Window Cleaners Now Hard To Get

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30044, 31 January 1963, Page 14

Window Cleaners Now Hard To Get

With mon and mm ghee being used in new com* merdal buildings and with an increasing number of housewives preferring to pay to have another task taken’ off their hands, window-cleaning firms in Christchurch an strained to satisfy the demand for their services. In many instances new work has to bo ratnssd because of insufficient eeenaes. The amount of windowcleaning work tn toe city and suburbs is estimated to have doubted to toe test two or three yean, and toe larger firms are at present so fully committed on contract work that they do not seek other work to private homes. "We generally try to put this wack art to the small businessmen.'* admitted a spokesman for one firm yesU. day. “It would be quite impossible for us to cover all the requests we receive.** The charge for cleaning windows on most commercial jobs is under contract, and the charge varies according to the difficulties involved. A charge of Us M an hour is typical for work at private houses. Architects* Lapse Mr C. L Hill, a section manager of a large Christchurch cleaning firm, yesterday condemned the designing of buildings by architects who give little thought ta how the windows will be cleaned. “In some cases the windows on tall buildings are hung in such a way that it is almost impossible to clean them from inside. We have had several discussions with architects on this matter. In many cases they seem more concerned with saving money.”

Mr HiM said it could be a Very dangerous job trying to

dean windows on a tail building when there are no ledges or handholds. There is one new buildtag fa toe etty on which one of his Ewbtr nas so perform asnost contortionist tricks to clean the outride of the windows. In other parte of the world, tail buddtapi usually have windows which can be rf—wrf from the inside, or etoe make uee of a bosun’s chair suspended from a rail running around the top of toe buildtag. Fly Spray Frebleas Mr HU said he believed there were several reasons why many housewives paid to have their windows cleaned. The modern home has far more gteas than older ones. And modern fly sprays often settle on toe glass, making them smeary and much more difficult to dean.” Mr J. I. Metoeh, manager of toe largest window-clean-ing firm in Christchurch, said the day of the private house window-cleaning round had pone. “We have been fa the business sauce before IP3B. and in those days we used to have two trucks a day doing the rounds. Now the demand is so great we can’t even attempt it” Mr Mellish agreed tout architects generally made no allowance for the cleaning fit windows on new buildings, although he considered that recent publicity was making them more conscious of the problem. He suggested more widespread use of swivel windows on buddings of four or more storeys. “Not only would there be an advantage for the cleaner because he could work from inride, but the costs would ateo be reduced."

In toe next few weeks, the biggest window - cleaning jobs will be at schools, and the firms will be hardpressed to complete the work.

General bouse cleaning work has also received a great upsurge in recent years. Divisions of women working in private homes are fully committed.