Window cleaner hoping to become fastest in the business with Guinness World Record

A window cleaner is hoping to beat a Guinness world record to become the fastest man in the business.

Michael Moore has spent 20 years honing his skills and is ready to take on the challenge of cleaning three metre-high windows in less than nine seconds.

The 35-year-old will tackle the feat at ‘The Cleaning Show’ at London’s ExCeL centre on Tuesday, hoping to beat the current record by Terry ‘Turbo’ Burrows.

Michael’s challenge involves cleaning three 1.143m high windows as quickly as possible. Contestants are penalised for leaving water marks and the windows must be cleaned the old-fashioned way, with an applicator and a squeegee.

Terry Burrows first set the 9.14-second record in 2009, despite a one second penalty for leaving two water marks.

Michael said: “Terry is a legend in the world of window cleaning and his record has stood for over 20 years.

“However, I’ve got technique and skill and I’m looking forward to challenging for Terry’s record and seeing how quick I really am.

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“I’ve been doing it a long time – well before the reach and wash system came in – so I’ve probably had more practice at it than a lot of the guys.”

Michael, who runs MKM Cleaning Solutions in Colchester, Essex, travels across the country and Europe for specific jobs, including the windows of Abercrombie and Fitch on the Champs Elysee in Paris.

But he knows it will be tough to take the title from current holder Terry, who puts his success down to his martial arts background.

Terry said: “As a former martial arts instructor and boxer, I managed to perfect a rapid 16-move sequence which is very hard to copy if you don’t have the core strength, flexibility, fast hands and reflexes.

“However, unlike the early days when I first started competing, now you can study my technique via clips on YouTube, and each year a new generation of cleaners come along to try and beat me.

“Maybe this year I’ll finally meet my match, and I’ll have to hand over my title. But even if that happens I’ll never forget how great it was to hold the record for so many years.”

Paul Thrupp, Executive Council Member for the Federation of Window Cleaners, said: “Terry has done amazingly well to hang on to his record for this long but there’s always a chance of an upset.”