In recent times, the water fed pole system has become the staple method for more and more window cleaners. Many made the move over to pure water window cleaning from traditional window cleaning methods years ago. Still, others have started their careers on the water fed pole system. We take a look at 5 reasons why you should still maintain, or even develop, traditional window cleaning skills.
1) Interior Window Cleaning
Perhaps the most obvious reason, maintaining your traditional skills allows you to continue to offer a good quality interior window cleaning service. Whilst there are interior water fed pole options on the market, these are usually more suited for commercial applications, meaning traditional methods are still the most effective for residential work. Regular or one-off interior window cleaning jobs can be lucrative, so it’s key that you have the skills required to carry out a flawless job and at a pace that is profitable.
2) Special Requests
Whether it’s because they’re convinced it doesn’t work, or the last window cleaner pulled their favourite plant pot over with his hose, some customers really have it in for the water fed pole system – and won’t be persuaded otherwise. You might find yourself being asked to make an exception and clean a customer’s windows using traditional methods. In the early days of the water fed pole system, this probably wouldn’t be worthwhile, as traditional window cleaning prices were fairly consistent with water fed pole prices and the job would take longer and require you to carry extra equipment. Nowadays, as traditional window cleaners become much harder to find, the service has almost become specialist. As a result, you’re much more likely to be able to charge more than you would to use the pure water system, meaning it could very well be worth your while.
3) Specialist Windows
There are some circumstances where the water fed pole system just isn’t suitable for certain types of windows. As an example, traditional leaded and stained glass windows, often hundreds of years old, are very delicate and not particularly water tight. As a result, traditional methods are a less risky and more effective solution for cleaning these kind of windows. Again, it can be offered on a specialist basis meaning you are able to charge more for the service.
4) Hard to access windows
The water fed pole system is renowned for allowing window cleaners to get to hard to reach windows, but there are odd occasions where that isn’t always the case. A common example is balconies, where the railings prevent access by a water fed pole, and where the position and depth of the balcony is such that even using a water fed pole from the balcony isn’t possible.  Other examples are interior courtyards and areas too far from your vehicle or where trailing hoses are not possible. Whilst portable water fed pole options are available, traditional window cleaning methods can be a cost effective alternative.
5) Equipment failure
Some window cleaners choose to carry their traditional equipment as a backup solution. If any components of your water fed pole system fail part way through a day or job, it might make sense to use traditional methods to complete the job, your work that day or to carry on working until you’re able to get your water fed pole system back up and running. Whilst you wouldn’t want to mix window cleaning methods without cause (as soapy residues from traditional methods can interfere with the pure water finish) it can be a way of minimizing the damage to your earnings in the event of equipment failure.
