Automobile-less Window Cleaning

Actually, both to keep the water from freezing and for a better clean. We’ve cleaned with it down to -10 C. For super dirty jobs hot water cuts the dirt much better.

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how hot is that water? have you shattered glass?

It is pretty hot but no, not hot enough to break glass or to burn your skin. If I recall correctly it was in the 115-130 degree F range.

I’m in Vegas and I know it would take some serious planning (which I’m doing) to get this place divided into manageable sections for a bike trailer like you have. 90% of my work is along the perimeter of a semi-circle of the city and two-three areas should cover it with much better scheduling logistics than I currently incorporate. You are living a beautiful dream. Side not: is that Notre-Dame Basilica in the background?! Living in Vegas makes me miss a little, very little, the snow.

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Wow! Good eye you got there! Yes, it just the tip of the spires of N.D. Basilica. Have you visited Old Montreal before?

I do understand the for many guys out there a bicycle based business is just not possible but I love that you’re finding a way to possibly chop of your service area into “bikeable” sections. I look at it this way. If it doesn’t save you time, it will save you stress, money, head ache.

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pretty awesome marketing also imo

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I lived in La Salle and Longueil. Ottowa also but beside the government buildings it was not nearly as entertaining as the Island.

You can sometimes see people at first find it different, then funny, then there’s this “ahh” moment where they realize it just makes sense. I have business card holders on each side of the trailer almost at eye level. They are often empty by the end of the day :wink:

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just saw those card holders! That is a great idea. I really just want to cherry pick the locations like you’ve done. I choose my clients just as much as they choose me.

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Cool! Small world eh!

We bike out to the rapids on the St. Laurence over in LaSalle. There’s a beautiful bird sanctuary. Great place to spend the warm summer nights with picnic and some cold brew!

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If hot water gets a better clean why has it been a couple years since you’ve used it?

Wondering if it’s even worth my interest in setting one up?

It’s a few extra steps to set up. Extra equipment to maintain. Extra weight to carry. Extra expense.

We target market very precisely, buildings that will optimize profit with all of the above factors.

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Business meeting down by the docks…

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I like the trailer setup better, because it should be more stable. That picture way up above in this thread of the big tote above the front wheel is just crazy. I never liked baskets on the front of a bike because if the weight shifts it can make steering difficult,

I gave up driving cars and rode a bike everywhere for 6 and a half years, and I was in great shape. I still ride about 10 miles a day sometimes in the summer months, but last summer I got reminded of how out of shape I am now,

I live in the country and will have to drive about an hour to get to a nearby small city, so biking is not an option. However, I do plan on parking my vehicle and using a hand truck to board a city transit bus to get around town, because it can sometimes take an hour or more to find a parking spot in the places I will be servicing. Even the back streets with residential houses are required to have parking permits just to park outside of their own house. So, I was opting for the hand truck setup for walking the sidewalks, because there are no bike lanes and the traffic is horrible with crazy aggressive drivers. May try a bike later though if I can get a power assist set up or e-bike like you have. The areas I am targeting is too hilly for pedaling with my current health issues, but I may do a moped setup at some point. The hand truck might not be too bad though because I can walk 10 to 20 miles a day without issue. Was thinking of rigging a small step ladder on a backpack frame and then add a billboard on it for more advertising because I know that and the cart will be a head-turner, but it will need to be very light and for short distances with my bad back. I agree that some people admire the environment conscious minded business, so while I will be a turn off for traditional thinking people, I am sure there are some people who will dig it. If I were in Kansas where everything is flat, then I would definitely pedal it with a bike trailer.

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Hi! I am so impressed by your set up, @Pure_Water_Window_Cl!!! We have been running a small window cleaning business for about 2 years now here in Sweden. We work as a couple, me and my husband. Our intention from the beginning was to do all the cleaning nearby by bike and the rest (the few jobs we have on the countryside) by our small car. We still haven’t fixed our bike set up but after reading this thread I am so stoked to get started!! Been trying to find the perfect trailer, and then we are going to build the box with the help of really skilled relatives of ours :smiley:

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So @Pure_Water_Window_Cl what is the maintenance schedule that most of your customers are on? I would think that if every 6 months or annual you would still see a great benefit from hot water, so are your customers on monthly or quarterly? I will be using a van set up, so maybe the extra set up will be minimized.

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Hello and welcome!

Our cargo bike setups have really changed our lives. If you can realistically make the transition we cannot recommend it enough! We save thousands of dollars each year and 10’s of hours each month. Also, our marketing has never been so effective.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact us. We’re always updating our Instagram account “purewaterpurebike”.

Thanks,

Joshua

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We do bi-annual contracts for 70% and yearly for the rest. Even for yearly jobs without hot water is just fine. It might depend on what’s going on in the surrounding environment as far as debris.

We find the pay off for the extra equipment with a hot water setup does not out way the benefits for us. It’s a different story though, if you’re doing first time cleans that are super dirty… Then it’s amazing!

Thank you so much for your quick answer!

My first question is, what trailer did you use? And did you build the box yourself?

//Babette

Ok, I think for my area I will need it on the annual, but I will find out. Thanks for your quick response!

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