window cleaner charges you more than twice as much your neighbours because all the those tiny lead-panes are so fiddly.

If you're lucky enough to live in the kind of home that most of us only get to dream about, I have some good news for you.  Whether it's an idyllic cottage, a traditional farmhouse or a Georgian town house, I can help with one of your bills.  I can't do anything about the rising damp, wood worm or sagging walls.  But I can bring down the cost of your window cleaning.

And that's not just because I am a nice guy (although I am a very nice guy!).  But with Waterfed Pole Window Cleaning, it doesn't matter how many panes your window has.  All that matters is the size and number of windows. You see, traditional window cleaners have to charge more because it's more fiddly getting their squeegees into all the corners of small panes; with really tiny panes they even have to resort to wiping each one individually with a cloth.  But the bristles of the Waterfed Pole Window Cleaning brushes can gently reach into all the nooks and crannies without taking any longer.  What's more, the bristles are so soft, they're safe for all windows, no matter how delicate the materials.

So if you live in my dream home, I'd be delighted to visit and save you some pennies  - and I'll give you some amazingly clean windows as well.