Windows go green

Of course windows aren’t green.  They’re clear: ideally streak free, smear free and grime free.

When I’ve cleaned your windows they will indeed be streak free, smear free and grime free.  They will be the cleanest you’ve ever seen them.  But they will also be green. 

Let me explain.  Traditional window cleaners use detergents, and we all know that detergents are bad for the environment: they contaminate the water system, which is the basis for our entire eco system.  But at Waterfed Pole Window Cleaning we don’t use detergents.  So how do we get your windows clean?  With lovely pure water. 

The water is purified on our Waterfed Pole Window Cleaning bespoke van, and then washed over your windows at a gentle pressure with soft brushes to dislodge any dirt.  The result is lovely clean windows that stay clean for up to two months.

And that’s the second reason our windows are green.   Because our method of window cleaning keeps windows cleaner for longer, they don’t need washing as often, so we use fewer resources in the longer term.  

And our windows are also green because they are so clean they let more light in, reducing your need to turn on the lights. 

So there you have it: three green reasons to use Waterfed Pole Window Cleaning UK.

Who said windows can’t be green?

The birds and the bees

Isn’t nature resilient?  We may have had the harshest March for 30 years, but that hasn’t deterred Mother Nature.  The birds and the bees are now in full flow, making out like, well, birds and bees.

When I’m out cleaning windows, there’s nothing quite like fabulous bird song to lift my spirits. At this time of year, the birds are cranking it up as they establish their territories and get nesting.  As they belt out their Greatest Hits it’s impossible not to smile.

Which is why I get sad when my clients report that their windows are so clean after I’ve visited that the birds fly into them.  By way of apology, I’d like to invite my customers to follow my tips to keep the birds away from my shinywindows.

Placing a cat statue on the window sill inside – ideally glaring out of the window – can help. 

But even a statue won’t help if the birds are seeing the sky and the trees reflected in the window.  So the most effective strategy is to stick silhouettes of birds on the outside of the glass, so your garden birds think the territory is taken and steer clear.  Birds of prey silhouettes will also make your feathered friends think twice about flying straight on.

Another great deterrent is a cobweb sticker – no bird wants to get tangled up with a spider’s sticky web.  As with the bird stickers, position it in the middle of the pane or in a strike hotspot, if there is one place the birds keep hitting.

So please keep enjoying my lovely clean windows, but make sure they are bird friendly. 

April showers - does it matter if it rains after your windows are cleaned?

April is traditionally the month of showers.   So it’s the perfect time for me to address the most common question put to window cleaners: does it matter if it rains after your windows are cleaned?

And the answer?  Well, that depends upon how your windows have been cleaned.

Most traditional window cleaners squeegee over the pane and give the window ledge a quick wipe over with a fairly grimy cloth.  If that’s what your window cleaner does, then yes, it will matter if it rains soon after.  Because your window cleaner has missed out the magic first step to clean windows that stay clean – come rain or shine.  He hasn’t bothered to clean the window frame.  Over time, your window frame gets covered in exhaust fumes, dust and bits of dry leaves etc.  If you don’t clean the frames, as soon as it rains all that filth washes over your window panes and make them dirty again.

Which is why, at Waterfed Pole Window Cleaning, we clean the frames first with lots of lovely pure water.  And only when the frames are clean do we move onto the panes and the ledges.  Which means when we clean your windows, they stay clean for up to two months.  Come April showers.  Or sleet.  Or snow.  

Waterfed virgins - what to expect

I have a confession to make.  The first time I come to clean your windows, it will be messy.

But that’s not my fault.  No, honestly, it’s not.  It’s the inheritance I get from other window cleaners.  You see the difference between other window cleaners and waterfed pole window cleaning is that we clean the window frames first.  And the other don’t.  They may give the ledges a quick wipe over with a grimy rag after they’ve done the windows, but they never clean the frames.  And that means over time your window frames get filthy.

Dirty window frames are more than just an eyesore.  They’re the reasons why your windows seem to be dirty only a couple of days after your window cleaner has visited.  Think about it.  Your window frames are dirty.  It rains.  What happens?  Yes.  The rain washes the dirt off the window frames onto your nice clean windows.  And your nice clean windows get dirty all over again.

Clean window frames are the key to clean windows.  We wash your window frames first and get rid of all that grime that has accumulated over the years – the grime that keeps running onto your clean windows.  And only when the frames are clean do we move onto the glass, which we may sparkle with our pure water.  Because we don’t use any nasty detergents, we use quite a bit of water.  If you’re a waterfed pole window cleaning virgin, you might be surprised by how wet it looks by the time we’ve finished.  But the beauty of it is, it’s only water – lovely pure water.  And it soon dries out.  To give you sparkling clean windows, that stay sparkling for longer than you ever dreamt possible. 

Why we love British Summer Time

I’m getting ready to block my ears against the barrage of complaints that I know are coming this weekend.  British Summer Time starts this Sunday, and every year it’s the same old whining about losing an hour’s sleep. 

Enough already!  British Summer Time is fab, and here’s why: longer evenings, relaxing with friends, the sound of kids playing outside after school, peeling off the winter layers, green shoots (and hopefully that includes the economy) and the promise of better to come.  It’s not just a clock change.  It’s a change of mind-set as we slough off the lethargy of winter and prepare to re-energise for the summer. 

For a window cleaner, British Summer Time is especially good news.  No more getting up at silly o’clock with the van smothered in a blanket of frost and windows cold enough to freeze the brushes in an attempt to smuggle enough daylight hours into the working day.  Instead, we can enjoy sensible hours, boosted by the songs of nesting birds and the warmth of a returning sun on our backs. 

We all take an hour forwards and backwards in our stride every time we go on holiday.  So stop the whinging and instead think of all the positive things this means for the next few months.  British Summer Time is just around the corner, and this window cleaner is preparing to celebrate.  

How long between washes?

It’s a very good question.  In the 50s and 60s, girls used the excuse “I’m washing my hair” to avoid dates.  It was a standard brush-off, given that girls used to wash and set their hair no more than once a week and the process took the whole evening.  But the Wash N Go revolution put paid to that, making most of us daily or twice-weekly washers.  As the world of hair-care products has progressed, our hair lasts less and less time between washes.

Fortunately, evolution in the window cleaning world is working in the opposite direction.  The development of waterfed pole window cleaning means your windows can go for longer between washes. 

How?  It’s all in the technique.  Traditional window cleaners wash the windows and then give the window sill a quick once over.  This system completely overlooks the key factor in keeping windows clean.  Your windows don’t get dirty when it rains because of the rain: the rain is generally clean.  What causes them to become smeary and smudgy again is the accumulated dirt on the frames: the moment these get wet, the loosed dirt runs down your windows and they get murky once more.

One of the key features of waterfed pole window cleaning is that we wash the frames, and we do them first.  Only when the frames are free from dirt do we move onto the windows and, finally, the sills.  This means when the rains come, your windows stay clean.

So the answer to the question “How long between washes?” is 2 months, IF your window cleaner is doing it right. 

My eureka moment

Eureka moments are rare.  But when they come along they provide inspiration that can change your world forever.  Like Archimedes, my Eureka moment provided me with the solution to a problem that had been vexing me for some time.

Archimedes’ Eureka moment was inspired by a dodgy goldsmith.  King Hieron II had commissioned a crown from a lump of pure gold, but he suspected the goldsmith had substituted some of the gold for a cheaper metal, such as silver.  Unfortunately he had no way to confirm his suspicions.  So he asked Archimedes, super mathematician and inventor, to find a definitive answer. 

Archimedes famously found the solution in the bath.  When he stepped into the bath, he noticed that the water level rose.  And in that moment, Archimedes developed his principle of buoyancy, which says that the volume of an object is the same as the volume of water it displaces. 

Archimedes was so inspired by his discovery that he jumped out of the bath and ran through the streets shouting “Eureka!” – or “I have it!”

My Eureka moment did not involve a bath or naked street dancing, you’ll be pleased to know.  But it did involve water.  I had been a window cleaner for two years.  There was just one problem: I hate heights.  And I hate ladders even more.  But you can’t be a window cleaner without a ladder.

Or so I thought.

Then I discovered waterfed pole window cleaning.  It was the answer to my prayers!  No ladders, just a super long pole with a soft brush that can reach up to six storeys, using pure water to get windows cleaner than ever.   In other words, I can do my job better than ever, without trembling like a ninny!  

Eureka!

And, in case you were wondering, the goldsmith had cheated the king. 

That's my Eureka moment - now tell me yours!