Homeowner guide
If you've never hired a window cleaner, the process is a bit of a black box — and home services have earned enough skepticism that "a stranger with a ladder" deserves an explanation. Here's what a professional visit looks like, start to finish, so you know what good service should include no matter who you hire.
Before the visit
A real professional quotes before arriving — from your description and photos, or a quick walk-around. The quote should be written and itemized: exterior only or inside-and-out, screens included or not, tracks and sills, and any mineral-stain treatment. You should also get an arrival window you can plan around, and a message when they're on the way. If you're getting vague verbal pricing and "sometime Thursday," that's your first data point about everything else.
What you need to do to prepare
Very little. Unlock gates, secure pets, and clear fragile items off interior sills if inside glass is being cleaned. Moving furniture a couple of feet back from interior windows helps but isn't required — moving and returning it is part of the job.
The work itself, in order
- Screens come off first — washed, rinsed, and set to dry while glass is cleaned. Cleaning glass behind dirty screens is pointless; rain re-streaks it within a week.
- Tracks and sills get cleared of sand and grit before glass work, so nothing scratches during cleaning.
- Glass is washed and squeegeed — a proper wash that lifts film off, not a spray-and-wipe that redistributes it. Edges and corners get hand-detailed; that's where rushed work shows first.
- Spotting gets treated where minerals have started to bond — and flagged honestly where etching has gone past what cleaning can fix.
- Everything is reassembled — screens back, sills wiped, and nothing left leaning against your wall.
How long it takes
A typical single-family home runs a few hours depending on window count, stories, and condition; a large or long-neglected home can take most of a day. Beware quotes that promise a whole-house miracle in 45 minutes — speed like that comes out of the details.
What "done" should mean: a walkthrough. You and the cleaner look at the work together in good light — or you get photos if you're away — before the job is finished. If a company's process doesn't include showing you the work, ask why.
After the visit
Expect the results to hold for weeks to months depending on your exposure (our frequency guide covers what's realistic where). And expect follow-through: if you find a missed spot the next morning, a professional wants to hear about it and fix it — that's not an awkward complaint, it's the service working as designed.
Often paired with
Related services
Experience the process firsthand
Free written quote, a confirmed arrival window, and a walkthrough at the end — that's the standard here.