How do I clean the outside of second-story windows without a ladder?

Most second-storey glass can be cleaned without a ladder in one of two ways: from inside the room, when the window tilts in or swings open, or from the ground with a telescopic pole carrying a scrubber and a squeegee. Check how each upstairs window opens before you buy anything. Tilt-in and casement windows usually need nothing more than a bucket, a scrubber and a cloth.

Start with how each window opens

Walk through the upstairs rooms and look at every window. The type decides the method.

• Double-hung windows that tilt. The sashes of some double-hung windows lift out of their tracks and tilt into the room for easy cleaning.^[1] Andersen notes that tilt-wash double-hung windows are especially handy on a second floor, because you do not need to climb a ladder to clean the outside.^[2] Two small latches or buttons at the top corners of the lower sash usually mean it tilts.
• Single-hung windows. Single-hung windows look like double-hung ones, but only the bottom sash slides; the top sash is sealed in place.^[1] The bottom sash may still tilt, but the fixed top pane needs a pole.
• Casement windows. These hinge at the side and open with a crank. Andersen's advice is to open the window completely: the space between the sash and the frame is then wide enough to clean both the inside and the outside of the glass from inside the house.^[3]
• Picture windows, transoms and sliders. Fixed glass and most sliding windows have to be washed from outside, which on a second floor means a pole.

Cleaning a tilt-in sash from inside

Lay a towel on the sill and the floor, and take out the screen if it comes out from inside. Unlock the window, raise the lower sash a few inches, slide both tilt latches toward the centre and ease the top of the sash toward you. Keep hold of it: a tilted sash is heavier and more awkward than it looks, and a second person helps on a large window.

Wash the outside face from the top down with a soft scrubber and a mild solution, squeegee it, and dry the edges with a lint-free cloth. Then tilt the sash upright until both latches click into the frame. If it will not sit straight or close, Harvey's guidance is to make sure the pivot bar, the cast metal piece at the bottom of the sash, is seated in the metal housing on the side of the track.^[4] A broken pivot bar can leave fragments in the bottom of the track, and it is a replacement part.^[4] Many top sashes tilt the same way once they are lowered; your window maker's guide says whether yours do.

Do not lean out of the opening or sit on the sill to reach the glass. If a pane cannot be reached while you stand in the room, it is a pole job.

Washing from the ground with a pole

For glass you cannot reach from inside, a telescopic pole lets you wash from the yard. Unger, a maker of professional window-cleaning tools, sells light aluminium telescopic poles in up to 5 parts and says they let a cleaner work from the ground up to a height of 10 m.^[7] Washer and squeegee heads lock onto the end of the pole and swap with a release button,^[7] so one pole does both jobs.

Wash when that side of the house is in shade or the day is overcast, because the sun dries the cleaning solution faster than you can wipe it away.^[2] For a wash, Andersen suggests a 10-second squeeze of dish detergent in 2 to 3 gallons of water.^[2] Do the upstairs first: Marvin's care guide starts at the top of the building and works down to the lower levels,^[5] so drips from above do not spoil glass you have already finished.

Stand on firm, level ground a step or two back from the wall. Scrub from the top of the pane down, then switch heads. A squeegee on a long pole is harder to steer than one in your hand, so pull it down in straight, overlapping strokes and bring the pole down to wipe the blade every stroke or two. Expect a little water left in the corners; a pole cannot detail edges the way a cloth can.

Look up before you raise the pole

Before you extend a pole, find the electrical service wire that runs to the house and any power lines along the street or yard, and choose where to stand so the whole length of the pole stays well clear of them. VCU's ladder safety program says metal ladders must not be used when working on or near electrical wires,^[11] and an aluminium pole deserves the same caution.

For hired help the rule is written into Virginia law. The Overhead High Voltage Line Safety Act bars anyone working in pursuit of a trade or business from placing ladders, tools or equipment within 10 feet (3.1 meters) of an overhead high voltage line,^[9][10] which the act defines as a line carrying more than 600 volts.^[10] A window cleaner you hire is expected to plan around the lines at your house.

How water-fed poles work

The photo above shows the method many window cleaners use for upper floors: a hollow pole with a brush on the end that sprays purified water. In a pure water system, a filter removes all the minerals from the water, so no limescale residue is left on the glass,^[8] and the glass dries without streaks and does not need to be squeegeed or polished.^[8] The water is purified by reverse osmosis (RO) or deionization (DI).^[8]

That is the difference from a garden hose. Andersen warns that hosing windows down leaves mineral spots, even with soft water,^[2] because ordinary tap water carries the minerals a filter takes out.

Skip the hose and the pressure washer

Spraying high glass from the ground looks like the easy answer, but window makers advise against it. MI Windows and Doors lists a power washer or garden hose among the tools not to use on its windows, screens and doors, and warns that improper tools may void the warranty.^[6] Andersen does not advise pressure washing because it may damage parts of the window.^[2] Marvin's approved-cleaner list for its Ultrex fiberglass windows includes a hose-end outdoor cleaner, but Marvin says never to use a pressure washer directly on any part of a window or door.^[5] Before trying any hose-end product, read your own window maker's care guide.

Never use razor blades, putty knives or abrasive pads on window glass.^[6][2] For more on getting a clean finish, see how to clean windows without streaks, and for torn screens you find along the way, how to rescreen a window screen.

Stop and call a pro if

• The only way to reach a pane is a tall extension ladder, a ladder on a slope, or standing on a porch roof or the main roof.
• A pole would have to pass near the service wire or a power line from anywhere you can stand.
• A sash will not tilt, sticks part-way, or will not sit straight and lock afterwards. Forcing it can break the pivots or balances.
• The ground under the windows is a steep bank, deck stairs or a drop where you cannot stand steadily with a long pole.
• The glass is scratched, etched or coated with paint or construction residue that a mild solution will not lift.

If you do end up on a ladder for a ground-floor job, read how to clean gutters safely from a ladder first. For prices, see how much window cleaning costs in Virginia, and for the hire-or-DIY call, whether a window cleaner is worth it. You can browse window washing businesses, look up exterior services around Blacksburg, or read the other exterior answers. To get quotes for upstairs glass, describe your window washing job once and local businesses can quote it.