More Window Cleaners On Bicycles

Joe's bike trailer. Click to enlarge.

Joe's bike trailer: Joe runs his window cleaning business from Waltham, a western suburb of Boston and goes around his jobs on his bike. Needless to say the dude is fit. This shot above was taken at a mobil station in Newton. Gas is expensive... Joe ain't playin'! After yesterdays blog on cargo bikes for window cleaners, here's more of the same. The next big thing could be this.

Antony Cairns cycles to work with all his window cleaning equipment attached to his bicycle.

Cycling makes environmental and economic sense for local window cleaner: Antony Cairns has been selected as a Green Streets champion for Fitzrovia. Antony is a window cleaner and travels into Fitzrovia by bicycle from his home in Somers Town. The Green Streets campaign is part of Camden Council‘s plan to encourage more walking and cycling in Fitzrovia and was officially launched yesterday (Tuesday 21 February 2012). For Antony cycling not only makes environmental sense it also makes a lot of economic sense. “I can get around quickly and cheaply and easily carry my buckets and gear,” says Antony.

He was asked to be a green champion because his work brings him into contact with lots of businesses and people in Fitzrovia and he is an ideal example of someone using cycling as a way to get around. “As a window cleaner I get to meet a lot of people and a variety of businesses in Fitzrovia. I’m also able to put people in touch with each other through my work,” says Antony who runs his own business.

“I got chosen as a green champion through these connections I have in the neighbourhood. I clean windows all over Fitzrovia. Lee Lyons of the Fitzrovia Partnership had seen me and said that Woof London, a marketing agency, were looking for suitable people to be green champions for a campaign that Camden Council were running. Lee thought I’d be good at this because I was using a bicycle to get around.

“It’s easy for me to promote cycling because riding a bike is so necessary for me to do my job. People are often impressed that I carry all my gear on the bike including a folding ladder,” says Antony. Most of his work is in Fitzrovia, but Antony also cycles to do a number of window cleaning jobs in, Regent’s Street and across the river in Waterloo. Antony has been a window cleaner for five years and has always got around by either walking or cycling.

George Williams, seen in Westmont in 2005, washed the storefront windows of businesses in South Jersey for over 20 years and was friends with many of the business owners. He had a passion for music and often sang as he worked. Click to enlarge.

For more than 20 years, George Williams made his living by washing windows — riding his bicycle from wherever he was living to shopping centers and homes stretching from Pennsauken to Deptford. He was a free spirit whose life was pretty much a mystery to the people he met, providing them with clean windows, songs that came from the heart and conversation that revealed a simple yet deep outlook on life. And when Williams died last month, he left a void in the lives of those he touched.

Simple alternative.. Window washer's trike. Austin, texas.

The Pedal Power Warehouse is open for business. The business? Creating any bicycle machine the human mind can concoct. One is custom-made for a window washer. Many are trailers and three-wheelers. One is even a bicycle bus. But don't call the funky vehicles "weird." Free Cycles builds commuter bicycles for adults and children. The Pedal Power Warehouse will focus on more industrial uses. A window washer, for instance, wanted a bicycle that could haul the business around. So Joel Williams, who works at the warehouse and also operates The World of Bicycles, designed a bicycle outfitted to haul tall ladders, short ladders and window-cleaning supplies. The bike can take a beating, too. Williams hopped onto the back and jumped up and down as hard as he could to demonstrate its stability. The vehicle didn't rattle. "If it can take that, it can take anything," Williams said.

This is a feature story on a man who washes businesses' windows in downtown Bakersfield, all while riding his bicycle.

 

Window Cleaner On A Bicycle: Window washer cleans up pedaling around Downtown: Phillip Prado is building a window-washing empire one storefront at a time. A gregarious businessman with a bucket of soapy water dangling from his handlebars, Prado washes the windows of more than 100 shops a week, many of them Downtown. Beside the clear benefits of the job — no boss, no overhead — there’s another boon that some people don’t realize: the money. “You wouldn’t think a guy like me with a bucket on his bike has a boat and antique cars, but it’s a good business,” Prado said as he swabbed the windows of the Reade St. Animal Hospital on a recent morning. “Window-washing does OK for itself.”

Prado, 45, started Squeaky Clean Windows five years ago, after selling a similar business in Staten Island. Since then, his electric bike has become a familiar sight on Lower Manhattan’s streets, even on the coldest days of winter. While many window-washers take the winter off, glass accumulates grime year-round, so Prado works year-round, too. He wears waterproof gloves from Alaska and a battery-operated heated suit that keeps him at a toasty 78 degrees. “Even when it’s snowing, I’ll go out with antifreeze to wash the windows,” Prado said. Full story here.

Window-cleaner's Bike. Interesting bike trailer, that features the ladder it transports as part of the design, a space between the rungs in the rear of the trailer makes a handy space to store your bucket. Click to enlarge.

St Paul Minnesota, Marshall Ave' -Window Washer on bike pulling ladder and gear. Click to super enlarge.

Kevin, Window Washer. He is a self-described wanderer... Homeless by definition, but he has many window cleaning contracts throughout Alberta and B.C. that he travels to, using Calgary as a home base. And also a very interesting character too... he was proud to show off his cover story in the U of C newspaper, The Gauntlet. Click picture to enlarge.

Beckon Call is owned by Jim Ordway.

Sustainable Window Cleaning: Beckon Call is reducing it’s carbon footprint. Sustainable processes need to be… well sustainable.  Cost can’t outweigh benefit and so on.  In a previous post I talked about the challenges I had with the first generation green cleaning chemicals and I really did not want to repeat that.  It is counter-productive to implement new processes or procedures that do not work, no matter how good it might sound in theory.

Our current cleaning process uses less water than traditional methods.  Pretty cool, but I wanted more than that.  Yesterday we rolled out a new process, and I think it is going to be great! A customer gave it the name of “Beckon Call à la carte” and it is our bicycle/trailer set-up. This is being used in place of gasoline powered vehicles to service business accounts in the downtown core and other flat areas in Corvallis.  The Beckon Call à la carte will be expanded to other areas we service as leg strength and cardiovascular improves… it’s a work in progress.

Beckon Call à la carte is great for the environment.  It reduces fuel consumption, one less vehicle taking up space at our customers location and it’s great for maintaining a healthy body. There are so many positives to doing this, the only regret I have is… I did not do it sooner! It was first put into use on Monday March 7th (2011) and so far I have heard a lot of positive comments and appreciation for doing the right thing.  I would like to hear what you think and any ideas that you might have!

Local Window Washer Pedals Down Gas Bill: Beckon Call provides service for residential, commercial and retail customers in Corvallis, Albany and Eugene.  With rising prices and a push for more sustainable practices, Beckon Call has started using a bicycle and trailer to service a large portion of their retail customers. "It just makes sense," Ordway said.  "It's really great for the environment, the MPG is literally infinite and I'm getting into shape." The bicycle and trailer set-up, dubbed Beckon Call à la carte, is not practical for all the jobs Beckon Call performs.  Any job that requires ladders taller than a 4-foot step ladder or heavy tools still requires a non-human powered vehicle.  "I've been told I can get a trailer that will haul some of the bigger ladders, but with safety a major concern for this type of work it's just not practical.  It would be very difficult to exert all the energy required in getting a big ladder to the job via bike and be ready to climb up and down ladders."
When asked what other sustainable processes Beckon Call is doing Ordway said, "Beckon Call has been utilizing a reduced water process for washing windows since we started.  In the near future we would like to start harvesting rain water to make that even more efficient.  It really is fun to work through all the different options and find practical ways to implement some great ideas." Ordway said he was surprised at the number of positive comments from community members, "I knew it would be well received, but I was not expecting people to approach me and thank me for doing this.  The fact that they are, well that's awesome!" So, if you notice the Beckon Call truck parked around town,  there's a good chance they are in sustainable mode, pedaling from customer to customer washing windows.

Ladder Bike Trailer: Some bike hacks are elegant and you might not even notice them. Hornby Island is a small island off the east coast of the larger Canadian island of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The locals tend to be artsy types that live paycheque to paycheque. Typically they support their art habit and laid back island lifestyle with self-taught handyman skills. My wife and I recently encountered this sketchy set up that appears to part of a window washing business. The ladder does double duty as the trailer and holds the extension brushes. The front end is attached to the bike via a couple of strips of strapping and cannibalized bike tubing that swings (and grinds) the seat post and the main frame. The re-purposed bike trailer at the far end holds the smaller stuff. The rear end makes use of the ladder's hollow rungs and the cross piece of the trailer. A second cross piece prevents the trailer from "rocking" fore and aft.

This guy using a trailer for his window cleaning business. Click to enlarge.

Cargo bikes: “A growing number of businesses are using cargo cycles, a move towards sustainable and free-flowing city traffic that is now strongly backed by public authorities. Research indicates that at least one quarter of all cargo traffic in European cities could be handled by cycles. And, by using special distribution hubs, larger vehicles and electric assist, this proportion could be even larger. A cargo cycle is at least as fast as a delivery van in the city – and much cheaper to use, giving a strong economic incentive to make the switch. Cargo cycles also bring important economic advantages to tradesmen, artisans and service providers.” When I as visiting a couple of weeks ago, I was very interested to see that Christchurch already has some entrepreneurial businesses taking advantage of these opportunities.

Team Aquaduct was declared as the winner of the first "Innovate or Die" Pedal-Powered Machine Challenge that took place earlier this month. Google, in collaboration with the bicycle maker Goodby Silverstein & Partners, held this competition in order to encourage innovative pedal-powered solutions to environmental issues. The Californian team Aquaduct, who won the challenge, developed a pedal-powered water transportation and filtration vehicle designed to aid families in developing countries. Could this be the next innovation for reverse osmosis powered bikes?

Winter Cycling in Copenhagen. Click to enlarge.

Cargo Bike Winter: There is, however, an interesting detail that reflects the utility-minded Danish relationship to bikes. This chap has spent about 15,000 kroner (€2000/€2600) on a cargo bike - probably a bit more with that box with a lid - and yet look at the fenders. He hasn't bothered to peel off the blue, protective film. It's a good bike, an expensive bike, a useful and practical bike but hey... it's just a bike.

Clive Donavon from Bristol says "We filter water from your tap, when we use the bicycles, this works out about 1.8 pence for 25 litres" "So about six barrels for one pence" "We have work that is close to the exits of the Bristol cycle path, for when the weather is nice to use our bikes, needless to say we don't use our bikes often." Two videos to help you go wfp on your bicycle..

Mark Henderson in Italy of Window Cleaning Resources says "Word of mouth is the most effective way to advertise." "Things that are out of the ordinary get people talking." "The method shown in this video might not be practical for all window cleaners but it works well for me and it may give you some ideas." "It reduces stress, saves time, saves money, its green, it keeps you fit and it works great as an advertising medium."

No, no, no.

A Mexico City local with his entire window cleaning business attached to his bike. Yes, he does have a ladder strapped to his bike.