Joshua Verse asks: I’m trying to come up with set pricing (or close to it) for WFP cleaning. Rather than just eyeball it. I’m struggling to do so. I’m looking at a quarterly clean at this facility. It really shouldn’t take long. Most of it is walk-up. What is your opinion? I know every market is different. I’m in North East Ohio.
What’s up Joshua, first of all, I am also from Ohio, North-Western Ohio. As for your question, I think this is one issue where many window cleaners fall short—charging a different price for pure water cleaning as opposed to traditional methods. The price should be the price the process at this stage of the game shouldn’t make any difference. The customer is paying for clean windows. How you reach that goal doesn’t matter. Pure water window cleaning isn’t the wave of the future. It’s been around a long time. The technology has gotten leaps and bounds better in delivery systems, brushes, and poles; however, the clean glass will always be clean glass no matter what road you traveled to get them clean. Set a price for clean windows and enjoy the fruits of your labor. If done properly and used in the right settings, the result should always remain the same clean glass. I hope that helps!
Dusty Debusk asks: How do you clean your mops/sleeves? I’ve been rinsing mine out with my water hose or doing them in my kitchen sink. Is the washing machine safe?
What’s going on, Dusty? This isn’t too difficult a question to answer, but I see it asked often. I’ve been washing my towels and sleeves in the washing machine for almost a couple of decades now. I don’t ever add any detergent as most of the towels and sleeves have plenty enough soap left in them to begin with. However, I’ve always added 3/4 of a cup of cleaning vinegar into the washer to eliminate any musty smells that towels and sleeves often pick up with regular use. A hot water wash with a couple of rinse cycles and some cleaning vinegar always does the trick. Depending on the type of sleeves you use, you may come into issues with putting them in the dryer, as some towels and sleeves say ones containing microfiber may not come out of a dryer cycle the way you put them in. Huck/surgical towels won’t show much of an adverse effect. So as long as you’re drying things properly, machine washing shouldn’t be too much of an issue. At least it hasn’t for me anyway. I hope that helps out.
Well, another month of “Ask T Squeegee” is under our belts. I hope everyone has had a good busy season thus far looking forward to some fall and winter questions soon. Remember, you can submit your questions to [email protected], and I will answer them here in each issue of the best magazine in the world American Window Cleaner Magazine! It can be anything from window cleaning to pressure washing or gutter cleaning and even how a postraction rear end works. I’ll even give you dating advice. Just shoot me an email!
–T Squeegee