Window Cleaners Replaced With Acrobats In London

Instead, they’ll be retaining the services of a “Cirque du Soleil-style” company that specialises in super-high tightrope walking.

Heathrow Airport Needs Tightrope Walkers Just To Change Its Lightbulbs: Heathrow’s Terminal Five was designed to be a soaring, light-filled tribute to the wonders of flight. Five years into its life though, 60 per cent of its lightbulbs are burned out — because there’s been no safe or cost-effective way to change them. Now, officials say they’ve found a solution: acrobats.

According to The Telegraph, Heathrow officials began examining, uh, unusual alternatives to the issue after cherry pickers usually and other specialised machines used by electricians proved to be too expensive or simply unsafe. Instead, they’ll be retaining the services of a “Cirque du Soleil-style” company that specialises in super-high tightrope walking. More than 35m above the floor of the terminal, these acrobats will replace every single light bulb in the 120,000-bulb array that blankets architect Richard Rogers’ soaring ceiling.

It sounds like an extreme oversight: Didn’t anyone on the design team think about the damn lightbulbs? In fact, this is far from the first instance of architectural grandeur trumping practical issues. A whole industry has been born out of new structures that are difficult to keep clean: From the ceiling of Daniel Libeskind’s Denver Art Museum, which is rumoured to be impossible to clean, to a new breed of window washers who must use advanced mountaineering skills just to clean the façades of buildings like London’s Gherkin. But… tightrope walkers? That’s certainly a new high.

The major bulb replacement task is expected to take nearly four months and cost several million pounds, according to an email sent to staff from Vicki O’Brien, head of Heathrow customer service at British Airways. Sixty per cent of the 120,000 light bulbs at Terminal Five have blown yet not a single one has been changed since 2008, faced with “no viable way to replace them”, according to O’Brien. Various ways of replacing them have been investigated, including gondolas and high-level cherry pickers, none of which were deemed “practical or safe”. Following months of discussion, the airport has finally found a “safe and robust way to replace all of the light bulbs” using ‘Cirque du Soleil-style’ high-level rope work done by a specialist company. The airport plans to re-lamp the entire ceiling of the departures concourse with environmentally-friendly LED (light emitting diodes) bulbs that will last up to five years, according to a spokesman for Heathrow.

The Solutions..

The first first lower level Solution: Utilising a waterfed pole for the lower lights with correct risk assessment & method statement & preferably done at night with less foot traffic & cordoned off areas. Both products made by Unger.

Left: Light bulb changing fingers are two thirds coated with rubber providing excellent turning power and ease of inserting bulbs. Adjusts onto various shaped bulbs. Attaches easily to Unger poles. From the window cleaning warehouse UK.

Unger Flood Sucker Bulb Changer: Change recessed flood lights and light bulbs 300 watts & larger quickly and easily. This patented, insulated tool features 6 suction cups and replaces flat, beveled and round bulbs. From window cleaning resource.

Or failing that...

The diesel and battery bi-energy power pack makes the lift suitable for indoors or outside work.  It doesn’t have to be plugged into a mains electric supply, saving set-up time and the requirement for extension cables.”

Paramount introduces Omme: UK-based Paramount Platforms has taken delivery of its first Omme tracked platform. The Omme Lift 3700 RJ has a 37 m compact, telescopic boom mounted on a crawler chassis with an outreach of up to 14 m. It has a 130° fly-jib jib, 180° platform rotation and a safe working load of 250kg, sufficient for two people with tools.

The diesel and battery bi-energy power pack makes the lift suitable for indoors or outside work. Designed to be compact, it has a 1.98 m stowed height and 7.78 m stowed length, while its 1.5 m width can be retracted hydraulically to 1.10m. Lee Kerr of Paramount Platforms said: “It is a very versatile machine, in particular the dual power train so it can work on the diesel engine outdoors and battery power indoors. And unlike its competitors it doesn’t have to be plugged into a mains electric supply, saving set-up time and the requirement for extension cables.”

Paramount’s first Omme will be used in telecommunications and for commercial window cleaning where narrow access is a challenge. The Chelmsford-based company purchased the lift from Access Platform Sales (APS), the official UK distributor for Omme products. Additionally Paramount has invested in a new Hinowa 20.10 tracked lift, adding to its existing fleet of products from the Italian manufacturer. APS is also the exclusive UK distributor for Hinowa tracked products. The company also recently took delivery of a 34 m Bronto truck-mounted boom and it has a Niftylift HR28 on order from APS.

Thanks Heathrow... that'll be million quid please. And if you still don't know how to do it.. please call me for the technicalities!

Windex Proves Their Product Was Mostly Water

Despite efforts to encourage Americans to use refill pouches, most have not welcomed the idea kindly but SC Johnson hopes they can change public sentiment on the issue and bring to light how using refill pouches can reduce waste, save the environment, and also be cost-effective (and easy!).

SC Johnson Dips Into Tough Concentrates Market With Windex Pouches: S.C. Johnson started testing the waters for concentrated refills today with the launch of Windex Mini, concentrated pouches of its Windex window-cleaning solution. The concentrated Windex formulation, which will at first only be sold online, marks a tentative step into an arena where other companies have floundered.

Concentrated cleaners offer huge promise in reduction cost and environmental impacts of the products: Because they're mostly water, selling products that consumers can mix at home can make for big reductions in packaging needs, transportation emissions, shelf space at stores and more. But other companies that have tried to get consumer buy-in with concentrates have struggled to gain traction. Arm & Hammer ended up pulling its concentrated products from the market, while other products, like Ecodiscoveries have been confined to natural, specialty and smaller grocery stores. In between is Replenish, whose cleaner that consists of a bottle and an attached pod with four bottles' worth of concentrate in it is sold only at some Whole Foods Market stores.

S.C. Johnson's tactic with its Windex Mini concentrates is to sell the pouches online, get consumer feedback, and make tweaks as necessary to build a customer base and show retailers it would be worth it to stock the pouches. "We're going to learn our way in. This is about progress, not perfection," said Jam Stewart, an S.C. Johnson spokesperson. "It was important to get this out there and get this in the hands of consumers." At the same site where the pouches are being sold, S.C. Johnson is taking comments from its customers. "We want to hear what people have to say. We want to hear how people are using it," Stewart said.

Even with all of the benefits posed by selling cleaners as concentrate, S.C. Johnson and other companies involved in the space have to face a consumer culture in the U.S. that puts price above all other considerations. Companies that want to create a strong market for concentrated cleaners will need to overcome two obstacles: The habit of buying a new bottle every time, and getting used to the idea that less is more. Putting an empty bottle on the shelf, or putting a $7.50 price tag on a pack of three small pouches (the cost of the Windex refills) can be a tough sell. But WindexMini will cost less than the traditional product: Each pouch refills a 26-ounce bottles, working out to a cost of $2.50 per bottle and a little under 10 cents an ounce. Windex in a bottle retails for $2.90-$3.50, making the refills the cheaper option.

SC Johnson and others trying to get concentrates in the hands of consumers would also do well to link concentrated cleaner refills to the popularity of powdered sports drink, flavored water, lemonade and other beverage mixes. Both involve the same actions: Take a small package (whether its a small bottle or pouch), put it in a bottle and add water. "This is about more than getting onto store shelves," Stewart said. "We've got to change consumer behavior. We've got to educate people and get them excited."

Made In The Triad - Window Cleaner

Made In The Triad: Mr. Brent's Window Cleaner - The one thing you typically hear when you mention the word cleaning is "I don't do windows and I don't do toilets!" One local Piedmont man, Brent Ruffin has turned one of those chores into a successful business and in turn created his own product. Mr. Brent's Window Cleaner is sold throughout the triad in 32 ounce bottles. His company Mr. Brent's Window and Power Washing service caters to over 500 retail outlets cleaning all interior and exterior windows. Ruffin has also developed a successful line of clothing that bears his company name.

Mr. Brent's Window & Power Washing has been providing the Triad and surrounding area residents and businesses with professional window cleaning and power washing services for more than 10 years. Mr. Brent's work trucks, his window and power washing technicians, and of course, the famous 32 ounce Mr. Brent's Cleaning Solution are practically everywhere.

How did Mr. Brent's grow so fast?  Integrity, hard work, commitment to excellence, and aggressive advertising.  "Initially, we were just happy cleaning windows...a service we could derive instant gratification from." "Then, we added the power washing services and realized we could make a lot of places clean." "Next, we made the commitment to separate ourselves from our competitors. "Eventually, we wanted to take the Window and Power Washing Industry- a typical non-glamorous blue collar profession -and spice it up." "Our objective was to make this service fun and stylish, modern and hip- from our sporty, white, yellow, and chrome pick up trucks, to our stylish uniforms (adorned by our popular window man logo) to the collective attitude in which we approach our daily work."

Brent Ruffin

"We have now elevated the window and power washing service to a trendy, eye catching art form.  Yes!  That's how we have grown.  Our strategy to improve and upgrade each year, our initiative to listen intently to our clients, and most of all the integrity of our workers, and consequently our work ensures us that continued growth is inevitable.