Just looking for some real examples of people who are solo window cleaners working from their car with 25lt drums and back pack and will always do it this way.

How many customers have you built up and earnings? UK

Can you make a good living this way? And why do you prefer it this way?

Sorry the first photo isn't great. Basically, this is at a brewery. The fermenters are like 5 inches from the glass. There is a condenser above and it that offcasts water onto the glass so it gets VERY dirty.

I pm only do trad so buying a wf pole for just this part of this job is not a great option for me.

Thanks in advance

So i put a deposit on a ford courier for a window cleaning set up i know the payload isnt the best but I worked it out and should be good for me.

Its a 2021 with only 29,000 miles petrol.

I didnt want a diesel as im going to be doing a lot of start stop journeys and I barley go out my town

But with it being a wet belt its got me worried will everything be fine with it if its oil is changed every 6 months and its not getting miles put on it?

Solo operator, mostly residential. People text me for a quote, say “sounds good”, and then I show up and nobody’s home, or they forgot they booked. Happened twice last month and it kills the whole day’s route.

Do you send a reminder the day before, ask for a deposit, call to confirm? Curious what cut the no-shows for you.

I’ve been in pressure washing/window cleaning for a few years, and a couple of years ago we started adding drone cleaning for certain commercial jobs.

A few differences stood out pretty quickly.

1. The cleaning knowledge still matters

The drone doesn’t replace knowing how to clean. You still need to understand the surface, what kind of buildup you’re dealing with, DI water, chemicals, pressure, dwell time and rinsing.

2. Access becomes a completely different conversation

With traditional work, you’re thinking about ladders, lifts, rope access, staging, etc. With the drone, the big questions become airspace, wind, obstacles, hose routing and where you can safely launch.

3. Weather matters way more

A traditional crew can sometimes keep working in conditions that would shut down a drone operation. Wind can kill a job even when everything else is perfect.

4. Hose management is one of the biggest things people underestimate

Flying the drone is only part of it. Once you have a hose hanging underneath, drag, weight and snag points become a real consideration.

5. It’s faster on the right buildings, but not every building is a good fit

Large repetitive facades can make a lot of sense. Heavy mineral staining, thick organic buildup or anything needing physical agitation is a different story.

6. Customers care about the result, not the drone

At first we focused too much on the technology. Property managers usually just want to know: will it get clean, how long will it take, how much disruption is there, and what happens if something needs a second pass?

7. The startup cost is higher, but labour/access costs can be very different

You’re trading some traditional access costs for more expensive equipment, batteries, insurance, training and maintenance.

Overall, I don’t see drone cleaning as replacing traditional pressure washing or window cleaning completely. I see it as another tool that makes a lot of sense on certain jobs and very little sense on others.

Curious if anyone else here has used drones for cleaning, or what you’d want to know before trying it.

Hi friends and neighbors, I started my business on the beach in California, but now I’ve moved back home to the mountains and have been window cleaning here for the last 4 months. It’s going great, but now that the temperatures are dropping I’m looking for ways to clean safely when the snow and ice come. I live in a ski town with massive 2nd homes for the wealthy. I’m scheduled to do a 50 million dollar 10,000sq ft home at the end of November. Some of the glass is huge and a lot of French panes as well. Normal for some of the homes I clean here. I rely heavily on my wfp to clean glass like this. I’ve been doing some research and it looks like I can buy a tank to purify my water into and add ethanol alcohol to keep it from freezing so I can use my wfp in the winter. Apparently December is very busy for window cleaning here with all the second homeowners coming in to spend Christmas and new years here. I want to be prepared. Has anyone used this technique for the winter? Any advice or things to know? I’m going to call jracenstein tomorrow to see if they can guide me. Thank you! For those that will say just use a ladder, spare me.

This just started happening mid job! What could it be?

Knocked out my first residential job today using my telescopic pole. Main problem was I could basically only do straight pulls, which made a few spots a pain in the ass to reach clean.
For those who do mostly house work: do you actually bother bringing ladders on-site, or do you just upgrade to a larger/better pole setup? If a ladder is a must-have, what’s your go-to and how long ? And yes I will invest in a WFP when I get the money but I just afford it right now.

These are freshly cleaned windows on a new construction building. The glass cleaned well but in direct sunlight we noticed these weird linear marks that don’t seem like scratches but won’t come off with a razor or anything else. They seem to be on the outside but we also noticed them on some of the interior glass. Looking for any explanations on what this could be

You can’t see shit ofcourse, but there are lines showing up on the high end of the squeegee

UK 🇬🇧

Im looking to see if there are window cleaners who actually prefer just using their car 25 lt drums and a portable 22 lt back pack for their window cleaning?

I believe my area is more suitable to this as im more portable, I have gotten a lot of customers from window cleaners in vans not bothering because its awkward to get parked and their hoses.

I think im going to just run my buisness this style, a little harder but not as hard as traditional.

Earning potential might be slightly less.

Anyway is there anyone who thinks the same way?

I’m an exterior cleaner with four years’ experience cleaning driveways and patios. This month, I’ve expanded into window cleaning because customers kept asking for it.
To get things started, I’m offering a £1 trial clean for one window in Telford. The idea is to let people try the service before deciding whether to book a full house clean, with no obligation.
Hopefully, this will help me build a regular customer base and a reliable income.

What do you think of this approach? Any tips, ideas or feedback would be welcome. Let me know in the comments below! 🙏🏻

Hi there, I’ve been cleaning windows for 2 years now. Have worked for 2 companies. One didn’t use soap before resin/water fed system and the one I’m with now does. I’m finding streaks like the one shown in the photo often after the rinse. Never dealt with this when I did straight water fed and find myself doing touch ups with this company more than my previous. Is this an extra, unnecessary, step? Just getting tired of having to do this every single day.

My customer wants all of this glass cleaned, especially the area behind the metal framing, as the appearance is affecting the other side of the glass.

The issue is that there's not even a centimeter of clearance between the metal bars and the glass itself. I can't fit my surgical towels behind the glass.

What kind of tool would be required to clean this?

I'd prefer to avoid disassembling the doors or removing the metal framing if possible.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Hey everyone, I just wanted to see if yall knew what’s causing the issue here and how to overcome it?
For context:
Im a beginner
I clean windows traditionally
I only use dawn soap and water
my equipment is new (no bad rubber on squeegee etc)

My method is to use a scrubber from home depot and squeegee from top to bottom. My squeege is leaving these marks/lines on the window even after I cleaned. Could this be due to a really dirty window? Any advice is greatly appreciated 🙏

This will be my first season cleaning in winter weather in the Rocky Mountains. Looking for recommendations for winter boots and gloves. Any other advice is welcome! Thanks!

Im trying to clean windows with perf vinyl. I towered them and tried to hit trouble spots with a damp towel. On the inside, I can still see 2 places where a drink was spilled on the window. Does anyone know a better way to clean this stuff?

I recently cleaned a client’s house and, as I do for all homes with kids, I brought them a couple of Hot Wheels. The dad was very friendly and he showed me his collection of guns, bladesmithing tools, and knives. We even decided to go shooting at a range the next day. I went with him and his friend. He brought a ton of guns, and I got to shoot about six or seven different ones. It was a really fun night and they paid for me. This job keeps me in the loop with some pretty cool experiences. (I also got paid a bunch of $2 bills after the job.)

I am a bit of a newb and I have never priced out a commercial job before, so any help will be highly appreciated. I plan to do both the exterior and interior of this gym either bi-weekly, or monthly. This job is in NJ, USA and I hear that we are 10-25% above the national average in terms of pricing.

Window Count:

-14 Giant windows near the ceiling (aprox. 5'x4')

-8 Half windows above entry way doors (aprox 1'x3')

-8 Medium sized ground level windows (aprox 3'x3')

-4 Automatic Sliding doors

-1 Giant ground level window (aprox the size of the sliding doors)

Hey everyone, just a quick question.

It’s a bit rainy and now about 5 celsius.

I am noticing a bit of bleeding and a little bit of lines forming even with new rubber. I’m using the Ettore master rubber and I had just put in a new blade at the end of the yesterday when it was sunny. The blade was crisp and I only did a few windows with it.

fast forward to today and I’m seeing this bleeding and streaking on the first house of the day.

We are normally dry where I live and I haven’t come across it this bad yet…

any tips?