What does a window cleaning business do?
A window cleaning business cleans glass, frames, sills, screens and tracks for homes and businesses. Most small companies start with two kinds of work: residential jobs (bigger tickets, booked once or twice a year) and storefront routes (small tickets that repeat every week or month).
| Type of work | Typical schedule | Good for a new business? |
|---|---|---|
| Residential homes, inside and out | Spring and fall, or once a year | Yes. Larger jobs and strong referrals |
| Storefronts and small offices | Weekly, every two weeks or monthly | Yes. Quick, steady and easy to route |
| Post-construction glass | One-time, after a build or remodel | Later. Paint, stickers and debris need care and experience |
| Low-rise commercial buildings | Monthly or quarterly contracts | Later. Bigger insurance and access requirements |
| High-rise, rope access or suspended platforms | Contracts | No. Specialized training, equipment and safety standards |
Window washing pairs well with related services you can add later: screen repair, gutter cleaning, solar panel cleaning, light pressure washing and hard water stain removal. Each adds revenue to a visit you are already making.
Is it a good business to start?
For many people, yes. Startup costs are low, one person can run it, and clean windows are easy for clients to see and recommend. The trade-offs are working at height, weather that cancels outdoor days, and slower winter months in cold climates. Storefront routes help smooth that out.
How to start a window washing business, step by step
Decide what you will clean and how high you will go, set up the business, buy insurance and a basic kit, practice until you are fast, set prices and build a route. Most owners can be ready for paying jobs within a few weeks.
- Set your limits. Decide your maximum height (for example, two stories by ladder and three by water-fed pole) and stick to it in your quotes.
- Register the business. Choose a structure, register your name and get an EIN. Our guide to an LLC for a cleaning business covers the structure question.
- Check licenses. Most places only require a general business license. See our guide to cleaning business licenses for how to check with your city, county and state.
- Buy insurance. Get general liability before you touch a client’s glass. Storefront owners and property managers often ask for a certificate.
- Buy a traditional kit and ladders. Start with the basics below and add a water-fed pole when exterior work grows.
- Practice. Clean your own windows, then a few friends’ homes, and time each window. Speed and a streak-free finish come from repetition.
- Set prices. Turn your timed windows into a per-window price list with add-ons and a minimum charge.
- Line up your first clients. Walk a commercial strip for storefront accounts and market to homeowners for spring and fall.
For the setup steps every service business shares, see how to start a cleaning business.
What equipment do you need to clean windows?
You can start with a traditional kit: a squeegee and channels, a scrubber (strip washer), scrapers, microfiber towels, a bucket, a tool belt and ladders. Add a water-fed pole and a water purification system when you do enough exterior work to justify it. Prices below are rough ranges, so check current supplier prices.
Traditional kit
- Squeegee handles and channels in two or three sizes, plus spare rubbers. Rubbers wear out, and a nicked rubber leaves streaks.
- Scrubbers (strip washers) to wet the glass and loosen dirt.
- Scrapers for paint specks and stickers, used carefully (see the note on tempered glass below).
- Microfiber towels and detail cloths for edges, sills and frames.
- A bucket, a tool belt and holsters so your tools stay on you while you climb.
- A simple solution. Many cleaners use water with a small amount of dish soap or a window cleaning concentrate.
- An extension pole for first-floor windows you can reach from the ground.
A good starter kit usually costs a few hundred dollars. Ladders (a stepladder and an extension ladder, plus levelers and standoffs) add a few hundred more.
Water-fed pole system
A water-fed pole is a long, lightweight pole with a brush on the end that sprays purified water. Because purified water has the minerals removed, it dries without spots, so there is no squeegee step. Most systems use deionization (DI) resin, reverse osmosis (RO) or both to purify tap water. A pole, hose and DI setup can run from several hundred dollars to a few thousand for carbon fiber poles and larger RO systems, plus ongoing resin or filter costs.
Traditional or water-fed pole?
| Traditional squeegee | Water-fed pole | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Interior glass, storefronts, detailed finishes | Exterior glass on two- and three-story homes, frames and sills |
| Ladder work | Needed above the first floor | Much less, since you work from the ground |
| Startup cost | Low | Higher, plus resin or filters |
| Weak spots | Slower on high exterior glass | Not for interiors, and very dirty glass may need a second pass |
A note on tempered glass
Scraping some tempered glass can leave scratches, because tiny bits of debris from manufacturing can sit on the surface. Many window cleaners check for the tempered stamp in the corner, test in a small area, or avoid blades on tempered glass and say so in their terms.
How much to charge for window cleaning
Most window cleaners price per window or per pane, with separate prices for inside and outside, set add-ons for screens, tracks and hard water stains, and a minimum charge per visit. Build the price from your own timed work so it pays you and holds up from job to job.
Ways to price
- Per window. Simple for clients. Define what counts as a window (for example, one double-hung window, inside and out, is one window).
- Per pane. More precise for French windows and divided glass. Count panes during the quote.
- By the house. A flat price by size and stories, once you know your times for typical homes in your area.
- By the visit for storefronts. A flat price per cleaning, usually outside only, inside and out less often.
A worked example (hypothetical numbers)
Say you quote a two-story home with 24 standard windows, inside and out, plus screens.
- Your timed average is 6 minutes per window inside and out, so 24 windows take 2.4 hours.
- Screens add about 1 minute each: 24 minutes.
- Setup, ladder moves and cleanup add 30 minutes, for about 3.3 hours on the job.
- If you want to earn $45 an hour before overhead and profit, labor is about $149.
- Supplies and driving add about $15, for a direct cost of $164.
If 25% of each price should cover overhead (insurance, ladders and rubbers, marketing, phone, software) and 15% should be profit, direct costs are 60% of the price. $164 divided by 0.60 is about $273. Divided by 24 windows, that is about $11.40 a window inside and out with screens. You might list $11.50 a window, or $5 outside and $6.50 inside, and keep $275 as your typical quote for that home.
Add-ons to price separately
| Add-on | How to price it |
|---|---|
| Screens | Per screen, for removing, washing and reinstalling |
| Tracks and sills | Per window, since dirty tracks can double the time |
| Hard water stain removal | Per window or hourly after a test spot, with no promise of full removal on etched glass |
| Post-construction cleanup | Hourly or a higher per-window rate, since paint, labels and debris take time |
| Third story or hard access | A higher per-window rate for glass that needs extra equipment or time |
Set a minimum charge so a three-window job still covers your drive and setup. Send a written quote that lists the window count, sides, add-ons and anything excluded. The cleaning estimate template works for window jobs.
How do window cleaners stay safe on ladders?
Inspect your ladder before each use, set it on firm level ground at the right angle, keep three points of contact, stay off the top rungs and watch for power lines. Falls from portable ladders are one of the leading causes of work deaths and injuries, according to OSHA, so safety rules are part of the job, not an extra.
OSHA’s portable ladder safety quick card sums up the basics:
- Inspect the ladder before using it, and take a damaged ladder out of service.
- Look for overhead power lines, and avoid metal ladders near them.
- Keep three points of contact (two hands and a foot, or two feet and a hand), face the ladder and stay near the middle of the rungs.
- Set the base a quarter of the ladder’s working length away from the wall (for every 4 feet up, 1 foot out).
- Extend the ladder at least 3 feet above the surface it rests on if you use it to reach a roof or other elevated surface.
- Do not stand on the top three rungs of a straight or extension ladder, or the top step of a stepladder unless it was designed for it.
- Use the ladder only on stable, level ground unless it is secured, and never on boxes or other unstable bases.
Know where the specialists start
High-rise window cleaning with rope descent systems, suspended platforms or boom lifts needs training, inspected anchors and specialized equipment. The International Window Cleaning Association publishes the ANSI/IWCA I-14.1 Window Cleaning Safety Standard for that work, which it sells for $50 (free for members) and says OSHA still references. If you are just starting, leave that work to specialists and keep your residential limit clear.
Habits that prevent accidents
- Use standoffs to keep the ladder off the glass and gutters, and levelers on uneven ground.
- Do not work from a ladder in high wind or rain.
- Move the ladder instead of leaning out to reach one more pane.
- Use a water-fed pole for high exterior glass whenever you can.
- Train every helper on the same rules before their first climb.
What insurance does a window cleaner need, and what does it cost?
Window cleaning business insurance starts with general liability, adds workers’ compensation once you hire employees (most states require it), and commercial auto if you drive for work in ways your personal policy does not cover. Window cleaning companies paid an average of $78 a month for general liability through Insureon.
The averages below come from Insureon’s window cleaning insurance cost page, based on policies its customers bought:
| Policy | Average per month | Average per year |
|---|---|---|
| General liability | $78 | $931 |
| Business owner’s policy (BOP) | $81 | $968 |
| Workers’ compensation | $114 | $1,364 |
| Commercial auto | $250 | $3,001 |
| Commercial umbrella | $76 | $906 |
| Janitorial bond | $9 | $112 |
Your price depends on your state, payroll, claims history and the heights you work at. Questions worth asking before you buy:
- Is there a height limit, and does it match the work you plan to do?
- Does the policy cover glass you break while cleaning it, or is that excluded as property in your care?
- Does it cover scratched glass, or damage to screens, blinds and window treatments?
- Can you get a certificate of insurance quickly, and add a client as an additional insured?
Our cleaning business insurance guide explains each policy in detail. This is general information, so confirm coverage with a licensed agent.
How to find window cleaning clients and build a route
Build two kinds of client at once: storefronts you clean on a schedule, which pay steady monthly income, and homeowners you clean once or twice a year, which pay for bigger days. Then grow both through referrals and reminders.
Storefront routes
- Pick one or two commercial strips close together, so you can clean many storefronts in a morning with little driving.
- Walk in at a quiet time, ask for the owner or manager, and offer a simple outside-only price per visit on a set schedule.
- Offer to clean the first visit so they can see the result, then put them on the route.
- Add nearby shops as you go, so each new account makes the route more profitable.
Homeowners
- Google Business Profile. List window cleaning, the towns you serve and photos of finished glass, and ask every happy client for a review.
- Door hangers near each job. Neighbors notice clean windows. A flyer template makes these quick.
- House cleaners. Many residential cleaning companies do interior windows only, or none. Offer them a referral arrangement for exterior and high glass.
- Realtors and property managers. Listings and move-outs need clean glass on short notice.
- Seasonal reminders. Text every past client before spring and fall. Many will book the same service again.
For more channels and scripts, see how to get clients for a cleaning business.
Should a house cleaning company add window cleaning?
Interior windows are an easy add-on for most house cleaning companies. Exterior and high glass is a different job, with ladders, more insurance questions and weather, so many owners either refer it out or set it up as a separate service with trained staff.
- Interior windows as an extra. Price per window, add it to deep cleans and move-out cleans, and train your cleaners on a streak-free squeegee method.
- Exterior windows as a separate service. Only if you have the right insurance, ladders or water-fed poles, and staff trained on ladder safety.
- Referral partners. Trading referrals with a local window cleaner often earns goodwill on both sides with no new risk.
Our guide on how to grow a cleaning business covers adding services without stretching your team too thin. If you run house cleaning, BroomBook lets clients pick extras such as interior windows when they book online and see the price before they choose a time; see the pricing page for plans.