Window Cleaning News & Videos

Please note: Viewing the videos on this blog with Google Chrome may give unsatisfactory results due to the fact that Chrome is still in its Beta testing stage & not fully functional. Thanks to all that have emailed me.

Another installment from Mark Strange of "Beautiful View" from Toronto, Canada gives us a few more unbiased reviews of products in the window cleaners workplace. This time his opinion on tips for Ettore & Unger scrubber covers in this weeks edition of "Tool Talk."

Legacy: Hyman Golden, 1923-2008: Golden and two partners founded the upstart juice-and-tea company Unadulterated Beverage, later known as Snapple, in 1972. The company helped usher in a more varied and innovative beverage industry in the United States, and Golden made more than $100 million when Snapple was sold, first to a leveraged-buyout firm and then to Quaker Oats, which paid $1.7 billion for the company in 1994. But he had to watch as Quaker Oats botched combining the company with its own operations, sold it off for a mere $300 million, and in the process turned Snapple into a synonym for a failed acquisition. Golden died September 14 from complications of a stroke. He was 85. A high school dropout and onetime window washer, he was immensely proud of Snapple's success. Golden was raised by his father, a Romanian immigrant, after his mother died when Golden was just 4. By age 40, he had graduated from washing windows to brokering window washing businesses. He saved some money and with his partners started a little juice company in Brooklyn, New York.

Cleaning Services in Australia - Companies and Markets adds new report. This is the replacement for IBISWorld´s January 2008 edition of Cleaning Services in Australia report -Industry Market Research Synopsis. This Industry Market Research report from IBISWorld provides a detailed analysis of the Cleaning Services in Australia industry, including key growth trends, statistics, forecasts, the competitive environment including market shares and the key issues facing the industry.Industry Definition; This report relates to establishments mainly engaged in providing window, building, telephone cleaning or similar cleaning services (except carpet cleaning or shampooing services, steam cleaning, or sand blasting of building exteriors).

Santa’s workshop, Palestine, Texas: To help get ready for downtown visitors, volunteers have spent countless hours decorating and cleaning, including a group of teens from area high schools and a family from Jewett. According to Mary Alice Largent, nearly two dozen members of high school Interact clubs from Cayuga, Elkhart and Palestine and the children of ETMC First Physician Clinic manager Tammy Beddingfield helped to wash windows downtown on recent weekends. Many of the window washers are planning to come back to help as elves in the workshop, she added. “It went real well,” she said. “We had fun and got a lot of windows done. We also pulled garland and made it fluffy.” Their efforts even drew the attention of professional window washers from Sky High Window Cleaning who happened to be downtown and stopped to help with particularly tough spots, Beddingfield said.

Window cleaner spotted fire: A WOMAN who left food cooking while she went out returned to find the fire brigade waiting for her. The middle-aged woman left some chicken on the hob at her home in Bingley Grove, Woodley, while she went to the shop on Tuesday, but it caught light, settting off her smoke alarm and alerting a window cleaner, who called the fire brigade. Watch manager Phil Holdford from Wokingham Road fire station said: “She went out just for a minute and when she came back we were there and the house was full of smoke. “We would like to remind people not to leave any cooking food unattended.”

Magnetite Windows announce new franchises in Tasmania and New Zealand. Magnetite Windows (Australia) have opened new franchise offices in Tasmania and New Zealand. In addition to their existing 10 franchises throughout Australia, Magnetite Windows have recently established franchises in Burnie, Auckland and Wellington. Adrian Lafleur, Managing Director of Magnetite Windows said, “The decision to expand into the Tasmanian and New Zealand markets is part of our commitment to growing the business throughout the region. These three new locations fit with our strategy of taking Magnetite to places where affordable window insulation is becoming a necessity for homeowners.” The window system from Magnetite Windows insulates against heat and cold with the added benefit of significantly reducing energy costs. Magnetite Windows utilise innovative technology to provide insulation from outside noise and heat or cold. An optical grade acrylic panel attaches magnetically to window frames, creating an air tight space, which protects against noise and maintains a constant temperature within the home. Magnetite is unobtrusive, easily removed for cleaning and available in a range of colours to ensure the aesthetics and view of the window is not compromised. Ben Lafleur and Adrian Lafleur started Magnetite Windows over 10 years ago in their garage in Sydney. They first saw the product in the North America, at a time when this type of insulation was in its infancy and traditional double glazing was almost the only option for window insulation. They anticipated the enormous potential in Australia and now have 12 franchises across Australia and New Zealand.

Another hydrophobic coating: "At Fargil, in conjunction with a major US player in the glass industry, we have developed CLEARCOTE®. An unbelievable new product that keeps your windows (and any other glass for that matter) clean, streak free and protected from the elements. No need to install new glass - CLEARCOTE® can be applied direct to your existing windows! 100% of the problem in keeping normal glass clean is due to the surface being micro-porous. This allows the water to penetrate the surface, dragging all the dirt, bacteria and limescale with it. General pollution and even the detergent's we use to 'clean' the glass, all compound the problem. When the water evaporates, the impurities are all left behind, presenting themselves as streaks, smears or smudges on the glass.Fargil's NEW CLEARCOTE® Solution puts an end to this problem and generates a protective coating that is stain and scratch resistant. CLEARCOTE® creates a surface that 'beads' the water from it. Without the porous surface, dirt cannot be deposited on the glass and simply rolls off with the water, leaving the glass clean and dry!

UK: Jealous schoolboy Russell Brand. Russell Brand got an ex-schoolmate in trouble with police because he was jealous of him. The controversial comic has admitted he gave classmate Steve Reynolds' details when he was stopped by train inspectors for dodging rail fares 18 years ago.
Window cleaner Steve - who was 15 at the time - couldn't understand why police arrived at his house and accused him of not buying a ticket until he read Russell's confession in his autobiography 'My Booky Wook'. Steve now claims Russell was envious of him because he was a hit with the girls at their school. He said: "My identical twin Mark and I got a lot of attention from girls. "Russell's fondness for ladies is well known, so maybe he's angry about that even now. But I won't hold a silly grudge." Steve - who was quizzed twice by police before the case was dropped when rail staff didn't recognise him - was previously unaware of who had set him up and said it was a relief the case can finally be laid to rest. He added: "It's great to have closure. But it's a surprise Russell didn't like me. My parents will be pleased I'm exonerated."

Killer 'chopped' his victim with sword, UK: A killer wielding a sword almost sliced his victim's head in two after a row at a party spiralled out of control, a court heard yesterday. Scott Nesbitt struck Morgan Proctor with the weapon in the street earlier this year after the father of one had gone to retrieve his teenage niece from the party in the Townhead area of Glasgow after she became afraid for her safety. Nesbitt, 23, is facing a life sentence after admitting carrying out the attack on the 38-year-old, who suffered a 27cm wound and died within moments of being hit in the early hours of 3 May. The High Court in Glasgow heard that Mr Proctor's 16-year-old niece, Khara Keogh, and her boyfriend, Andrew Duff, had been at the flat in Taylor Place. Mr Proctor had gone to the flat with a number of other men, including Ms Keogh's brother, Stephen, after she rang to say she was worried they were going to be attacked. Andrew Miller, prosecuting, said: "Witnesses describe him as carrying an object which appeared to be a sword with a blade of around two feet in length and two to three inches thick. "He was seen to run towards Morgan Proctor and swing the sword with both hands, striking him on the face."A post-mortem examination found Mr Proctor, a window cleaner, had suffered a 27cm wound, 9cm thick, which sliced across his face. Mr Miller said it caused "almost complete detachment" of the jaw from the upper face. The damage of the jugular vein and other vital arteries caused death. Nesbitt then ran off towards his home nearby, as others rushed to help Mr Proctor. The court heard that, despite the emergency services being called, Mr Proctor died almost instantly.

Makateb consolidates portfolio of 'lifestyle-oriented' office building services with entry of leading international facilities management firm. Makateb Holding, the first Office Building Operator Company in the world, has announced that it has recently established a partnership with Sungwon, the pioneering Facility Management Company in South Korea, to be the Facilities Management Division of Makateb Holding. The partnership sustains Makateb Holding's expanding operations across the UAE as the company takes advantage of the country's huge growth potential amid the surge in construction projects all over the country. The partnership with Sungwon will enable Makateb Holding to deliver a full range of integrated Facilities Management services, including consultancy services, mechanical and electrical maintenance, lifecycle costing, energy management, cleaning, security services, landscape maintenance, window cleaning and building maintenance. Furthermore, the partnership will reinforce Makateb Holding's portfolio of services that are based on a revolutionary new concept that enhances the working environment and delivers optimum business value to office building tenants.
"Makateb Holding is consolidating its portfolio in accordance with the company's commitment to address emerging and future requirements of the business community, particularly among office building tenants. Sungwon OBO has been widely recognised for its world-class Facilities Management services, which is clearly manifested by its impressive client portfolio that includes some of the most prestigious organisations in South Korea and the Middle East region. The company boasts of 35 years of operations, with 3,000 employees and a portfolio of more than thousand projects. This partnership will definitely reinforce our market stronghold and allow us to deliver a wider range of services and maintain the high level of satisfaction of our clients," said Hisham Abdel Ghani, Chairman, Makateb Holding.