Frequently Asked Questions

People do notice, and particularly on entrance doors and communual areas, where grimy fingerprints can influence a persons first impression of your company. Remember, people tend to judge very frivolously.

Our water fed pole cleaning system uses only pure water carried within the van. The water is de-inonised and carries no static charge. This means it does not stick to the glass like normal water and simply runs off. There is no need to dry the windows off as the water remaining will dry without leaving detergent marks.

We can clean in all conditions except torrential rain and very high winds. The rain has little effect on the cleaning, and all dirt is still removed. It might rain as soon as we have left, but your windows and frames will still be clean. Any pure water left on your windows will actually dilute the rainwater and stop it from leaving marks. In previous years in industrial areas like the West Midlands, when the air was full of smoke and dust, the rain may well have resulted in dirty windows. Since the Clean Air Act, however, this is no longer the case but the ‘old wives tale’ lives on. Now, most of the problem comes from those cleaning the windows and not wanting to get wet themselves.

Even in the winter, we can clean. Cleaning after snow is always important as snow attracts dirt, especially to sills and frames.

The technology consists of coating ordinary glass with a thin layer of titanium dioxide, which changes the contact angle made between the glass and a drop of water. This is said to make the glass "hydrophilic", meaning that instead of forming individual droplets, the rainwater spreads out as a continuous sheet. So instead of running down the window in rivulets, leaving unsightly streaks behind, the water washes the whole pane clean. Well, that's the theory, anyway.

The problem with theories, though, is that they don't always translate well into practice. Although it is true that, in the laboratory, water can be made to run smoothly off a treated pane of glass, sweeping all before it, the same conditions do not always occur in real life. Ask yourself, how often do your upstairs windows actually get soaked by rain? The answer is, very rarely. Upstairs windows are often sheltered by lintels, arches, and overhanging eaves, and would only get a thorough washing-down if struck by horizontal driving rain - ie in hurricane conditions. And it stands to reason that if the rain is lashing horizontally against one side of the house, the opposite, leeward, side will remain dry and unwashed. In fact, a Pilkingtons spokesman admitted to me last week that its Activ glass is only "self-cleaning" as long as it is regularly hosed down with water, and even then it works best when the water flows slowly down an incline - such as on a conservatory roof - rather than straight down, as on normal vertical windows. It has also been suggested that the properties of the surface coating can be diminished by airborne pollution such as traffic film. In other words, it's self-cleaning as long as it doesn't get dirty.

Source: The Telegraph

Since the introduction of the Working at Height Regulations (WAHR) there have been rumours in various industry sectors claiming that ladders are "illegal" or "banned by HSE".



These Regulations do NOT ban ladders but say they should be used only when all other safer alternatives for work at height have been ruled out. A risk assessment must show that the task is low risk and of short duration, or that there are site features that mean other equipment is not appropriate. If so, then ladders can be used.

Our employees at TR Cleaning Ltd are insured to use ladders up to a maximum height of 15m. All employees are trained in selection, inspection and safe use of ladders. 

MEWPs stands for Mobile Elevating Work Platforms, these include cherry pickers, scissor lifts and vehicle mounted booms. 

Our staff are trained in using MEWPs and hold an International Powered Access Federation certificate (IPAF).

MEWPs can be used as a means of access upto 112m (367ft) where it is not possible to clean windows via conventional method.