This article explains the basics of how to start a window cleaning business that has the potential to make you a really good living.

Window cleaning is certainly not an easy job, but it can be an enormously rewarding with very little setup. Aside from the obvious perks of keeping your own hours, it’s really satisfying work to do but you will need some basic tools and equipment when you start up:

Cleaning Tools:

Sponge – Here, you may choose to use a natural sponge or synthetic sponge. Natural sponges are rougher and may hold more water, but they’re more expensive and have a tendency not to last long.

Cloth – As with the sponge, you may choose the expensive option and use a chamois, which is often more effective.

Squeegee – It’s hard to mess up the humble squeegee, though it is important to keep good care of the rubber blade – even the smallest of scratches can lead to very patchy results. Keep spare blades handy in case of wear-and-tear.

Cleaning Solution – You should try to use non sudsing solution here. It’s a little more expensive but can save you a lot of hassle in the long run.

Safety Equipment:

Make no mistake that cleaning windows for a living can be hazardous because you are often working at heights, therefore It is important that you keep yourself safe at all times by using the appropriate safety equipment. Be sure you are familiar with the operation of your equipment:

Ladder – Your choices here can vary. If you will be mainly working on lower stories, a sectional ladder tends to be sturdier. On windows over 30ft high, however, an extension ladder is a far safer option.

Safety Belt – Clipped onto the inside of the window you are washing, this can be a lifesaver if anything gives outtheir explanation.

Scaffolding – This is an option on buildings which do suit the ladder and safety clip approach, however it can be expensive and time consuming.

The Business Side:

Your first port of call is to find your client base. I’m afraid there’s no easy way to do this, and by far the most effective is delivering flyers to your target neighbourhoods. It can be grueling work, but around 90 minutes distributing fliers in a residential area is a dependable way to score you a good few targeted customers.

With more experience you may consider branching out into commercial cleaning, where there are far more panes to keep sparkling and plenty of demand for cleaners. You could even specialise in post-construction window cleaning, which is harder work but comes with very high profit margins.

Next, you should consider how to charge for your service. One popular method is to charge the customer per windowpane – this is most recommended for new operatives, since it allows you to pick up the skills of the job with far less pressure. More experienced window cleaners, who are more comfortable with their pace of work, may choose to charge per hour (or even per day, in larger cases).

As you can see, this is a business which is brilliantly easy to get into, but also has plenty of room to expand as you go on. This is a basic introduction about how to start a window cleaning business. We hope we have encouraged you to pick up that bucket and sponge.

Mike Applin has extensive knowledge of the cleaning industry having been a contracts manager with a major multinational company and successfully managed his own domestic cleaning business. He now runs his own cleaning directory website which provides assistance and advice on all aspects of cleaning.