Window Cleaner Reflects On Twenty Year Career

Window washer reflects on 20-year career: With a squeegee in his right hand and an applicator in his left, Ben Appleton can clean a window in a matter of seconds.

Appleton, of Fulton, has been washing windows since he began working for Shepherd’s Company back in high school. He’s been with the company for about 20 years and now mostly oversees the window routes, though still washes from time to time.

Just as windows come in all shapes and sizes, so do the window washing jobs that come Appleton’s way. He has washed windows at small homes and businesses and has done jobs that require poles or lifts, such as the Columbia Public Library. He’s cleaned windows at the Faurot Field press box at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He’s also worked on the Lake Regional Health System in Osage Beach, which had about 2,000 windows to clean.

More on Ben, here.

Ben Appleton washes the windows of Aflac near Walnut and Eighth streets. Appleton has been washing windows for 20 years.

Superman Window Cleaner - USA's Fastest Squeegee

Ben Appleton washes the windows of Aflac near Walnut and Eighth streets on Tuesday. Appleton has been washing windows for 20 years. Click to enlarge.

Fulton window washer medals twice in major competition: COLUMBIA - Squeegee in hand, Ben Appleton takes a deep breath and begins. He scrapes, left to right and right to left, up and down the window. This should be a blur of man and window. After all, Appleton is the fastest window washer in the United States. His co-workers call him "Superman" because of his "jaw-dropping" speed. But watching Appleton in action is more a study in well-paced efficiency than blazing-hot speed. Cars aren’t slowing down in the parking lot so their drivers can stop and stare. Someone could hold up a sign - “Look, it’s the fastest window washer in the country!” - and people might not believe it.

Appleton has proof, though, in the form of two medals he almost sheepishly carted back from Florida in February. Appleton works at the Shepherd’s Co., a window-cleaning business in Fulton, and traveled to the International Window Cleaning Association’s annual conference in St. Pete Beach, Fla., Feb. 16-19. He had heard about the convention's contests a couple of weeks before, but he hadn’t given them too much thought. To many people, a window-washing competition might seem silly. To Appleton, it was kind of a big deal.

The speed and medley contests are the highlight of the convention, which is billed as an opportunity for window washers from around the world to network, learn about safety practices, get safety certified and browse new equipment. Believe it or not, window washers traveled to Florida from places like France and the Philippines to attend. And, judging by the crowd that comes out every year to cheer at the competition, most attendees would rather spend their time watching races than buying new buckets.

In the speed competition, where Appleton placed second, the contestants cleaned three 45-square-inch windows, each about the size of a square kitchen tabletop, in the least amount of time. In the medley, Appleton's third-place finish, participants cleaned windows of all shapes and sizes. In each competition, time was added for smudges. IWCA associate director Mandie Bannwarth said the techniques used in the contests are definitely a precise science.

The competitions themselves are shrouded in a layer of window-washing secrecy - if there is such a thing. They’re named for Jim Willingham and Rod Woodward, both deceased, who apparently contributed a great deal to the window-washing world. The IWCA's website credits Willingham with turning speed window cleaning into a sport, and Bannwarth said he is remembered both for his speed and for his somewhat controversial techniques - apparently he'd use too little water so removing it would take less time. There’s even a moment of silence before each competition in memory of these founders before the 15 or 20 contestants pick up their equipment and begin scraping like madmen.

Those moments of silence might have been somewhat compromised this year. Appleton, who didn’t decide to enter the competition until about two hours before it started, said the equipment arrived late. The contests were supposed to take place early in the evening, but the windows, the squeegees, everything - none of it was set up until about 10 p.m. This left audience members bored and anxious. Luckily, there was a nearby distraction. “You have to remember,” Appleton said. “These guys have been sitting, waiting for two hours for the windows to show up, and they’re in a conference room. And right out front of the conference room, there’s a bar.” It sounds like a bad joke. What do you get when you put a group of tipsy window washers in a room with a bunch of glass?

No one, not even Appleton himself, is positive why he was so reluctant to enter the contest. His co-worker Kara Welker said that from the first moment he heard about it, Appleton didn’t really want to compete. He's modest. He doesn't enjoy the spotlight. “I didn’t think he was going to," Welker said. "You really can’t talk him into doing something he doesn’t want to do.” And his last-minute decision to take up his squeegee, the one that led him into the spotlight of window-washing fame? It took him until he saw the other participants practicing. Judging their speed, he knew he had a chance.

Bannwarth said she doesn’t think many of the participants take the contest too seriously - except possibly the speed winner, Frank Lauret, who travels from France every year - but Appleton did seem to have a certain respect for the race. Somehow, he didn’t even crack a smile when describing the moments of silence.

It’s almost as if before he participated and before he saw the contests in person, Appleton didn’t think they were worth his attention. But now that he’s seen the laid-back atmosphere and realized no one’s moving at supersonic speed, the race has become a thing of gravity to him - sort of the opposite of what you’d expect.

“Now that I’ve done it, I think I can cut some time off," Appleton said. "I was 17.5 seconds for three windows. The French guy (Lauret) was 11.75. I think I can get better. Now that I’ve done it, I have it in my blood.” When Appleton returned to Missouri with his two medals - silver in speed and bronze in medley - he got a hero’s welcome. His co-workers, who have called him “Superman” for a long time, just saw the win as adding to the truth of that nickname.

Window washer works on door downtown: Ben Appleton washes the windows of Aflac near Walnut and Eighth streets on Tuesday. Appleton said he got into the window washing business because of his father.

TOP DRAWER: A listing of the honourable, noteworthy, new & what's ahead for business people in Columbia - Ben Appleton, commercial manager of Shepherd’s Co. of Fulton, won two medals at the International Window Cleaning Association Convention and Trade Show in St. Pete Beach, Fla. Appleton won a silver medal in the window speed cleaning competition and a bronze medal in the speed and quality competition. More than 30 contestants from five countries participated in the contest.

Picture of the Day + Window Cleaning News

WINDOW WASHING: A cleaner washed windows on a building in Brasilia Tuesday. (Ricardo Moraes/Reuters) Click to enlarge.

EU Commission report calls for VOC limits in paints to be extended to other products: The limits on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) set out in the EU paints Directive should be extended to a range of other products, according to a report for the European Commission by German research institute Okopol. Products that should be made subject to VOC restrictions include hairsprays, deoderants/antiperspirants, solvent-based adhesives, window cleaning products and wood coatings. In line with its provisions, the Directive is being reviewed. This is likely to be completed by mid-2011. Also here.

Fulton firm battles state agency, MU over prevailing wage: The Shepherd's Co. of Fulton is locked in legal battles with the Missouri Division of Labor Standards and the University of Missouri over claims the Fulton firm is not complying with prevailing wage laws. The Shepherd's Co. of Fulton is unusual because it is not set up with owners and employees. Instead, it does business in Missouri as a general partnership of 64 current owners. Workers at the Shepherd's Co. are members of a Christian faith-based group who attend the Shepherdsfield Community Church. They live in a communal society in which all members relinquish personal property to the group. The firm provides a variety of services, including window cleaning for retailers and offices.
Their attorney, Mark Comley of Jefferson City, says the earnings of the group are shared with each other and the Shepherd's Co. is organized under Missouri law as a general partnership with 64 current partners. The unions are miffed because the Shepherd's Co. has been the low bidder on some prized public projects, especially those at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Under Missouri and federal law, whenever work is performed for a government agency the prevailing wage for the area must be paid to all workers. The prevailing wage is set each year by the state for various areas of the state. That rate almost always is set at a high level because it generally is determined by union wages in the area.
The department has been aggressive in ferreting out violations of prevailing wage laws. For fiscal year 2009, the department found 126 prevailing wage violations on Missouri's public works projects, affecting 995 workers throughout the state. The department assessed a total of more than $1,127,070 in owed wages as a result of these violations. Comley said the company complies with prevailing wage laws and always has in the more than 20 years it has been operating.
About three months ago, the university's facilities planning and development office sent a letter to Shepherd's Co. saying the university will reject any bids from the firm because it "balked at requests to release record relating to prevailing wage compliance." Comley denies Shepherd's Co. balked at releasing records. That prompted Shepherd's Co. to file suit against the curators on Oct. 30, asking that the Fulton-based company be taken off the university's bid rejection list.
That's not all of the embattled Fulton firm's problems. Buschjost's Division of Labor Standards sent a letter to Columbia Public Schools saying there were allegations the company did not pay the prevailing wage. The school was about to award the firm a contract to work at the Columbia Area Career Center but decided against it after receiving the letter from the state agency. The city of Columbia a few days ago decided to send Shepherd's Co. payroll documents relating to a building it operates to the State Division of Labor Standards. The city asked the state agency to determine if Shepherd's wage records comply with prevailing wage laws. Comley said the Fulton-based firm always has complied with the prevailing wage law.

'Window cleaners' in £1,000 burglary: Two brazen burglars swiped over £1,000 of luxury goods from an Islington home after tricking their way through the front door by posing as window cleaners. Police this week released e-fit images of the two men after they made off with a laptop, a digital camera, a laser printer and several Xbox 360 games from a house in Fairmead Road, Upper Holloway. Pretending to have just finished a job in nearby Wedmore Street, they duped a woman in her 50s into letting them in by wearing blue v-neck jumpers emblazoned with the logo "Ocean Cleaning". The two men negotiated a price with the victim as she showed them round her home before filling their buckets in the kitchen. After around 15 minutes, they left with another two men who were waiting outside the house.

They left a note with the names "Peter" and "John" and a contact telephone number written on it. The victim, who did not ask for ID, later realised her windows had not been cleaned and her property was missing. Suspect one is described as a white man, aged 20 to 25, of slim build, about 5ft 9ins tall, with blue eyes and gelled spiky brown hair. Suspect two is a white man, aged about 30, between 5ft 6ins and 5ft 9ins tall, with blue eyes and short blonde hair. He walked with a limp. Both were polite and spoke with local accents. The Ocean Cleaning logo was written in white capital letters in a white circle on the front with the same motif enlarged on the rear of the jumper. Any witnesses or anyone with information should call Detective Constable Debbie Keyser on 020 7421 0220 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 to stay anonymous.

Window cleaner v roofing inspector in John Smith's People's Darts final: The John Smith's People's Darts final 2010 will be a perfect showcase for the sport's talented amateurs - a window cleaner is taking on a roofing inspector. At the end of a trail which began four months ago, with thousands of hopefuls entering Britain's best amateur sporting contest in their local pubs and clubs, Mark Petchey and Duncan Hastings will contest a £14,000 charity jackpot on Sunday. Window cleaner Petchey, from the Royal Oak in Basingstoke, Hants, and roofing inspector Hastings, representing Pennies Bar Falkirk, Stirlingshire, made it through the last eight and semi-finals to book their live TV date at the Lakeside Country Club. Now "Petch" and "Big D"will take to the worldfamous stage in Frimley Green, in front of 2,000 fans and millions of BBC TV viewers, just before the Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship final in a classic Auld Enemy showdown. Final: Hastings v Petchey on Sunday (Jan 10).

Farewell to Sidmouth window cleaner Harry: One of Sidmouth's familiar faces about town was that of Harry Badcock, who died last Monday (December 28) aged 84. A real local character, Harry was a true born and bred Sidmothian and lived and worked in the town all of his life. Many knew him as the local window cleaner and for 32 years he pushed his barrow, with its flashing lights, up and down the streets. But he did many jobs before this, such as working for Pinney's building firm for 15 years. For a decade, between 1952 and 1962, Harry was a retained fireman and paid £5 a year.
But most folk will just remember Harry as a familiar face around the town who loved a natter; his knowledge was second to none, whether it was Sidmouth and its history or about its local people and their news. "He was Mr Sidmouth Herald, in his latter years after retirement he would sit at the front window to watch and wave to folk as well as going around on his mobility scooter along town and the seafront," said Roy. Harry lived in the same house for 74 years and was married to Maria; who came from Italy, for 48 years. He was a loving father to Roy and Antonio and a special grandad to Elliot Joel, Thomas Christopher and Daniel.

Holyrood is bottomless pit says MSP: Maintaining the Scottish Parliament building is costing five times as much as expected. Official figures show that the biggest maintenance contract – which includes heating, lighting and electrical installations, as well as replacing bamboo-style poles and other repairs – cost taxpayers almost £6 million over five years compared with a £1.1m forecast. And today MSPs (Members of the Scottish Parliament) said the escalating cost of maintaining the building was almost on a par with the soaring price for construction of the Holyrood building. It also showed annual costs, excluding VAT, had soared from £427,176 in the first year to £2,625,994 in 2008-09. "It confirms the criticisms people made right from the start. It's such a crazy design. The window cleaning is almost impossible, the quality of the materials used means to replace anything – the wood, the granite and everything – is very expensive. I want the parliament's public audit committee to look at why the costs have gone over by so much and why the estimates were so badly out." The Holyrood building was dogged by soaring costs throughout its construction. The original price quoted was £10-40m, but the final bill was £414m. Also see here.

Census Bureau looking for workers: Over the next three months, the U.S. Census Bureau will recruit more than 3.8 million people across the country, including more than 48,000 in Wisconsin. The recruitment goal for Madison is about 4,200, said Lydia Ortiz, a Census spokeswoman. It's the flexibility of the part-time job that appeals to Murray, who is nine months pregnant with her first child and due Thursday. "And it's always neat to look into other people's houses. Does that seem creepy?" said Murray, who got a perfect score on the exam, which was graded on the spot. Porter's son, Thad Johnson, 37, a Madison window washer, also took the test. He was hoping the job would start sooner. "It's a slow time of year for my work," said Porter, who scored 93 percent. "It would be doing something different than I've ever done before. I think I'd be really good at it."

JUNEAU ARTISTS GALLERY, 175 S. FRANKLIN ST. Jeweler Rowan Law is the featured artist for the first Art Walk of the new year at the Juneau Artists Gallery. Rowan will be in the gallery from 4:30 to 7 p.m. on January 8 with his work. His new creations are matching sets consisting of earrings and coordinating pendants. Rowan has never offered sets before, and is excited about these one-of-a-kind combinations. Rowan is well known in Juneau for his handcrafted jewelry, which is mostly made with sterling silver. He usually oxidizes the silver, which gives it an antique or rustic looking dark patina. Many of the pieces also contain yellow gold, copper, and brass. Stones including opal, labradorite, and turquoise are set into some pieces. Rowan cuts and shapes many of the stones himself, using an electrically powered grinding wheel. By holding each stone against the wheel, he creates unique shapes from the original rough stones, and then finishes by polishing the stone, also against the wheel.
Rowan and a friend once owned a window washing business in Maui, and one of their customers was a high-end jewelry store. Rowan washed the windows inside the shop, and he thought the studio area in the back of the shop, where the jewelry was created, was very interesting. It wasn't until about three years later, after he moved to the mainland, that he started reading about jewelry making and eventually took a few classes, including from Michael Hunter who used to teach at UAS. For the most part Rowan is self taught, and his style has evolved as he developed his skills.