Window Cleaning & Carpet Cleaning A To Z
Synopsis
Window Cleaners • Large business and industrial firms often employ window cleaners on a permanent basis. There are many well-known window cleaning companies. • Window cleaners work in both private homes and in offices washing glass surfaces. You will find them in many other types of buildings. • They clean more than just windows. They often polish mirrors, glass partitions, and other glass surfaces using sponges, brushes, or wet cloths.
• Window cleaners work on windows that are above the ground floor quite often. This takes some bravery. They use ladders, scaffolding, or swinging seats. Oftentimes they have to crawl outside through windows to get to the safety belts and brackets used to support them.
The Best Windows Cleaners • Vinegar and water: by using distilled white vinegar and water, you can have sparkling clean windows. The vinegar will remove the grime and film from the glass; leaving your windows sparkling cleans and streak-free. Just mix together like portions of vinegar and water; pour into a spray bottle, and you have yourself some homemade window cleaner, that will work better than the store bought chemicals you buy; and an added bonus, you do not have to worry if your little ones get a hold of this stuff, it is not going to poison them in the least being made from edible products, (might give them a bit of a tummy ache from the distilled vinegar, but no need to call the poison control center). • Non-liquid cleaning: when windows are only slightly dusty, you can use a dry cloth to dust the windows, or a piece of newspaper or chamois cloth. Sometimes you may need to dampen the cloth a bit, but for the most part, just a clean cloth will dust the window and leave it looking clean again. • Borax and cornstarch: These two ingredients, together with some white distilled vinegar will also work wonders on your windows. With just two tablespoons of borax and three cups water. Use the borax and cornstarch cleaner and then wipe away with white distilled vinegar. • Other cleaning agents: Lemon juice also works wonderful for cutting grease, and clean glass surfaces. Just used a tablespoon of lemon juice in a quart of warm water. Put in a spray bottle like with the vinegar and water mixture, and you have yourself a spray cleanser.
Commercial Window Cleaning • Some roofs on buildings do not have enough roof anchors or “tie off points”, therefore, the commercial window cleaning company has to use mobile roof anchors. Exterior window cleaning can be done with the use of a “Bosun’s Chair” In these cases. A Bosun’s chair is an apparatus that keeps the window washer suspended in the air in order for them to clean high rise windows. The Bosun’s chair is usually just a plank of board or a piece of heavy material such as canvas, that is connected to ropes or chains—not unlike the same type of harnesses used when rock or mountain climbing. • Another way commercial window washers clean a high-rise building is with the use of scaffolding. Scaffolding, is a device that is constructed temporarily to assist construction workers or window washers in doing their job in areas that are too high for a standard ladder. Scaffolding can be dangerous to use if it has not been constructed with the proper safety measures in place.
The Cost of Commercial Window Cleaners • The cost of commercial window cleaning can vary company to company and for various reasons; such as, are the windows singlepane or double? How many windows are there? Also, a very good concern the company will have is your business on one or more floors? Most companies will charge a flat rate per pane, and extra if double-pane; if the windows are to be cleaned inside and out that is something else to be addressed. • If you have a building with several floors, such as a high rise building, you will need to get an estimate on the price first because companies tend to charge a bit extra for high-rise commercial window washing due the danger it poses for their employees and the extra insurance the company has to carry to protect their employees. • • • • • • •
Some additional charges you will have to think about include: The cleaning of screens, if any Cleaning storm windows; Cleaning any window frames Cleaning any skylights Any exterior light fixtures Also, cleaning any window wells
DIY Commercial Window Cleaning • How To Get It Done Like A Pro In 5 steps 1.
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Fill your bucket about half way with cold water . Hot water will evaporate the water too quickly. Then add a few squirts of detergent. Apply the detergent-water mix to the window. Take your brush or sponge and pass it along the window to get any debris your squeegee may not be able to pick up. If you need to use the scraper for those tough obstacles, be sure to pass it in a forward direction only! Doing otherwise can cause scratches on the glass. Now get your squeegee ready. Starting from the top left, drag your squeegee in a reverse-S pattern(if you are left handed, start at the top right). Be sure to dry your squeegee before your next run! This prevents any streaks from forming due to the excess water left on the squeegee. Finally, use a microfiber cloth to dry your windows.
Commercial Window Cleaning Services • Professionals just have tools most people are not going to find under their kitchen cabinets. Pressure washers are an example, but that is more of a garage item anyway. If you are in a high rise building, the building owners may employ a cleaning company and part of your rent will go towards paying them. If you own the building, you can get a free estimate for services and have a tenant meeting to discuss price. Tenants should be responsible for windows in their own units or offices but the company may offer discounts to them because they do the exterior of the building. • Indoor windows being clean will not only impress visitors, it will improve employee morale. Sunlight is a huge mood booster, and when you clean windows it removes dust and allergens from corners where they can recirculate. This improves employee health meaning fewer sick days! Also, it is one less thing you have to ask your staff to do which increases their productivity. If a qualified professionals do the work, it is insured, and really anytime chemicals are involved professionals should be employed. • Results are better and longer lasting when you hire a window cleaning company. They know how to get the grime off, dry and squeegee the windows so that it does not reaccumulate right away, and they know how to get into all of the crevices that keep the borders from looking crisp. There is nothing like looking out a window with a dust frame, but it is more than that. If there is a problem with the caulking on a window, it can be caught and repaired in time. Many commercial companies will have that as part of a package deal.
The Best Window Washers • Certain tools such as a chamois cloth are best used for window washing to scrub the dirt and grime away, followed by the use of cheesecloth for buffing and shining the glass. Other tools needed to clean the glass are water and a squeegee—the squeegee is a cloth covered tool with a handle that can be used to scrub difficult parts of the glass. Certain chemicals can be added to the window washing solution, such as dish soap and glass cleaner to Trisodium Phosphate and etching salt. When the weather gets to sub-freezing temperatures, there needs to be another chemical that is added to prevent the liquid from freezing on the glass before it can be wiped off. • When cleaning windows that are several feet above ground, to avoid using a ladder, the use of a “water-fed” pole can be used to spray water jets and cleaner on the glass and then spray clean water on to rinse the chemicals away. These poles can be fed from water tanks that are on a truck; or they can be sourced from the local water outlet.
Window Washers for Your Home • Number of windows
• Some professionals charge by the window and if you have a lot of windows, this may not be the one for you. If you have very few windows but they are large, go with a per window company. Why? Because the other option is to charge by the home’s square footage. If you have several larger windows, you probably have a large home. As a general rule, the more windows you have, the more dollars they will charge.
• Screens
• Window screens will have to be taken off to get to the window. Window screens also need to be cleaned. You can tell them not to clean them but expecting your windows to look and stay clean with dirty screens is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos. The price will go up a bit but the results will last longer.
• Sills and tracks
• This may actually be included in the cost of typical window repair, but it is a nice reminder of why it is so awesome to have a professional do this.
Window Washers for Your Home • Have you ever gone the extra mile and tried to clean the sills and tracks of your windows? There are not enough Q-tips, toothbrushes, and bottle brushes in the world to do the job a pro can do with their tools.
• Multi-level
• Newer homes have made cleaning windows, even on the second floor, harder to ignore. They have this thing where you can just fold the window inside to clean the outside. There is still the portion of the window that does not move, the screen, and those pesky sills and tracks though. If you have a multi-level home, it is just best to have someone come and take care of it for you. Save the fancy fold in windows for a day when you are stir crazy with nothing to do. Psst. If you have those windows it could knock down the overall price. Ask your window cleaning professional.
• How dirty are your windows?
• If you have a lot of stuck on dirt and mineral deposits, no worries. A professional will have the tools and chemicals to get the job done. This may increase the cost, but it has to be done before the price can go down next time.
Getting a Commercial Carpet Cleaning • How often do Manufacturers recommend carpet cleaning?
• Carpets should be cleaned once a year, particularly if they are in high-traffic areas, as commercial traffic carpet is. Carpet manufacturers actually recommend cleaning every 12-18 months for optimal care of the carpeted area. • If your carpet is a “nylon” based carpet, it is important to clean it often, nylon contains a “hydrogen molecule” which is what causes the carpet to literally bounce back to life when it has been cleaned.
• Hot Water Extraction and Steam Cleaning
• This is another term that is most incorrectly called “steam cleaning.” With “hot water extraction” cleaning, it is quite different from actual steam cleaning. What happens with this sort of cleaning is that hot water (usually combined with a cleaning solution to get rid of any stains) is sprayed onto the carpet and then sucked off with the machine. This is actually quite different from steam cleaning. Today’s carpet cleaning era is using the two terms interchangeably—hot water extraction and steam cleaning.
Benefits of Professional Carpet Cleaning Professional cleaning will eliminate allergens, smelly particles, and pollutants that are trapped in the carpet.
It is the only way to eliminate carpet mite infestations effectively. In the parts of your building that are humid, professional carpet cleaning helps prevent mildew and the growth of mold.
Having your Commercial Carpets Cleaned • With a professional steam cleaning machine, the professionals use either a portable or a truck mounted machine. Portable units are much easier to bring inside to apartments or condos; however a truck mounted machine has much more power and can clean even the dirtiest of carpet. • There are so many do-it-yourself steam cleaners on the market, many wonder if it is cost-effective to hire a professional at all; however, for small areas, it is okay to “do-it-yourself” but for the deeper stains, you’re much wiser to call the professionals.
• Risks of “doing it yourself” • Along with anything else, when you chose to “do-it-yourself” you must ensue you do it correctly. The carpet should not remain very wet after a professional machine has cleaned them, however, with a home style machine; it often isn’t powerful enough to suck out all the water and therefore, leaves the carpet very wet. Do not put your furniture back on the wet carpet. Use fans to dry the carpet first. There are so many things that can go wrong when trying to attempt to steam clean your carpet yourself; such as too much cleaner being used, not knowing the speed to go along the carpet when putting on the cleaner and then sucking it off; you are much better off and in the long run it will be more cost effective to call a professional.
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