Window cleaning equipment list: 22 tools, from first squeegee to water-fed pole

Window cleaning starts with a small kit and one real hazard: height. This list covers what goes in the bucket on day one, what keeps you safe on a ladder, and what to add when exterior and commercial work justifies it. Items 1 to 13 are first-season gear. Items 14 to 19 are upgrades and specialty equipment. The final three handle the business side: a phone line, software and insurance. We list no prices, because they change by supplier and region; get current quotes before you buy. If you have not formed the company yet, read how to start a window cleaning business first, and our window cleaning industry page shows how we handle websites, phones and CRM for this trade.

1. Squeegee handles and channels in several sizes

The squeegee is the tool customers picture, and it is where most of your skill shows. One handle with interchangeable channels covers most residential glass; a second handle saves you swapping all day.

Look for: a handle with a comfortable grip and a quick-release clip, channels in a few lengths so you can match pane widths (small for French panes, longer for picture windows and storefronts), and spare rubber. Suppliers sell rubber in different hardnesses, so ask which they suggest for your climate and keep a few strips in the truck. Buy: day one. Practice: clean windows for friends and family until you can finish a pane without streaks or drips, and time yourself. Those times become the basis for your per-pane prices.

2. Strip washers (applicators)

A strip washer is the sleeved bar you use to wet and scrub the glass before the squeegee pulls the water off. A good sleeve holds plenty of solution and loosens bird droppings, pollen and grime in one pass.

Look for: a T-bar that matches your squeegee sizes, sleeves with some scrubbing texture for exterior glass, and spare sleeves so one can dry while you use another. A swivel T-bar helps on high panes from a pole. Buy: day one, at least two sizes. Habit: wash sleeves after every heavy job; a dirty sleeve drags grit across the glass and can scratch it.

3. A bucket, a tool belt and a holster

A window cleaner climbs and walks all day, so the tools ride on your hips. A long rectangular bucket fits a full-size strip washer; a belt and holsters keep both hands free for ladder rungs.

Look for: a bucket wide enough for your largest applicator, with a handle you can carry by one hand; a padded belt; holsters or a pouch that holds a squeegee and applicator securely; and a scraper pouch with a cover. Buy: day one. Safety: tools on the belt mean your hands stay on the ladder. Never carry a bucket in one hand while climbing; use a hook on the ladder or a bucket on a rope.

4. Scrapers, used with care

Scrapers remove paint specks, stickers and stuck-on debris that the applicator cannot. They are also the tool most likely to scratch glass and start a dispute.

Look for: a scraper with a blade cover and fresh blades, and a non-metal scraper for delicate jobs. Know the warning: one major window manufacturer's care guide tells homeowners never to use a razor blade on glass, because it can cause permanent scratches. Our advice: ask before scraping, test in a corner, keep the glass wet, and put a short scraping note in your service agreement for post-construction jobs. Safety: retract or cover the blade every time it goes back in the pouch.

5. Lint-free detail cloths and towels

Edges and corners are where customers look for drips. A detail cloth clears the water line the squeegee leaves at the frame and catches drips on the sill.

Look for: lint-free microfiber or cotton scrim cloths, enough for a full day so you never use a damp, gritty one, and a few larger towels for sills and floors. Keep clean cloths in a closed bag and dirty ones in another. Buy: day one. Habit: wash cloths separately from greasy rags, and retire any cloth that leaves lint or smears. A cheap towel that leaves fibers on a picture window costs you a callback.

6. A mild cleaning solution

Many window cleaners use a small amount of a gentle soap in a bucket of water to give the squeegee glide and lift the grime. Routine residential glass seldom needs anything stronger.

Look for: a solution that rinses clean and does not leave a film, mixed at the strength the label recommends. Skip cleaners heavily based in ammonia or alcohol; the window maker's care guide cited in item 4 warns they can leave streaks and a thin film that attracts dust and moisture. Buy: day one, in small quantities until you find what works in your water. Safety: anything stronger, such as hard water stain removers, comes with a safety data sheet. Read its Section 8 for gloves and eye protection before you open it.

7. An extension pole

A pole lets you clean many first-story and some second-story panes from the ground with your regular squeegee and applicator. Every pane you clean from the ground is one less ladder setup.

Look for: a telescoping pole with a locking mechanism that holds under pressure, a threaded or quick-connect tip that fits your squeegee and applicator handles, and an angle adapter so the squeegee meets the glass flat. Buy: day one. Safety: look up before you extend it. A pole that touches an overhead line can kill you, and OSHA's electrical work rule (see item 14) sets distance minimums that apply to anything conductive you hold.

8. Ladders: extension and step

Ladders are the defining risk of this trade, so buy good ones and fewer of them. Most residential companies carry an extension ladder for second stories and a step ladder for first-floor exteriors and interiors.

Look for: a duty rating high enough for you with a loaded belt, bucket and tools; fiberglass side rails if you work near service drops, since OSHA's electrical safety work practices standard requires portable ladders to have nonconductive siderails if the worker or ladder could touch exposed energized parts; and lengths that suit your homes. Buy: day one. The rules: OSHA's ladder standard requires inspection before each work shift, says a defective ladder must be tagged "Dangerous: Do Not Use" and removed from service, and bars loading a ladder beyond its maximum intended load, which counts you, your belt and your tools.

9. Stabilizers, levelers and ladder mitts

A stabilizer (standoff) holds the ladder off the glass and spreads its load across the wall, so you can reach the pane you are leaning on. Levelers fix uneven ground; mitts protect siding and gutters.

Look for: a stabilizer that fits your extension ladder, leg levelers or a leveling base, rubber feet in good condition, and soft covers for the rail tops. Buy: day one, with the ladder. The rules: OSHA's ladder standard says a ladder goes on stable, level footing unless it is secured or stabilized, a ladder is never moved while someone is on it, and a ladder used to reach an upper landing extends at least 3 feet above it. Habit: face the ladder and keep three points of contact.

10. Drop towels, shoe covers and a step stool

Interior work means working inside someone's home, near their floors, furniture and window treatments. The gear that protects them is part of the job.

Look for: absorbent drop towels for sills and floors, shoe covers or indoor shoes, soft pads for the bottom of your step ladder, and a sturdy step stool for low interior panes. Bring a small bin for moving items off sills and putting them back where they were. Buy: day one. Safety: step stools fall under OSHA's ladder standard as well, so inspect yours the same way, and never stand on chairs or counters. Ask before moving anything fragile.

11. Screen and track cleaning tools

Screens and tracks are the most common add-ons, and dirty tracks undo a clean window the first time the customer opens it.

Look for: a soft brush and a cleaning surface or rack for screens, a spline roller and spline in common sizes for small repairs, narrow track brushes, a detail tool or old toothbrushes, and a small wet-dry vacuum or handheld vac. Buy: brushes on day one; repair supplies once you start offering screen repair. Habit: label each screen with tape as you remove it so it goes back in the right window, and note any torn screens on the invoice before you start, with a photo.

12. Gloves and eye protection

Window cleaners handle blades, old frames, cracked panes and sometimes strong chemicals. Hands and eyes take the hits.

Look for: cut-resistant gloves for handling broken glass or scraping, chemical-resistant gloves in the material named on any strong product's safety data sheet, and eyewear that meets ANSI Z87.1, one of the editions named in OSHA's eye protection rule, for scraping and any overhead spraying. Buy: day one. The rules once you hire: OSHA's hand protection rule requires employers to select and require appropriate gloves when hands face hazards such as severe cuts, chemical burns or harmful substances.

13. A vehicle with a locking ladder rack

Ladders are long, poles are long, and both are easy to steal. Your vehicle needs to carry them safely and lock them down.

Look for: a van, pickup or SUV with a roof or bed rack sized to your longest ladder, a ladder lock, ratchet straps or clamps at both ends, and a dry, organized space for buckets and cloths. Buy: on day one you may be able to use what you drive; add a rack before you buy more ladders. Safety: check every strap before you pull out, and flag anything that sticks out past the rear of the vehicle the way your state requires. When you outgrow the family car, check our work truck buying guide before you shop.

14. A water-fed pole (upgrade)

A water-fed pole is a telescoping pole with a brush on the end that feeds purified water to the glass. You scrub, rinse and let the glass dry, from the ground, which removes many second- and third-story ladder setups and speeds storefronts.

Look for: a pole length that reaches your typical buildings, a weight you can control fully extended, an angle adapter or gooseneck, and brush heads sized to your glass. Buy: once exterior work is steady. Safety: poles, water and power lines are a deadly mix. Under 29 CFR 1910.333, an unqualified worker and the longest conductive object they may contact must stay at least 10 feet from unguarded energized overhead lines of 50 kV or less. Survey for lines before you extend.

15. A pure water system (upgrade)

A water-fed pole depends on purified water. The USGS explains that hard water is high in dissolved minerals, largely calcium and magnesium. Purification strips those out so there is little left on the glass as it dries.

Look for: a deionization (DI) resin vessel, a reverse osmosis (RO) unit, or both (ask suppliers which suits your tap water and volume), and a total dissolved solids (TDS) meter so you know when resin is spent. Ask suppliers about replacement resin and filter availability. Buy: with the pole. Habit: test water at the pole tip before each job; spots mean it is time to change resin.

16. Hose reel, pump and a cart or van tank (upgrade)

Pure water has to get from the filter to the brush. Beginners run straight from the tap through the filter; busier companies carry purified water in a tank with a pump and a reel of small-diameter hose.

Look for: a reel you can wind quickly, hose sized for your pole, a pump with flow control and a battery that lasts a day, and a cart for storefront routes or a tank mounted in the van. Check the vehicle's payload before you add a tank of water. Buy: once you run the pole most days. Safety: route hose so customers and pedestrians are not tripping over it, especially across sidewalks at storefronts.

17. A hard water stain removal kit (upgrade)

Sprinkler overspray and mineral runoff etch spots into glass that normal cleaning cannot remove. Restoring that glass is a separate, slower service with its own risks.

Look for: stain removal products whose labels name glass, non-scratch pads, a test plan, and the product's safety data sheet. Some are acid-based, so treat them with the same respect as any strong chemical. Buy: once you have customers asking. Before you start: test a small area, show the customer the result, and write down that some etching may not come out. Safety: follow the data sheet's Section 8 for gloves and eye protection, and protect frames and plants from drips.

18. A lift rental for low-rise commercial (rent)

Some low-rise commercial glass sits above where a pole reaches comfortably and where ladders are a poor idea, such as over landscaping or on uneven ground. A boom or scissor lift solves that for a day.

Look for: a rental company that delivers, orients you on the machine and documents that orientation, and a lift sized for the height and ground conditions. Buy or rent: rent, and build the rental into your bid. Safety: ask the rental company what operator training they require, read the machine's manual, and check which OSHA rules apply to that type of lift before anyone on your crew operates one. Confirm with your insurer that lift work is covered.

19. Rope descent and high-rise work (specialty)

Taller buildings are cleaned from rope descent systems, suspended platforms or building maintenance units. This is a different business, with its own training, insurance and OSHA rule.

Know the rules: under 29 CFR 1910.27, no crew may hang from a rope descent system until the building owner has confirmed to the employer, in writing, that every anchor point was identified, tested, certified and maintained to hold a minimum of 5,000 pounds, from any direction, for each worker clipped to it. The same rule sets a ceiling of 300 feet above grade for rope descent, with exceptions only where the employer can demonstrate that reaching the glass any other way is infeasible or more dangerous. Buy: nothing until you have formal training and insurance that covers it.

20. A business phone number that works while you climb

You should never answer a call on a ladder. A business number that sends missed callers an automatic text keeps the quote request alive until you are on the ground, and keeps your cell number off the van. Our guide to setting up a business phone number explains the choices, and we describe the phone systems we build for field crews on our services page.

21. Software for routes, reminders and invoices

Window cleaning pays on repeat visits: storefronts every few weeks, homes in spring and fall. Software should hold every pane count, screen count and add-on for each property, schedule the next visit automatically, text a reminder the day before, and bill commercial accounts on a recurring schedule. Next spring's quote then takes seconds instead of a site visit. Our recurring billing guide covers the setup, and our custom CRM page explains when a system you own beats renting one.

22. Insurance that covers ladder work

General liability exists for third-party injuries and property damage: the customer who walks into a ladder, a pole that tips onto a parked car. Ask your agent how it treats damage to the glass, screens and frames you are working on, whether the policy limits the height or the number of stories you can work, and whether lift and water-fed pole work are included. Before you hire, check your state's workers' compensation requirements, and get a quote early, since that cost belongs in your hiring math. Our contractor insurance guide covers each policy and how to read the limits.

Where to start

Begin with three things. Buy one good squeegee handle, two channel sizes and two strip washers (items 1 and 2), and practice on real windows until you can time a pane. Buy one fiberglass extension ladder with a stabilizer and levelers (items 8 and 9) instead of three cheap ladders. And add an extension pole (item 7) so you clean every pane you can from the ground. A water-fed pole can wait until exterior work fills your week. After that, our start a company hub lists the remaining setup steps; ask for a free launch plan so the phone and website side is settled before the spring rush.

Frequently asked questions