When I started cleaning windows professionally in Melbourne in 1999, I bought the wrong tools first. It took a few sessions of frustrating results to understand that the quality of the result has very little to do with the product you spray on the glass, and a great deal to do with the tools in your hands and how you use them.
Twenty-five years later, my tool list hasn't changed much. The fundamentals are the fundamentals. What has changed is my ability to tell you exactly what you need, what you don't, and why.
This guide is for anyone starting out, whether you're cleaning your own home or building a window-cleaning business. Buy the right things once. Skip the rest.
The Squeegee: Your Most Important Tool
Everything else on this list supports the squeegee. The squeegee is where the result happens.
A squeegee consists of four parts: a handle, a channel (the metal bar that holds the rubber blade), a rubber blade, and two rubber clips that hold the blade in place. The quality of each part matters.
For beginners, start with two channel sizes: a 20cm and a 35cm. The 20cm handles small panes, bathroom windows, and intricate glazing. The 35cm covers standard residential windows efficiently. A 20cm and 35cm together cover almost every window you'll encounter.
Start with the 20cm first. A shorter channel is easier to control, and control is what builds good technique. Do not rush to a 45cm or 55cm channel. Large channels are faster once the movement is in your hands, but they'll work against you while you're still learning the turns.
The handle matters too. A swivel handle gives you more manoeuvrability in corners, particularly when using an extension pole. A fixed handle is simpler and sturdy, and works well for most hand work. I use both.
On the rubber blade: this is the most replaced part of the tool, and the most important one to get right. The rubber edge must be sharp and undamaged. A nicked or worn rubber leaves a line on the glass in the same position, every single pass, until you rotate or replace it. The rubber is two-sided: when one edge loses its sharpness, flip it. Invest in professional-grade rubber. It holds its edge longer and makes the cleaning effort noticeably more efficient. Do not buy the cheapest rubber available and expect a professional result.
Check the channel before every session: sight down its length to confirm it's straight. A bent channel means uneven contact with the glass across its full length, and a line running the full length of every pass.
The T-Bar Applicator and Microfibre Cover
The T-bar applicator is how you get the soap water onto the glass. It consists of a T-shaped handle fitted with a microfibre sleeve that distributes soap evenly and helps loosen dirt from the surface.
Get a 35cm swivel T-bar handle. The swivel gives you pivot when working in corners or on a pole. The 35cm width covers a useful area per stroke and matches the standard squeegee channel size well.
The microfibre cover goes over the T-bar. It absorbs and holds soap water, distributes it across the glass, and its texture helps agitate the dirt from the surface. Replace or wash the cover regularly. A dirty or clogged cover deposits grime back onto the glass instead of cleaning it.
Machine wash microfibre covers at 60 degrees. Do not mix them with other laundry: lint from other fabrics transfers onto the cover and then onto your clean glass. Air-dry after washing. Tumble drying creates a static charge that attracts dust.
Rags: 100% Cotton Towelling Only
This is the one where beginners most often try to save money and pay for it in the result.
100% cotton towelling rags are the professional standard for detailing. Cotton has excellent absorbency, leaves no lint on the glass, and is reusable. It is what your finger presses into to get into the seal edge between the glass and the frame, removing pooled soap water and preventing drips.
Do not use microfibre cloths for edge detailing. Microfibre is excellent for many cleaning tasks. On glass edgework after squeegeeing, it tends to smear rather than absorb. Cotton towelling collects the moisture cleanly.
Do not mix your window-cleaning rags with other laundry. Lint is the enemy of a clean edge. Wash at 60 degrees, air-dry, and keep them separate.
You'll go through rags faster than you expect. Keep a stack of them. Replace the rag with a fresh one every few windows to maintain the quality of the detail. A rag that's been wrung out and re-used too many times starts spreading moisture rather than collecting it.
The Bucket
A 25-litre bucket. That's it.
Large enough to hold enough soap water for a full session without constant refilling. The T-bar fits comfortably on both sides for a proper double-sided dip.
Some professionals use a window-cleaning bucket with a built-in wringer rail along the top edge, which allows you to wring the T-bar against the bucket rim without dipping your hand into the water. Useful, not essential when starting out.
Soap
Window-cleaning soap is specifically formulated for glass: it creates enough lubrication for the squeegee rubber to glide smoothly, dissolves dirt effectively, and rinses without leaving residue.
The mix: fill the bucket halfway with tap water, add one cup of soap. The consistency should match washing-up water for dishes. Enough soap to shift dirt, not so much that it foams heavily or leaves a film.
Do not use washing-up liquid as a long-term substitute. Some formulations leave a residue on glass. Purpose-made window-cleaning soap is inexpensive and worth using.
The Tool Belt and Bucket Carrier
Once you're cleaning more than a handful of windows, a tool belt changes how you work.
A window-cleaning tool belt with rag loops and a belt bucket (a small clip-on bucket that holds soap water while you're working, keeping it at hand without bending to the floor) reduces the up-and-down fatigue of constantly reaching for tools. Bending over to collect a rag or dip the applicator for every window is extra energy spent for no result.
This isn't essential on day one at home. It becomes essential quickly in professional work, where time and fatigue both count.
The Extension Pole
An extension pole connects to the squeegee handle, extending your reach for windows above arm height. Modern aluminium and carbon fibre poles are light, strong, and collapse to a manageable carry length.
For beginners cleaning at home, a 2-to-4-metre pole covers most residential windows that are out of arm reach without a ladder. For professional work, longer poles are available for upper-storey exterior windows.
The tapered pole tip connects to the squeegee handle and transfers your hand movement to the glass. Secure every joint firmly: an unsecured collar clamp means lost pressure at the squeegee and a significantly worse result. Check the joints before you start.
When cleaning with a pole, keep the squeegee angle at roughly 45 degrees to the glass. A flat squeegee on a pole cannot remove the soap water correctly. This is one of the most common pole mistakes.
What to Skip
Spray bottles and glass cleaner products. For professional-standard results, the soap-water-and-squeegee method produces a result that spray-and-wipe cannot match on standard window sizes. Spray products are useful for spot cleaning small areas: mirrors, small glass panels, car windows. For full windows, skip them.
Squeegee kits sold at supermarkets. These are designed for price, not performance. The rubber is usually soft, the channel thin and easily bent, and the handle has no swivel for corner work. Buy professional tools from a window-cleaning supplier. The price difference is modest; the performance difference is significant.
Razor blades for regular cleaning. Razor blades have a legitimate use for removing adhesive or paint from glass, with appropriate precautions and only on glass types where it's safe. They are not a regular cleaning tool. Using a razor blade on heat-treated or coated glass without confirming the glass specification risks permanent surface damage.
Newspaper. This is a recurring home tip that surfaces repeatedly. Newspaper leaves ink residue on frames and sills, is inconsistent in its results, and is not how professional window cleaning works. Skip it.
The Professional Starter Kit: What to Buy First
If you're starting from zero, here is the practical list:
- Squeegee handle (swivel) with 20cm brass channel, rubber, and clips.
- Squeegee handle (swivel) with 35cm brass channel, rubber, and clips.
- T-bar handle (swivel) with microfibre applicator cover, 35cm.
- 100% cotton towelling rags (buy a bundle, not a single rag).
- 25-litre bucket.
- Window-cleaning soap.
- Extension pole, 2-to-4-metre.
That's the complete working kit. Add a tool belt and belt bucket once you're comfortable with the basics. Add a water fed pole system when exterior upper-storey work requires it.
All these tools are available at orloffs.at/webshop, where I've curated a professional bundle kit for ease.
Tools Are the Starting Point. Technique Is the Work.
Here's the honest truth: the best tool kit in the world produces a mediocre result in the hands of someone who hasn't learned the technique. The agitation step, the squeegee angle, the edge detail before squeegeeing, the wrist rotation in the turn with a twist: these are the things that produce a streak-free window. The tools just make them possible.
I've seen people with basic equipment and good technique produce results that people with expensive kit and no technique can't match.
Start with the right tools. Then learn to use them properly.
The free Window Cleaning Manifesto at orloffs.com/manifesto covers the foundational technique in five minutes. The $69 Beginner Program at orloffs.com/for-beginners gives you the Manifesto, the AR Window Cleaning Training Tool (practise the squeegee turns in augmented reality, including the turn with a twist, before you touch real glass), and the full 90-minute Mastery Course with lifetime access. Everything you need to use the tool kit properly, in one place.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most important window cleaning tool for beginners? The squeegee is the most important tool in professional window cleaning. It is the tool that produces the streak-free result: the rubber blade, moving across the glass at a slight angle, shaves the soap water cleanly from the surface. Everything else, the applicator, the soap water, the rags, supports the squeegee. For beginners, start with a 20cm channel squeegee with a swivel handle. A smaller channel is easier to control while the technique is being built. The rubber blade must be sharp and undamaged: a nicked or worn rubber leaves a line on the glass in the same position every pass.
Do I need expensive tools to clean windows professionally? Professional tools are not expensive relative to their impact on results. The difference between professional-grade window-cleaning rubber and the cheapest alternative is not a large sum of money, but it produces a significant difference in the quality of clean and the effort required. Supermarket squeegee kits are designed for low price, not performance: the rubber is soft, the channel bends easily, and the handle usually has no swivel. Buying professional tools from a window-cleaning supplier once costs less, over time, than repeatedly replacing cheap equipment that produces poor results.
Can I use a microfibre cloth instead of cotton rags for window cleaning? Microfibre cloths are excellent for many cleaning tasks, but 100% cotton towelling rags are the professional standard for window edge detailing. Cotton absorbs moisture from the seal edge between glass and frame cleanly and without smearing. Microfibre tends to smear rather than absorb on glass edgework after squeegeeing. For general cleaning of glass surfaces, microfibre has a role. For the detailing step in professional window cleaning, cotton towelling is the correct choice.
AUTHOR BIO
Justin Orloff is a professional window cleaner with 25 years of experience. He started cleaning windows in Melbourne, Australia in 1999 and has since worked on everything from Vienna's historic facades to commercial high-rises. He created the world's first AR window-cleaning training platform and is based in Vienna, Austria.
