The water fed pole manufacturers of Reach-iT based in China have set up their first bricks and mortar store in the USA. Let us hope President Trump does not find out!

With 90% of Reach-iT’s current window cleaning supply business coming from the US, it makes sense for Reach-iT to start a chain of stores in this geolocation.

Yesterdays opening was celebrated with a party and a ceremonial ribbon cutting that included cutting through a strip of Black Diamond rubber. The party was joined from window cleaners from all over the United States including the Outlaw Window Cleaners group TJ Gilbert and Tim Huber ( Facebook fame) Casper Schjorring CEO of Black Diamond, Carrie Guenther of US Vs UK Window Cleaners, Richie Blue ( Gunslinger inventor) IWCA board member Jorge A and many more.

Reach-iT also reveals a surprise partnership with Black Diamond promising combined R and D projects on improving products for window cleaners.

“Nobody had looked at the BOAB design (Bucket On A Belt) for 50 years,” said Tait as he explained the partnership of Reach-iT and Richie Blue that had resulted in the Gunslinger, “We want to look at all window cleaning tools to see how we can progress them”.

“Our business partnership with Casper Schjorring of Black Diamond will be looking at redesigning and improving the squeegee rubber for example as well as many more products…” [paraphrased]

Playtime: 4.03

Synopsis: A return to Window wars and All County Window Cleaning

The story:

Back in 2013, we filmed a small fun video series called Window Wars. It was based on two competing window cleaning companies battling out for turf in the NJ and NY states of the USA. You can watch that here https://www.youtube.com/watch…
In 2014 we followed that up by returning with Peter Artusa: After Window Wars. You can watch that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch… Peter the smaller company of the two bought out the bigger company. The series follows Peter from day 1 as Peter as he is thrown into his new company. That company was All County Window Cleaning. In 2018 we revisited All County to check out their new office refurb and hang out with there workers.

Window cleaners are snapping up the latest innovation release by Reach-iT. Window Weapon a brand new water fed pole brush has already been reported for its ability at cutting through ‘BS’ and that’s no ‘bull’, rather its all ‘bird (poop)’.

Yes, Window Weapon destroys baked on, hardened glass debris such as bird poop with ease reporting savings in clean time of up to 50%! That’s HUGE!

Using the signature hydro blade the brush has a specially allocated space that allows users to place scrub pads of differing types. The result is the best of both worlds having the use of scrubbing power along with overhead ‘rinse as you go’ Hydro-Blade technology.

Mark Race of Race Team Window Cleaning, London has been one of the first in the UK to purchase Window Weapon. Having seen his profile post on Facebook tonight, we thought we would have a quick chat with Mark and find out how he is getting on with his new kit.

“It has to come up perfect every time,” Mark says, “Some of the buildings I am cleaning are worth 70 to 100 million pounds”.

Only having received his new brush in the post recently, Mark is super impressed at the efficiency. “I cleaned a job today, that was caked in bird muck. It’s not a big job, and I do it once or twice per year. Usually, it takes 2 hours to clean, I did it today in 40 minutes with the Window Weapon.”

When asked if he sees it more of a specialty brush Mark was confident in that Window Weapon will now form part of his daily ‘go to’ brush. “It’s absolutely awesome,” Mark says, “This brush is definitely an everyday brush. I work for high-end estate agents such as Knight Frank, I mean these people sold Stonehenge for a client of theirs a number of years back so you can see that the equipment I use is important. It has to do the job”.

“I clean in places like Mayfair,” Mark continues, “…and so getting a quality job done in less time saves me money on parking tickets (laughs). London streets are not exactly the best places to squeeze in a window cleaning truck at the best of times.”

Reach-iT hit the headlines a while back after releasing the innovative Hydro-Blade that transformed the Constructor Brush into a revolutionary idea of ‘rinse as you go’. The positioning of the jets within the Hydro-Blade bar is crucial in the ‘rinse’ science. This helped turn the Hydro-Blade into a hydrophobic glass buster.

This was not your standard rinse bar thinking and today its mind-boggling that no one else has considered this very small detail that changed everything for the Constructor Brush.

Window Cleaning Magazine is hoping to report direct from the Reach-iT factory in China at the end of the month. We hope to get a closer look at Window Weapon and more.

Where can you buy Window Weapon? Go to https://www.futureofcleaning.com/

Spotless Water outlets have been popping up slowly across the South of England. If you don’t know what Spotless Water is by now, I would have to ask where have you been for the past couple of years?

Briefly tho, for those that are unaware of how it all works let me just go over the concept real quick for you. Filling stations are placed around the country. At the filling stations, you can pay and decant as much or as little ultrapure water as required for your window cleaning business. You will need to open up an account with Spotless Water and you can access a map of filling sites as well as other information on their website. The filling stations work with a fob, and the functioning panel resembles something like a bank ATM. You can pay by card at the terminal or on your account whenever you fill from the pump just as you would with fuel for your car.

Spotless plan 450 sites in the UK and Europe over a four year period. With over 30 locations already in use, Spotless Water says that the quickest way to get a filling station in your area is to sign up for an account. “We are locating stations in areas we have the most number of customers set up with an account, this is a logical way of rolling out the network”, Tim Morris, Founder of Spotless Water told Window Cleaning Magazine yesterday. “Rollout is taking slightly longer than planned due to us looking for cleaning shop partnership deals which work really well compared to a standard self-storage site. Despite this we are still on track to install 5 stations a month for 2019”.

Tim Morris spoke to Window Cleaning Magazine back in 2018 ( Issue 23) in an extensive interview. He revealed an ambitious plan of having a filling station in reaching distance of most window cleaners, however, the rollout was mainly confined to the South of the UK at the beginning.

That has all changed now with the North benefiting from sites such as Liverpool, Manchester, and Leeds. Last week it was announced that the North would be getting another filling station 171 miles from the northern city of Manchester in Newcastle Upon Tyne.

“We are really pleased about Newcastle, the next step is Glasgow to get us into Scotland!”, said Tim Morris, “And we have Leeds, Gloucester, Cardiff going live by the end of the month as our next three stations”.

In summary:

So how can window cleaners make sure they get a filling station in their area? We asked Tim Morris and he said the more window cleaners that can sign up the better, in any one area as the priority is on demand. By signing up (for free) in your area window cleaners will not only show the demand for the area they will also be kept up to date as and when new stations go live. They will have everything they need to start using the stations including £20 free credit on their key fob.

For more information go to their website by clicking on this link – https://www.spotlesswater.co.uk/

SCROLL DOWN BELOW TO LEAVE YOUR COMMENT ON THIS TOPIC: WOULD YOU USE A FILLING STATION FOR YOUR PURE WATER SUPPLY?

Pressure washing business owner Matt Horn, 32, of Shelbyville, Kentucky found his work truck engulfed in flames as he drove to a local job last Wednesday.

Mr. Horn owner of Complete Wash Pressure Washing, told Window Cleaning Magazine, “I was heading to a job in Taylorsville when the gauges went nuts. Smoke filled the cab then by the time I got it pulled over the fire was coming out from the dash and up the windshield.”

What must have been a frightening ordeal for Mr. Horn he went on to explain, “…nobody was hurt and the Fire Department was there in just minutes after calling 911.”

As a matter of fact, the Firetruck had already spotted the burning inferno on I64 West between exits 32 and 35 before they were dispatched. Luckily they were traveling the opposite way down the Interstate. Amazingly, one of the fire crew that attended just happened to be the brother of Matt Horn.

Greg Horn was amazed at finding his brother as a victim of the vehicle fire he was dispatched to.

The speedy attendance helped save some of Mr. Horn’s equipment, however, he lost his 12V Roof Cleaning System with varied other items. The loss of equipment was around $1,200 dollars excluding the truck.

While Mr. Horn waits for the insurance on the truck to come through he was totally surprised to find he had become the recipient of kind donations that flooded in from the pressure washing community.

“All the guys in the industry banded and put together $1,720 dollars in donations! My equipment supplier, Russ Johnson of Southside Equipment in, Shepherdsville, KY also gave 200 dollars in store credit. He is my local equipment supplier and it was a really nice gesture for me to get whole again.”, said Mr. Horn, “ … donations raised $1,500 in only a few hours!”

“I believe there were 40 people who raised donations in all. Sean Kilgore added an additional $200 credit towards replacing equipment and supplies”.

Jamie Schmidt who owns a Facebook group called Pressure Washing Motivation started the community pledge. Mr. Schmidt owns a company called Greenway Pressure Washing, in Cherry Hill, NJ, and his FB group is for washers to motivate each other and share experiences. The Facebook Group began life in September 2017 and now has a following of nearly 3,000 members with what looks like solid community spirit.

Follow that Facebook Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/224352508099281/

Mr. Horn is genuinely taken aback from the generosity and he has told Window Cleaning Magazine, “They have already closed the fundraiser down per my request due to its fast success, I want to thank everyone that helped.”

A family member has lent Mr. Horn a truck in order for him to continue his business until the insurance company settles on the claim.

On returning to the burnt-out truck, Mr. Horn managed to salvage his completely toasted wallet. $240 dollars in cash was destroyed, however, he was able to recover his Mom’s ID who passed away in 2007.

( Pic below Left) Jamie Schmidt of Pressure Washing Motivation Facebook Community and (Right) Matt Horn

You simply cannot make this story up. Richard Hyde a residential window cleaner from Kettering who cleans a ton of properties in the area discovered how numerous window cleaners really are at his geographical location.

As he arrived at a customers house today he was joined by a further two separate window cleaning vans. Richard and his helper Dave could not believe it and sent his picture into Window Cleaning Magazine with the comment. “You got to laugh, three different window cleaning companies on the same streets at the same time.”

“A window cleaner was just ahead of us as we pulled up to our customer,” said Richard, “ I was just mentioning this to Dave as the third window cleaning van pulled up’. Asked if he thought there were too many window cleaners in Kettering, Richard stated that there was.

He also said that with his current workload he would be unable to cater for the proposed 10,000 new builds promised for the area as housing developments grow.

We then asked Richard how much work did he complete with Dave compared to the other two companies ( for fun). He laughed and said, “Put it this way we are super fast and super-efficient. We got three houses done in the space it took the other two vans to do one house. One of the vans had two window cleaners and the other van hand one window cleaner.”

“I was surprised that they were reeling out and in their hoses. I have electric Power Ups, and for me to go back to hand reeling would be like going back to the Stone Age”. Richard also commented on the fibreglass poles he noticed.

When asked if he had seen the increased competition reflect in the local pricing he said he had a little. “I do not want to be a busy fool”, said Richard, “ I had one detached house that had windows on all four sides. I charged them £15.00 per clean – they moved to a cheaper price of £13.00.

I am not interested in those that look to save a pound or two as there is always going to be someone out there that can do it cheaper than you”.

Post a comment and like for more content like this below. Tell us about the competition in your area, if any? Have you noticed prices drop? Have you noticed prices improve? 

Once upon a time, Gardiner Pole Systems produced a flocked Xtreme water fed brush. Sadly, this was discontinued after testing revealed a preference for the bristles to be shorter.

At the time, the factory machines would not allow the bristles to have the proverbial haircut that it needed and so to the disappointment of many hardcore Gardiner fans who loved the flocked brush watched helplessly as the line was discontinued and disappeared altogether from the online Gardiner store.

The Xtreme range of brushes are very popular with window cleaners finished off as a dual trim that currently come’s in medium & natural hybrid bristles or stiff bristles. However, the choice of bristle is set to increase with further options.

Note: If using heated water up to 75 degrees go for the stiff bristles since the medium/natural hybrid can only stand temperatures up to 30 degrees!

The Xtreme is favoured by window cleaners that are looking at weight savings, and comes in at a poultry weight of 95g – that should be light enough to help in those long summer days, right?

Rumours had been bounded around recently of an Xtreme flocked sill brush in the works. Window Cleaning Magazine can today defiantly say The Xtreme Sill brush will indeed soon be released! We asked Alex Gardiner CEO of Gardiner Pole Systems when Gardiner fans could expect to get their hands on the new range?

WCM: When can we expect to see the new brush range out?

AG: How long is a piece of string or how quickly can the engineer finish his other project to make the final tweak to the tooling? I am hoping within the next 5 weeks to have these on the shelf.

WCM: So why stop producing them in the first place?

AG: My decision to stop producing these at the time were mainly based on my own use as this was my most used brush in my own work. I decided that they were too ‘mop-like’ inaction which affected efficiency and longevity. Of course several of our clients disagreed and loved the brush, but my decision was final!

WCM: Do we expect more DuPont bristles in this range? 

AG: We hope to have 4 different bristle types – Standard, Flocked, Stiff, DuPont and we will also be introducing an industry first bristle material on these brushes.

WCM: How beneficial is the Xtreme range to the user?

AG: The weight factor is most prominent in this range but not very hard-wearing compared to our other brushes – however in the hands of the right user they last just as long as other brushes.

The Xtreme is best suited for when a very light brush is needed. This could be due to height or perhaps an operator with a compromised body.

WCM: It is difficult to cater to every need of every window cleaner. There is a compromise in the Xtreme brushes. Weight vs. longevity? 

AG: Absolutely it is very difficult for one brush to suit everyone – this is why with the introduction of these brushes we will have about 35 different brushes available, we believe that this is the world’s most comprehensive range of water fed pole specific brushes. The Xtreme range does suit those who rank lightweight above everything else.

Alex Gardiner told Window Cleaning Magazine that if the new Xtreme sill range featuring a fully flocked version, using shorter, better-flocked bristles is received well than die-hard Gardiner fans can expect to see a return of the standard flocked brush.

Don’t forget to like this post and leave a comment below. Tell us if you are using the Xtreme range currently.

Toolcraft Plastics, an established custom plastic moulding & vacuum forming company, has recently joined forces with Stephen Scargill of Aqueous Plastics to expand its services to include plastic fabrication.

“We already served a niche market with short-run, precision plastic moulding and vacuum forming. Plastic Fabrication is a logical extension to what we do.” says Russell Hemsworth, MD, “When we needed a new Production Supervisor, Stephen, with his extensive experience in plastic fabrication, was the right choice”.

Apart from reorganising Toolcraft’s production department, Stephen has kickstarted Toolcraft’s break into the plastic fabrication market.

Russell: “We have exciting times ahead as we expand our plastic fabrication service. We’re not only going to manufacture bespoke Waterfed Pole systems, but we’re also looking to develop a range of products that will improve both the efficiency and safety of Water Fed Pole Businesses.’

Below: Stephen Scargill working on a battery box and tank several years ago.

Stephen Scargill, Toolcraft’s fabrication specialist.

Stephen Scargill is, of course, a well-known name in the window cleaning business and brings great expertise and experience to Toolcraft. Stephen has worked in the plastic fabrication industry for 30 years, including 12 years in the Water Fed Pole Industry. During the 7 years he worked at Ionic Systems Ltd he was the Senior Fabricator and Fitter. He was often sent to distributors in Europe to teach them how to use the WFP systems and to advise on safe installation.

Stephen then set up his own company, Aqueous Plastic Fabrications, and designed a whole range of products for the Waterfed Pole Industry. One example of Stephen’s products is the Flat Tank System, which offers a great space-saving advantage: a flat tank incorporates most of the footprint of a vehicle with minimal height, so it’s possible to the cover over the tank and still uses the bed footprint for other things. When properly covered over, flat tanks can take up to 500kg of weight. Another benefit of the flat tank system is universal weight distribution: As the tank is utilising the entire footprint of the vehicle, the weight of the tank will be evenly distributed across the whole bed of the vehicle.

The Square Trolley System is also one of Stephen’s ideas. The Square Trolley is completely made from Polypropylene which makes it not only lightweight and easy to move, but also very chemical resistant so it’s suitable for Softwashing as well. As they’re fabricated, the trolleys can be made in any size the customer requires, from 25ltr-90ltr. All electrics – pumps, batteries, controllers – are hidden away for protection with an easy access recharge point for the battery.

Other new designs by Stephen include Softwash Systems; DI Vessel Holders; Hosereel Stands; Storage Modules and more.

Stephen: “It’s flattering to find that other suppliers keep trying to copy my designs. As I’m always thinking of new ideas & tweaks to improve them, the competition is left behind again soon enough”.

Why a bespoke system when a standard one is cheaper?

The main advantage of choosing a bespoke fabricated plastic tank is that bespoke tanks can be purpose-built to the user’s exact requirements, to the exact volume of water it needs to contain, or to the payload of the vehicle. Fittings, such as hose connectors, pumps & controllers, can be placed exactly where needed. Moreover, different thicknesses, finishes, and colours of plastic can be chosen, allowing for colour coded systems if needed. Finally, bespoke tanks can be made with a layer of insulation between two layers of plastic, instead of the single plastic wall of a moulded tank.

With a system built around a ready-made rotational moulded tank you are dictated to regarding the tank size, footprint and the location of all electrics and filtration. Ready-made tanks are a good bet for someone just starting up their own business, who don’t have very many jobs yet and don’t have the budget for a bespoke system. When a business takes off in earnest, they can progress to a bespoke tank that’s going to keep water hot throughout the day, isn’t going to leak and has the fittings placed where they’re most convenient.

Ready-made tanks are quicker to leak for two reasons. Due to the process, they’re made by, rotational moulding, they’re not the same wall-thickness throughout. They are also made from polyethylene which cannot withstand heat very well. Bespoke fabricated tanks have an even thickness throughout and in case of window cleaning tanks, they’re made of polypropylene which is much stronger and has much better chemical & heat resistance than the polyethylene used for standard tanks. To show the benefits of each more clearly, Toolcraft created this bespoke versus ready-made tank comparison.

What can Toolcraft do that others can’t?

“The advantage of starting the plastic fabrication service at Toolcraft is that Toolcraft already has an in-house design team – we’re working together to design even more new products. With 20,000 square foot premises and a full range of CNC Machines, Mills and fabrication equipment we’re ready to meet and fulfill any order. We can now also achieve designs that are not possible by fabrication alone, such as domed shapes, which can be created through vacuum forming and then incorporated into a fabrication afterward. Toolcraft can also Pad and hot foil print on plastic, to add logos, pictures or text to the fabricated products. All this will bring our fabricated products to a whole new level”, says Stephen.

It’s not just a plastic tank.

For the window cleaning market, Toolcraft can make any size tank needed from a simple water tank to a complete water fed pole system with all fittings needed, such as electric pumps, pump housings, filler tanks & hoses. Clips, mounts and screwthread bosses for hoses, pipes & immersion heaters can be added. As can fast-fill outlets, return pipes & valves for pressure washers and electrically controlled fill/shut off valves /solenoids. Other fittings include mounting points for power up reels; voltmeters; inline TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) meters and DI (De-Ionisation) vessel holders.

How does it work?

“First, we need all of the measurements and exact knowledge of the planned use of the tank, as well as the fittings that are required. We then design and fabricate the tank to your specific requirements. The customer can decide to fit the tank in their van themselves, or have us fit it”, says Stephen, who has helped well over 3,000 customers fit out their vans ready for window cleaning, oven cleaning, fascia cleaning…you name it.

Toolcraft Plastics Ltd are a family company and easy to work with. They welcome all inquiries. There is a dedicated fabrication quote form on the company website which asks for all the information needed to quote quickly. They aim to answer within 1-2 working days.

Have your say about this news story? Leave a comment below.