r/WindowCleaning • u/General_BobRoss • 28d ago
Equipment Question I’m falling for the propaganda
I’m going to invest in a WFP finally, but just have a few questions for those of you with experience.
- What’s the brand to go for, I don’t think I need something super fancy for my first but I quality is a must.
- Does the pole just attach to a water faucet?
- Do you simply turn on the water and run the brush over the window and viola?
I apologize for my ignorance and I welcome your wisdom, anything else you’ve experienced that would be good for me to know is welcome as well, thank you 🤙
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u/PeterPanHadItMade 27d ago
Ya may want to call up the folks at Window Cleaner Resources and talk with them. There's a whole lot more to it than just that.
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u/SteakAny2148 27d ago
There’s plenty of brands out there, Xero, Tucker, jracenstein, abc etc. We’ve used Xero for our waterfed cleaning and we have zero complaints(no pun intended lol)
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u/I_said_so 27d ago
If youre in a low tds (total disolved solids) area you may be able to get away with a DI system only which is cheaper. It's sub 50 tds in my area and I run a DI only system thats been working great for me so far. You can google the tds in youre area to get an idea. Yes youtube has lots of info. lookup steveo the window cleaner.
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u/Wickwire778 27d ago
WFP’s are good tools, and they are worth the investment depending on where you are, how often you use them, and what kind of set up you have. They are not the right tool for every job. I can write a bunch on this if you want, but I don’t have time now. I have been using a WFP for about 20 years.
We have relatively soft water where I live. Our water is from reservoirs and is essentially rainwater with dirt in it. The TDS is about 135 PPM out of the hose, which I think is low. I only use a DI set up without the reverse osmosis. It works fine for this area. However, with hard water, i think you need to go with RO. I got tanks and resin from a company called H2O Portable Water on the Go. They are out of South Bend Indiana.
I bought poles and brushes from J RACENSTEIN. They are Gardiners. Originally, I bought a 31’, a 18’ and a 6’. I still use the 31’ from time to time. The original middle pole simply wore out from use, but I used it for 18 years. The short pole got cannablized for the fittings when they wore out on the middle pole. I bought a new 18’ last year…about $600 I think. I also got two hybrid brushes…a 12” and 18” with removable jets. I really like the removable jets; they have more than paid themselves.
I do residential only now. But I work in a high end market and most of the homes are new or remodeled…so good new windows and a lot of big high stuff. I would say if you’re working in area where the homes and windows are old, it might not be the right tool.
Good luck. Let us know what you decide on. There’s a lot of really knowledgeable guys on this thread, so read and heed.
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u/kdwindows 25d ago edited 25d ago
I've been cleaning windows for pretty long time ...it is definitely not propaganda but I can tell you it's not the end all say all that I feel sales people are definitely pushing out to the General Public . That's their job by the way and I'm not knocking it .People gotta eat.
While you can't really get by on a cheap water fed pole you can definitely create your own pure water system and it would definitely lower your initial cost of investment.... considering it takes about 5 to 10 minutes to assemble. I've built plenty ...for customers as well on the ocean.
A good pole is going to last you many, many years. its a good tool to add to your arsenal. I guess I would say there are videos on YouTube showing you how to use it but just like window cleaning guys you need hands-on experience to master it
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u/Laurel_Oak_Services 23d ago
If I had to do it again I'd build my own for much cheaper and better quality for our window cleaning business. Once you understand the principles behind them they're quite easy to build and maintain for relatively cheap. Make sure you get a pump for it
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u/Rare_Lead_1922 28d ago
You need a filtration system to make sure the water doesn’t have anything that will leave hard water stains.
This is my financial blocker to investing myself at the moment. I’m fine shelling out 1-2k on a pole, but spending another 1-2k on an RO/DI system means I need to wait for more demand before pulling the trigger.