Wagtail At ISSA Interclean With New Tools

Does your squeegee wag you? Or does your squeegee do the work for you?

Wagtail pivotal cleaning tools, sadly weren't at the ISSA Interclean in Amsterdam this week - opting to show their new tools later on this year at the Chicago ISSA Interclean from October 16-19, 2012. But it doesn't mean they haven't got anything going on in the Wagtail factory! Opting for the US venue this year will help Wagtail window cleaning tools secure their leading position as one of the top products for window cleaners in North America as it already has in Europe. Most window cleaners in the know already have a few wagtails in their armory so they can finish their work with more detail & up to 70% quicker than a standard squeegee. 

The all new Wagtail 15º cone tip. Click to enlarge.

An all new Wagtail squeegee will be brought out shortly for all window cleaners, that is being kept tightly under wraps - probably not released until the Chicago show. Also a new pole & an offset cone tip was shown off to members of the Wagtail Squeegee Network for the last couple of weeks before it was released in general on the WWW. The Wagtail Squeegee Network is a new closed facebook group that gives you all the latest news for Wagtail users or people who have just bought one & need advise on getting the best out of their Wagtail squeegee. So if you haven't joined, sign up & ask for your early morning work or late night working free "squeegee torch" shown below.

The new Wagtail pole has a unique action of being extended from the base & can be altered as you work down the window as opposed to the standard pole that has you locking off to the correct height to begin with & gives you problems on the way down to the ground due it's limitations. The new off-set angle tip will give you a 15º angle away from the window or a 15º angle towards the window allowing a cranking action down to the base of the window allowing you to clean deep ledges. Willie, easily explains the new pole & tip in the video below.

Some high rise window cleaners swear by Wagtail squeegees. Check out Levi Webb's collection below.

Levi's collection of Wagtails, click to enlarge.

Check out more Wagtail posts here. Comparing the "Wagtail Combi" speed-test video below.

Wagtail Whirlwinds - Squeegee Winner - 20-20 Vision

Congratulations to Stephen Hill (pictured above) with 20-20 Vision who  is the latest winner of the Wagtail Whirlwind 14" & 18" squeegee's (competition here) that enable you to work faster with this combination & wash/wipe simultaneously. It features a new aggressive micro-fibre pad. Mop and squeegee in one or alternate between modes in less than a second. Very robust. Great for most cleaning applications - especially windows, excellent for pole work and great to clean floors as well.

20-20 Window Cleaning is owned and operated by Steven Hill, and specializes in residential and commercial window and gutter cleaning in the greater East Dallas, Texas area. In 2001, Steven was introduced to the window cleaning industry by a good friend, Jim Ham, owner and operator of the original 20/20 Window Cleaning, which services the Northern Front Range of Colorado. During the six and a half years Steven worked with Jim, they serviced thousands of homes and nearly 300 businesses each month.

A little about Stephen..

Born and raised in central New Jersey and an artist at heart. I met my wife while in community college, she being a Texas native.  We made our way down to the Dallas - Fort Worth area in the late 90's so that she could finish up school.  After her graduation we relocated to Longmont, Colorado,  she took a job with a Architecture firm based in Boulder, and I found a retail job in downtown Boulder.  Once a month the window cleaner, Jim Ham would come and clean the shops windows, and I started to chat with him when he would come by.  Retail pay was low, and I was not all that thrilled with the job,  he offered me a job and I gave my notice with the shop.  Never in a million years would I have thought of getting in to window cleaning. I wanted to be a full-time artist, I didn't realize the potential for income and flexibility involved with window cleaning.  I was scared when I first started and was wondering if I had made the right choice, but it got easier with time and practice.  

I worked for Jim and 20/20 Window Cleaning from 2001 till 2007.  In 2004 we had a daughter and had to cut back on my hours to raise her as a full time dad (pay is real low, but it is rewarding).  In 2007 we moved back down to Dallas to be closer to family and a job change for my wife.  I thought I was done with window cleaning at that stage, but found myself back in it and  found another company to work for. I was 33 or so at the time with a child that was home sick more than in full-time daycare, so I became a full-time home dad once again.  So once my daughter started kindergarten it was time to get my version of  20-20 Window Cleaning started in Dallas.  I am still a full-time dad, juggling, dropping off and picking up a six year old to first grade everyday, washing dirty dishes and laundry, and running a small window cleaning and gutter cleaning company, but it is all worth it. Just wanted to thank Karl for the great blog that he runs as well as the contest and Wagtail tools.

If you missed it before, here is Max, a window cleaner in Mexico who quickly adapted to using the wagtail - in 5 minutes no less!

Last Chance For Free Wagtail: More Window Cleaning News

Last chance to enter the Wagtail Whirlwind competition - details by clicking here. Young Jaret the window cleaner and WCR mascot shows us his technique with the wagtail whirlwind professional window cleaning squeegee.

Going to the football. It’s all about the crowd, the lager, the shouting, the swearing, the shirt wearing , the lager, the pre-match pie, the post-match burger, the lager, the sound of the ball hitting the back of the net… But increasingly, there’s an element of the eye candy about going to watch your team play. Female fans represent an ever increasing demographic of football supporters, and that’s no bad thing for us fellas. In fact, two thirds of football fans polled agreed that seeing a girl in their team’s shirt was a turn-on. So how about seeing the most beautiful women in the world sporting the kit? Sport.co.uk pays tribute to football’s sexiest celebrity fans… Next up, it’s Everton; Gorgeous glamour model Katie had a small role in Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, appearing as a wet t-shirt-wearing window washer. Apparently she won the role ahead of Michelle Marsh, Nicola Tappenden and Nikkala Stott, an impressive feat indeed. At only 4’11’’ she probably has to stand on her seat when visiting Goodison Park, but that doesn’t stop her from cheering on the Toffees whenever she can.

The National Weather Service has confirmed eight tornadoes across Indiana from the storm front that swept through the state Tuesday. No serious injuries or widespread damage was reported from the tornadoes. The weather service says the strongest of the twisters were rated EF1s with winds up to 110 mph. Two of those hit rural areas in Huntington and Whitely counties near Fort Wayne, while another caused some building damage at Wanatah in LaPorte County. Weaker EF0 tornadoes with winds up to 85 mph were confirmed in Dearborn, Howard, Huntington, Porter and Wabash counties. The Wabash tornado blew out some window and caused exterior damage to a Walmart store."

City, residents prepare for high winds: We have notified everyone in the city of Chicago right now, particularly cranes or anything out there that may pose a hazard. The idea behind this is to get the word out there," said Jose Santiago, Chicago Emergency Management. The danger is real. In 2002, 60 mile per hour wind gusts tore window washing equipment loose from the side of the John Hancock Building. It fell 43 stories, killing three people in cars below.

Lampasas City Manager Michael Stoldt informed the council that Kempner Water Supply Corporation would be conducting tank maintenance in Lampasas from Nov. 8 to Nov. 15. During the two-week maintenance period, the city will be under a Stage 3 mandatory water conservation measure, which limits the use of water. Residents will be prohibited from all outdoor washing, including car, pavement and window washing. Law and garden irrigation will also be restricted as well as the filling, re-filling or adding water to swimming pools. The restrictions will be lifted when the water storage tanks are back in service.

The Millville Housing Authority recently created a company to provide janitorial services to its own properties. As a way to help cut costs and generate revenue, the authority started Holly City Property Management to clean and maintain properties. A crew of four part-time workers is handling janitorial services at authority properties. Eventually, the services will be contracted out to area businesses, allowing the Housing Authority to make more money. Housing Authority Executive Director Paul Dice unveiled the new venture at a board meeting in August, although finer details were not ironed out at the time. In addition to janitorial services, Dice thinks the company could provide landscaping services in the future.

Although growing the new business still requires some time and planning, the immediate goal has been satisfied, Dice said. "It's one step toward cutting down the expenses in the Housing Authority, and that's what we're going to continue to do," he said. "We no longer have any vendors, and all of the janitorial work is now done internally. So, effectively, what we're doing is cutting out the middleman, cutting out the profit margin." The Housing Authority has been providing its own janitorial services for much of the past month. Everything from sweeping to window washing is being done in-house.

Survival of the fittest: Not bad for two guys nearly in their 40s! Bideford-based personal trainer Simon de Burgh and window cleaner Calvin Leach were overall winners of the team event of the 2010 Men's Health Survival of The Fittest TRI Nations series. They raced on three consecutive weekends in events which were a mix of rough obstacles, long stretches of running and, in some cases, swimming. Their first race was in Cardiff, a 14k run around Cardiff Bay over and through Army assault courses, up and down half the Millennium Stadium staircase and finally up the eight-foot wall of fame towering between them and the finish line. They came third in the team event.

Crawford testified that on February 23, 2008, at around 11:00 p.m., heheard objects hitting the side of his and his son's home. He went outside and saw that the east-facing and north-facing walls had been hit with eggs. Crawford spent an additional $1,628.31 to have those walls painted. He did some of the painting himself. Crawford spent two hours cleaning eggs off four windows. He hired a window cleaner at a cost of $89.

Plaintiff window washer fell while cleaning the outside of a window in Duff's cooperative apartment. He testified that the clip of his safety belt slipped from an anchor post affixed to the facade of the building. It is undisputed that Duff's proprietary lease placed the obligation to maintain the building's structural components on defendants. Contrary to defendants' contention, there is no evidence in the record that raises an issue of fact whether any act or omission by Duff caused plaintiff's injuries and triggered the indemnity provisions of the lease.

Aches and panes: An elderly Knox resident suffering from severe arthritis is hoping the council will get over a cost-cutting streak and bring back a window-cleaning service. The council-funded service for Knox seniors has been slashed. Knox Council had been offering a window cleaning service to seniors through support provider Calvary Silver Circle. The 80-year-old resident, who declined to give his name, was disappointed at the end of the service, which he had used for around three years to relieve him of a painful chore. "I had bad arthritis and my balance wasn't good. I just couldn't do it. My wife was in the same position. That's why I got it done." He paid a subsidised price - around $11 - to have the inside and outside of his windows cleaned once every six months.He said there was no notification that the service had been axed.

The resident gets his gutters and spouting cleared through Calvary Silver Circle, but began to ask questions when his windows were not cleaned. "They should be helping pensioners by having a service like that. I just can't understand why they'd cut it." Knox community services director Kerry Stubbings confirmed the service had been cut. "Of the many services offered through the home maintenance program, window cleaning is the task that least relates to the council's core focus on safety and security." Ms Stubbings said the council had increased funding for its home-care budget for the 2010-11 financial year, but had reduced the number of hours available to some clients in order to extend services to others who needed help. During 2009-10, 1175 residents accessed home-maintenance services, which in some cases included window cleaning. The council said 1767 accessed home-care services - including domestic household help - during the same time. Calvary Silver Circle declined to comment on the matter.

Window Cleaning Add-On? Maid American Style has launched a brand new cleaning service that offers valuable service to pregnant women and new mothers. This new baby cleaning service will provide new mothers with a sense of peace and more time to relax and enjoy valued time with their families and newborns. Maid American Style will prepare the home and keep it ready to welcome the newborn. Everyone knows that bringing home a new baby involves a lot of preparation. It is vital that the newborn gets a clean and safe environment to sleep, grow and call home. Mike Smith the Director of Sales at Maid American Style in northern Virginia says “our goal is to provide an all-inclusive program where Pregnant women and new mothers can experience a worry-free Maid and cleaning service. We have designed packages focused on pregnant women while listening carefully to their concerns and needs while going through and after pregnancy”.

Dad jailed for failing to pay fines: A dad of four children has been jailed for five weeks after failing to make regular payments off his court fines totalling more than £1,200. Michael Vaughan's whopping crime bill started in 2004 and has grown over the years as magistrates fined him for offences such as assault, theft, non-payment of a television licence, and driving with no insurance. The last contribution the window cleaner made to pay for those crimes was back in 2008. But when the 26-year-old appeared at Hartlepool Magistrates' Court and could not give a reasonable explanation for his non-payment, he found that justices' patience had ran out. Chairman of the bench Lynn Gibson sent him to jail for 34 days.

Mrs Gibson told him: "We have listened to what you and your solicitor have had to say, but we feel that you have made no reasonable attempt to pay your fines and we are sentencing you to 34 days imprisonment." Vaughan, of Woodbine Terrace, in Greatham Village, on the outskirts of Hartlepool, needed help in reading the oath before trying to explain why he had not paid anything off his £1,221.79 court account for two years.

He said: "I was at work and I asked my girlfriend to come to court to pay the fine, but they wouldn't let her." And when asked what steps he had taken after this he said: "Well we moved from Raby Gardens up to Greatham because we had to flee the area because we had loads of trouble, so I wouldn't have got any letters."

Mitigating, David Smith told magistrates that Vaughan had struggled for money since the birth of his four children, two daughters and two sons aged eight, seven, five and four. He said that Vaughan used to make regular £20 payments and if extra money was available would pay more. "That's not to say incredible sacrifices hadn't been made to do that," said Mr Smith. "However, the end of that coincides with the birth of his children. Unfortunately that has been an extra financial drain upon him. "There are still financial difficulties, but he's beginning to do some window cleaning work for which he gets £150 each week. He's working, he's got responsibilities and he wants to extend those responsibilities to clear this amount."

5 Minutes With A Free Wagtail Whirlwind (Mexico Edition)

Just to cheese everyone off as the weather gets slightly worse, I thought I'd add this video showing a sunny climate! So I was in Cancun, Mexico earlier this year for a little down time from window cleaning. On my previous trips to the Caribbean including Mexico & the Dominican Republic, I'd always seen the workers clean the windows at frightening slow speeds & with barely a rubber left in their squeegee that it was ruining my holiday. I even took the squeegee off them a few times & showed them how it was done - & also wished I'd taken the workers a decent squeegee to play with. 

Or was it a ruse? The worse equipment they had, the slower the workers would get the job done & so the time it would take them would also keep them in a job? So it was with a spring in my step that I ventured over this time with a Wagtail Whirlwind in my hand & collared the nearest window cleaner hoping to add a smile to his day. The results are shown below with Max, who took to the Wagtail like a fish to water. Only after a few minutes, he was sticking the Wagtail on a pole (if you can call it that) & off he went! Nearing the end of my holiday I caught up with Max down by the beach bar. He said that he had cut his time in half by using the Wagtail & now had time to cool off with a drink in the shade!

I'm giving away a pair of 14" & 18" Wagtail Whirlwinds today on this blog. Just send an email to Robinson-Solutions@telefonica.net with the subject tile of "free wagtail" & I'll pick at random one lucky winner from the auto number generator to see who wins. Please rate the above video on You Tube here if you liked it. Thanks, Karl.

Wagtail Winner & Other Window Cleaning News

Winner of the 14" & 18" Wagtail Whirlwinds in the "Just Giving" competition from a previous blog was James Carter (pictured) of Millbrooke Window Cleaning. Congratulations James. If you didn't know.....the Wagtail Whirlwind is now regarded as the fastest window cleaning tool in the world. An international challenge resulted in a massive 11 second speed difference between the Wagtail and all challengers.

Nanotube spiderweb catches the rays: A transparent spiderweb-like film formed from interconnected carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is highly efficient in solar energy harvesting, say Chinese scientists. CNTs are well known for their excellent electrical properties, which offer the potential for use in a broad range of modern technologies from sensors to flexible display panels. However, an appropriate method to produce CNT films that are both conductive and transparent has proved elusive, limiting their applications. Anyuan Cao and colleagues at Peking and Tsinghua Universities, Beijing, have developed a direct synthesis technique to achieve highly conductive and transparent CNT spiderwebs. They use chemical vapour deposition to grow ultra-long CNTs, followed by ethanol addition to condense them into bundles.

We use an extremely slow feeding rate of the chemical precursor, resulting in well controlled formation of thin, uniform CNT films,' explains Cao. The thinner the film, the higher the transparency - a property essential for its effective use as an electrode in solar cells. By tuning the transparency, Cao ensures that most of the incident sunlight can reach the underlying silicon wafer for conversion into electricity, without compromising the film's conductivity.
'CNTs play multiple roles in the solar cells: capturing the solar energy, forming junctions, collecting the photo-generation carriers and also as the transparent electrodes,' according to Yanqui Zhu at the University of Nottingham in the UK, who has expertise in nanomaterials fabrication and CNTs. He believes the successful fabrication of the 100 cm2 films brings CNTs a step closer to practical applications and paves the way for even larger scale production.
The spiderwebs are sticky yet robust and sufficiently flexible to be transferred easily to various substrates including metal, paper and micro carbon fibres. Cao foresees numerous potential applications for his CNT spiderwebs, and is pursuing research into their use in flexible devices and window coatings with self-cleaning, sensing, UV-blocking and heating functions.

Dangerous pests: “Mosquitoes are one of the most dangerous animals known to men,” said Laura McGowan, a spokeswoman for Clarke, a company that developments mosquito control products and trains people on how to use them. “More humans die from mosquitoes than from any other animal. … Malaria is a big killer.” In Alabama and in other parts of the country, people have contracted the West Nile virus from mosquitoes and many have died. “West Nile is here,” said Jim Hollins Jr., Area V environmental director of the Alabama Department of Public Health. “If we found a dead bird in your parking lot, we would not be surprised if it tested positive for West Nile.” Hollins said there are no reports of anyone diagnosed with the West Nile virus so far this year, and he hopes it stays that way.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 29,000 people in the United States have contracted West Nile virus since 1999. Of those, about 12,000 became seriously ill and more than 1,150 have died from the virus. More than 300,000 people are estimated to have been sickened in the past 11 years since the virus surfaced in the U.S. Hollins recommends that people should use insect repellents if they are outdoors, where they can be exposed to mosquitoes. “It’s better to be safe than sorry,” he said. “There is no treatment for the West Nile virus.” Hollins said the symptoms of West Nile virus are a lot like those experienced with a cold or flu.
Health officials also suggest that homeowners repair old door and window screens so mosquitoes can’t get inside. Water in buckets or dishes for outside animals, along with birdbaths, should be changed at least weekly. Officials say rain gutters should also be inspected and cleaned. And people should consider staying indoors at dawn, dusk and in the early evening, which are peak mosquito-biting times.

The power washer: Senior presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett (pictured) was in town Thursday and spotted at the corporate headquarters of her good buddy/window washing whiz Neal Zucker. The bevy of Secret Service agents accompanying Jarrett reportedly caused quite a stir......

Neal S. Zucker - Co-founder, executive vice-president (pictured) of Corporate Cleaning Services Inc. Partner in one of the city's largest window-washing companies and son of sports agent Steve Zucker, Mr. Zucker is perhaps best known as a whirling dervish on Chicago's philanthropic scene. "Some people have a few friends; Neal has a thousand friends," says Gerald Roper, president and CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.

Hans Hofmann helped ring in the golden age of paleontology in the early 1960s when many evolutionary questions were being answered about the vast unknown stage of life that existed before animals were capable of leaving behind a trace of themselves in fossils. Although trained as a geologist, he spent his career searching for and finding evidence of early life in very ancient rocks. Jokingly, Hofmann liked to compare his research to “being the window-washer in an underground parking garage,” according to his former student Guy Narbonne, research chair in paleontology at Queen’s University in Kingston.

The measurement-and-data giant Nielsen has new evidence that advertisers need to do a better job of targeting the massive baby boomer demographic and stop worrying so much about young shoppers. However, Nielsen may find it difficult to challenge the accepted marketing orthodoxy that youth is where it's at. Any number of parties have complained over the decades about marketers' obsession with youth. Consumers over AARP age often have more money saved and can spend more on items other than food and groceries, but marketers maintain that reaching younger consumers, particularly those between the ages of 18 and 49, is more important. The logic? That group usually hasn't committed to a favourite toothpaste or window cleaner, while older folks have–and won't have their minds changed by a TV-ad blitz.
Nielsen wants to change those perceptions and it's got numbers on its side. Its researchers believe consumers over the next decade will have fewer children, leading to smaller households and fewer young consumers to lure. A rough economy will lead to those smaller young families spending less, and smaller salaries for younger generations known today as "Generation Y" and "Millenials." Indeed, as the baby boom generation retires and grows old, America is likely to have a larger older population and a much slower-growing young one, suggested Doug Anderson, Nielsen's senior vice-president of research and thought leadership.
"There will be a huge number of people over the age of 65, 75, and 85 over the coming decade. We've never had a population this big this old before," he said. "This is not something that demographers and anthropologists have tons of models sitting around that they can talk about. We as a species have never had this many older people before. It's new ground." There is some interest. In May, NBC Universal and Procter & Gamble launched a group of websites under the rubric "life goes strong" and aimed at catching boomers' fancy. Topics include technology and health.

Q&A with "CleanMy": Ben Williams, Managing Director of CleanMy, talks to FDS Midlands and Wales' Ken Young about his business and his plans for the future.
Question: How would you describe the CleanMy business?
Answer: CleanMy supplies all kinds of vital materials and equipment to business customers but we can perhaps best be described as a supplier of cleaning and hygiene products. Our range of over 2,000 stock items includes cleaning chemicals, paper disposables, soap & handcare products, janitorial equipment, window cleaning materials and safety workwear.
Question: What is the background to CleanMy?
Answer: CleanMy can be traced back to my grandfather who was in the window cleaning business.


A bigger squeegee? A window cleaner washes windows at the newly opened Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India. The new structure is spread over more than 120 acres and with more than 160 check-in windows it can handle 34 million passengers a year, according to Delhi International Airport.

The Blue Jackets are commemorating their 10th NHL season in 2010-11. The Blue Jackets also announced renewed partnerships with Columbus Brewing Company, Columbus Window Cleaning, Minute Men Staffing and the U.S. Air Force.

Cuci The Musical 2 is entertaining, but not because of its musical numbers. The musical revolves around four adopted brothers Fairil, Khai, C' Tan and Jojo who work together in their small family business Cuci-Cuci Services (M) Sdn Bhd. They move from their kam­pung to the city where they become window cleaners with dreams of one day making the windows of Petronas Twin Towers sparkle. When they get a chance to join the Window Washing Olympics, the foursome is ecstatic to get closer to the dream.

Having lived in the Canyon for 38 years, we are not unfamiliar with creatures. We had rattlesnakes at one time whose heads I chopped off despite a park ranger's insistence that I should reason with them. That would be like trying to reason with Karl Rove. We've also had raccoons, gophers and black widows, one of which bit a window washer who stuck his head under an eave and was mistakenly identified by the spider as an enemy. He survived with medical care and now works cleaning churches.

Wagtail Winner + More Window Cleaning News

Ed Turner (pictured) is the winner of this months Whirlwind Wagtail giveaway! Ed is not only into window cleaning but restoring floors as well. He will find the Wagtail Whirlwind particularly useful for floors when he combines the Whirlwind with the wagtail angle adapter. Ed works in the Durham/Clarington region of Ontario, Canada & uses eco friendly products. His website Turner Clean Services is due for a revamp - so Ed reckons. Your Wagtail 14" & 18" are winging your way out to you tomorrow Ed!

Plea for help: Chris Morris of "Reflection Window Cleaning" is calling out for donations no matter how small for his partner participating in a 10 mile midnight walk in aid of a local hospice that his step daughter Danielle goes too. The Chestnut Tree House serves when a child develops a life-limiting illness. Not just for the child but for their loved ones as well. The aim at Chestnut Tree House is to provide the care and support these families so desperately need, whether practical, physical or emotional. If you can help - any amount will do - please consider in helping a fellow window cleaner out. As an incentive a free 14" & 18" Wagtail Whirlwind will be given away in a lottery for donators. Please donate here:
http://www.justgiving.com/michaela-poolton
Read more from Chris here.


Spiderman and Superman abseil into the Evelina Hospital: The children at the Evelina Children's Hospital had a surprise this week when Spiderman and Superman dropped in to help clean the windows. The grime fighters – better known as Paul and Nick from All Clean, the window cleaning contractors for Guy's and St Thomas' – abseiled from the top of the building to clean the windows of the wards that look out onto the hospital's atrium. "It was a real treat for the children to see the superheroes at the hospital and they all ran to the windows when they saw them descending from the roof," says ward sister Shelia Campion. "We are so grateful to the guys at All Clean for being such good sports."

Southwest Florida business owners get help, financing: The program is urgently needed in light of the region's lingering high unemployment and tight credit markets, Scott said: "Anybody who wants to start a business needs capital; right now, they have to have it on their own." "Even with this program, they'll still have to put skin in the game," Scott said: "Either cash or a loan co-signer - someone who is willing and capable of repaying the loan if they don't." The American Association for Enterprise Opportunity defines microenterprise as businesses with five or fewer employees. It estimates there are more than 24 million microenterprises in the country, representing 18 percent of all private employment and about 87 percent of all businesses. Up to 100 applicants will be accepted yearly, said Elliot Rittenhouse, director of microenterprise at Goodwill. If their business plans pass muster, those who complete the microenterprise course can begin applying for the loans of no more than $30,000. Kevin Gorham of North Fort Myers aims to start a window-washing company. Until getting laid off in March 2009, he worked in construction: "I was on a 20-man crew that dropped to a five-man crew." Gorham is excited about being his own boss: "I won't have to worry about a job."


£27,000 Window: Drunken yobs escape £35,000 bill for trashing luxury hotel suite: Two men who wrecked a room at Manchester’s luxury Hilton Hotel after getting ‘disgustingly drunk’ have been spared jail – and the £35,000 repair bill. Mark Kenny, 36, and David Goggin, 30, checked out of the 4-star Deansgate hotel leaving a trail of destruction behind them. The pair had wrecked the 16th floor suite after coming back from a lads’ night out in the city centre last September. One of the building’s floor-to-ceiling windows had been broken and blood and vomit soiled the walls, bedding and carpet.
But they escaped the massive repair bill after their lawyer, Mark Ferguson, disputed how much the damage would cost the Hilton. Judge Gilbart fined them £1,000 each. They have also been ordered to pay compensation of £290 each to the hotel, which will cover the specialist cleaning bill. The Hilton says that the smashed window can only be repaired by removing all the glass from the outside and that replacing the window alone costs £27,000. But the hotel chain will have to sue Kenny and Goggin if it wants the money back. Mr Ferguson said Kenny took home no more than £55 a week, while Goggin only earned £150. Judge Gilbart asked: “Am I to take those figures seriously given that they booked a room in the Hilton, Manchester’s most expensive hotel?” Mr Ferguson said the room had been paid for in advance by Mr Kenny and his now estranged wife. Rather than let the room go to waste, Kenny invited Goggin to go on a ‘boys’ night out’, Mr Ferguson added. Mr Ferguson said his clients were ‘remorseful and regretful’.

More Window Cleaning News

Plea for help: Chris Morris of "Reflection Window Cleaning" is calling out for donations no matter how small for his partner participating in a 10 mile midnight walk in aid of a local hospice that his step daughter Danielle goes too. The Chestnut Tree House serves when a child develops a life-limiting illness. Not just for the child but for their loved ones as well. The aim at Chestnut Tree House is to provide the care and support these families so desperately need, whether practical, physical or emotional. If you can help - any amount will do - please consider in helping a fellow window cleaner out. The target has been reached, but more would be greatly appreciated. As an incentive a free 14" & 18" Wagtail Whirlwind will be given away in a lottery for donators. Please go here to donate.
Read more from Chris here.

Protecting Those Who Are Cleaning Our Windows: How often do you look up and marvel at those people who go up the skyscrapers and clean the windows? I am fascinated to watch when I happen to be on the inside and suddenly the platform comes down and they go to work. Think about the wind and the cold up there. It makes sense that we should all also be concerned about their safety. The Minnesota legislature was looking at HF 3824. Basically, to create a task force looking at making things safer. As Workday Minnesota reported:
The taskforce will develop training, education, and licenser standards for both companies and workers while coordinating any initiatives with OSHA regulations. "Window cleaners need to have the equipment and training to do their jobs safely. In the past two years three workers have lost their lives. We must not allow one more death to occur," said Dino Crandall, a window cleaner and member of SEIU Local 26.
In the past three years, three workers have been killed in the Twin Cities. The SEIU rally about the issue is worth watching and learning from. Hopefully, by continuing to shine a light on the issue, we will see better protections for these workers. It is really quite a spectacular job to observe.

Part time business gets busy! Nice! My father, Jim Gamage Sr., has been cleaning windows for the last few years for a few ladies and gents at Highland Park in Camden. He has just recently expanded somewhat and has picked up numerous window cleaning jobs plus offering some inside houshold cleaning as well. His number is 594-2476 or 706-6114. Call him up. He'll clean your windows, skylights, vehicle or inside of your house. Ask him about his references. He has great references. All his customers are very happy. In fact they keep getting him to do other things. Dependable, reliable, honest and trustworthy. What more could you ask for? His tagline says it all. "You can SEE the difference" Give him a call anytime.

Story of the day: "Imagining LeBron James Through the Lens of an Edward Hopper Painting" by Bryan Harvey. LeBron James just spent the last six hours altering his destiny, crossing out every appointment and meeting on his calendar from now until July, making each box of the week into a transparent window, as if time were now transparent and of little consequence–only, how can the moments of our lives be of little consequence? Read more...

But running a supermarket with volunteers, however keen, is just not the same as having an army of paid workers, and Potts Dawson, who has opened two London restaurants, knows it. "Hmm," he says, as I rather ineffectually start to clean a window. "I always say that a volunteer takes about three times as long as a professional will to manage a job." I stand back from the window and survey a large area of smears.

Suicide jumper kills passer-by: A suicide resulted in another death when a woman who jumped from a tall building landed on a cleaning lady below. Josefina Venizela jumped from the window of the 12th floor of a building in northern Chile. She landed on 56-year-old Luisa Almendares, who happened to be taking out the rubbish in the patio of the building next door. The mother of four was just 40 minutes from finishing her shift. Police say both women died instantly.

A lovesick thug besotted with an older woman murdered a man who joked with her about having sex. Blair Campbell, 17, knifed window cleaner John Miller (pictured) 13 times after the dad held up a Viagra tablet and said he'd have all-night sex with Lisa Hunter, 24. The monster's face "turned bright red" after he heard the quip and he rushed home to grab a large kitchen knife, a court heard. After returning he sneaked up behind dad-of-two John, 37, and launched the frenzied attack in front of his pals. Campbell plunged the blade through John's skull. Another blow fatally severed the main blood vessel coming from John's heart. Campbell then calmly walked home and told his dad: "I've just stabbed somebody." He added: "You can expect the police coming." Yesterday killer Campbell was jailed for at least 12 years for the "wicked" crime.

Cleaning co. exec. buys in University City: Nathan J. Merrick and his wife, Catherine, bought a two-bedroom, 1.5-bath home at 7600 Delmar Blvd. in University City from Family Fleming Trust for $298,900 on May 4. The 1,671-square-foot home was built in 1926 in University City Central. It is located in the Delmar Heights subdivision. Mr. Merrick is vice president of franchise development at Fish Window Cleaning Services Inc., a St. Louis-based window cleaning company. He joined the company in May 2001 as a staff member in the operations department and has served as its Northeastern district manager. He earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Missouri Baptist University. Ms. Merrick is a legal assistant at Carey and Danis LLC in Clayton. She holds a B.A. in French from Truman State University. According to BlockShopper.com, there have been 647 home sales in University City during the past 12 months, with a median sales price of $140,000.

Don Marsh to run for City Commission seat: Don Marsh, the conservative whose bid to become Gainesville's mayor came up 42 votes short this spring, signed up this week to run for an at-large City Commission seat next year. Soon after losing the mayoral contest, Marsh said he would be going after an at-large or District 2 seat in April 2011. On Friday he said he decided to run for what he considers the more difficult contest, calling the District 2 race - in which Lauren Poe would be the incumbent - "easy pickins." "I just got done with an at-large race," he said. "I darn near won." While he's never held public office, Marsh, 51, a registered Republican who runs a window-cleaning business, will be running his third political campaign.
In 2002, he ran for an Alachua County Commission seat, getting 33.67 percent of the vote in a loss to Cynthia Chestnut, a Democrat. In March, he finished second in the mayoral race to city Commissioner Craig Lowe, and a month later, in the runoff election, he lost by a handful of votes. For now, Marsh is the only candidate signed up to contend for the at-large seat now held by Thomas Hawkins, a registered Democrat. On Friday, Hawkins said that he intends to run for re-election. But, Hawkins added, "I'm not ready to start campaigning yet." Hawkins said Marsh's decision to enter the race might force him to sign up early so he can start fundraising. Marsh said fundraising was a big reason he signed up so early, some nine months before the election.
When he ran for mayor, Marsh only had 90 days to put together his campaign, he said, so now he will have time to get organized. While he said running against Poe might be a less daunting task, he thinks he can take down Hawkins. This year he said there were plenty of people who told him he had no chance to win. "I didn't buy any of it," Marsh said. "I still don't buy it."