For people who have no idea what the word Alchemy means or is about I will explain this to you. The picture above is a painting by Michael Angelo and is entitled The Creation of Adam. Michael Angelo was an Alchemist. The painting (The Creation of Adam) is depictive of someone who has went through a rebirthing experience and united the concious and the unconcious mind as a process of self transformation. This is refered to as The Alchemical Process.
In midieval times alchemist were attempting to take base metals and transform them into gold. it was not until Carl Jung (Swiss Psychiatrist) began studying dreams of his own and that of his patients that he began to understand the transformation of the psyche through Alchemy. Carl Jung would then define taking base metals and turning them into gold was not one of physicality but one of spirituality that could lead someone to what Abraham Maslow (Maslows Hierarchy of Needs) called Self Actualization or what Carl Jung called The Process of Individuation.
Alchemy is based on knowledge as facts,wisdom,and extreme patience. This is the same process I use everyday in the window cleaning business.
Mythification and Window Cleaning
So what's in the bucket ?
Every year someone asks me what's in the bucket refering to what kind of secret ingedients I am using to clean peoples windows. And every year I break there heart by saying " It's blue Dawn liquid detergent and sometimes I might use some ammonia because other window cleaners say it cuts dirt and grime easier."
This brings me to the mythology I have heard so many times in the window cleaning business that in some way window cleaners have secret ingredients that only they know about that gets windows clean. I even had a fellow window cleaner refuse to tell me what he was using as if he told me that I was going to steal it from him. The myth of the secret ingredients in window cleaners buckets runs thick in peoples minds but I gaurantee there is so special ingredients in window cleaners buckets . And here are the reasons why I say this.
One window cleaner wouldn't tell me the brand of soap he used he did tell me that he bought it from Canada. The brand name ended up being a big secret. I asked him about it again some time later and he said he know longer used that soap. Would you really give up your soap if it was that great?
Another reason why I don't beleive the myth about the secret window cleaning sauce is that allot of window cleaners have these secret ingredients not just one of them. Can all of these window cleaners have magic ingredients or is it just in there heads? I beleive the latter.
Here is another reason I fail to beleive window cleaners when they say they have secret ingredients. The old school window cleaners and there are still a few around cleaned or still clean windows using trisodium phosphate also called TSP. I believe TSP became unpopular do to new EPA standards so window cleaners began using soap.I was forced to use TSP when I was learning window cleaning and this stuff will take paint right off the walls so you have to be very skilled when using it. I personally don't see any reason to take unessecary risks when I clean so I use soap.
So what does get a window clean? What I have found that works great to "Clean" windows is soap of course,water,and the pressure from my arm when scrubbing a window. I also use something called a white pad that is similiar to a green pad that you would scrub dirty dishes with but the white pad does not scratch glass like the green pad would. After soapy water (Sometimes ammonia is included) is put on the window I scrub the window using pressure from my forearm,squeegee it,dry it,and then I detail it with steel wool that is (0000 grade) . This super fine steel wool (0000 grade) does not scratch glass it simply is used to detail what is left on the window after scrubbing,squeegeeing and drying the window.
Oh yes at times I do use a razor blade on a window to take off paint chips or over spray but this done sparingly.
So what's in the bucket? Window cleaners have few options to make secret ingredients. Soap,ammonia,TSP, and a few soaps that are made by window cleaning manufacturers such as Sorbo or Ettore. I've used them all and I see know difference in the way any of them clean. So don't be fooled by window cleaners who want you to believe in some way there window cleaning detergent is better than anothers. Allot of what window cleaners do is in scrubbing the window with detergent and being skilled with a squeegee.
What about vinegar and newspapers? Vinegar fumes stink to me and I quit reading newspapers about a year ago do to the violent negative content that outlines them.
The point is there is allot of myths around window cleaning. Don't be fooled. Hire a professional,go through the process once or twice a year ,and enjoy being able to see through nice clean windows. It's worth the weight of gold.
I hope you understand the window cleaning process better from this article.
Keeping Water Off of Carpet and Floors
I believe one of the best outcomes that has occured in window cleaning is the idea of carefullness and drop cloths. When people begin understanding the window cleaning process done by professionals they might conjure up scary ideas of wet floors and carpet ect. Do to the training that goes into window cleaning carefullness and by using drop cloths like painters use window cleaners never leave any noticeable water on your floors or carpet.
People need to understand that trained window cleaners are very proficient in keeping water in there buckets and are constantly wiping and drying there tools as they move through a home as not to leave drips of water on carpets,wood floors and other surfaces.By placing a drop cloth under every window they clean the water falls on something that catches small amounts of excess water that might drip underneath there tools when cleaning a window.
Another alternative to a drop cloth is a towel but I prefer a drop cloth because it can cover furniture and large spaces . This is essential when cleaning skylites that hover above anything from couches to other items that need covered when doing window cleaning. Using a towel in this situation would not be right because often times skylites drop black dirty water to the floor so you want a wide cloth that can catch that water .
Gutter Facts
Well the fine art of gutter cleaning and maintenance. Allot can be said here but mainly I see a few generalized problems every time I clean gutters and I will teach you everything you need to know about gutters here.
First of all there made to catch water that drains off of your roof and direct it away from the foundation of your home. This prevents erosion around your house and termite infestation. While I have seen home owners take off there rain gutters completely I beleive this has only temporary benefits instead of long term results. If you take your rain gutters and downspouts off of your home might think everything is ok until you found out that your basement was flooding or the foundation of your home was eroding.
Gutter Tilting One of the main problems I see in gutter installation is what I call '"Gutter Tilting." I have never seen a full set of gutters set up to where all the water drains into the down spouts .Generally there is at least some of the gutter on the home that tilts away from the down spout causing the gutter to form into a trough and overflow once the gutter is filled with debris that backs up water.
Remedy: Have your gutters aligned again. Have them cleaned yearly.
Plenty of Gutter and Too Few Downspouts Another complication I see generally on every home is a strip of gutter that is too long to carry water to a downspout. This too causes complications when gutters are full of debris and this also causes flooding. I still don't quite comprehend how gutter installers don't add just one more down spout to solve this problem instead of expecting water to travel so far to drain. Once the gutter system is installed it can be too late to add another down spout do to how the system was designed in the first place although it might be possible to install an extra downspout since there are exceptions to the rule.
Remedy: Evaluate if another downspout can be installed. Have your gutters cleaned at least once a year.
Gutters Rusting Out Gutters rust out for generally for one reason and that is they are not getting cleaned regularly.Rusted out gutters can make holes in the gutter itself and rust out the gutters couplings and screws that fit to downspouts that generally break when they are being cleaned do to deterioration.
Remedy: Have your gutters cleaned yearly.
Have allot of fun with your window cleaning today!
