The Reach & Wash system arrived on the scene in 1997 and has gradually made a name for itself. In the eyes of many, it’s now number one ranked. It’s clear that in the commercial world, there is a great need for it, reaching windows that were once inaccessible, ensuring that the workforce stays safely on terra firma, and improving productivity which leads to cost savings. A real argument to say that traditional ladders are a non-starter, even on two or three-story buildings where they can be used. I mean, heated water kills algae, no detergents safer for the environment, and throw-in-the-frame washing, and surely it’s a no-brainer.
Water-Fed Pole vs Traditional Ladder and Squeegee
Well, call me sentimental, but I like the ladder approach, a clean window left dry and gleaming by a man with a smile while your sat at your desk. Not to mention staying dry when you leave the building some 30 minutes later, rather than the monsoon received from floor three as the water continues to cascade long after the telescopic pole man has left. If you ever wonder why you don’t see the same guy twice with the reach & wash, are they going off sick with frozen shoulders or slipped discs? Holding a seventy-foot pole in the air for 8 hours belongs in the circus.
Wanna see what traditional window cleaning looks like? Here is a quick video below.
On a serious note, I know it’s here to stay, and of course, there are many advantages, as mentioned, but the window cleaner is a trade like a milkman and a paperboy, so please let’s keep it real and leave the reach & wash in the commercial world, where it can be master of all the skyscrapers, demolishing any window cleaner who dares to lift a ladder.
However, to contemplate trying to impose the beast on the residential market, the very homes we live in is sacrilege.
An Ideal Scenario for a Window Wash
Imagine the scene the window cleaner arrives and smiles at the lady through the window who trots off to flip the kettle on. She returns expecting to see the man with his little ladder and shiny bucket and some little cloth that he hangs over the gate. What awaited her would make the milk curdle, a mile of pipes from the van hanging over the wall trailing around the front and back of the house. A man with a backpack and a large wand in one arm is disappearing into the clouds. She is unsure – was it the window cleaner, the fire brigade at best, or a ghostbuster at worse? Then she notices a large waterfall running past her front windows, now the front door, perhaps it’s the air force, and her house is floating away. She shuts her eyes, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.
Thank God. Hi Burt, how’s the new bucket, here are your cookies, and I’ll leave your money on the window sill.…
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