POV: You're a Professional Window Cleaner

A Day in the Life of Someone Who Sees the World Through Spotless Glass

Early Morning Routine

Your day starts early — like 5:00 or 5:30 AM early. While most people are still snoozing, Wes, our boss, is already up with a fresh cup of coffee, laptop open, sending emails and updating the crew’s schedule in Housecall Pro. He likes to get messages prepped and scheduled to go out around 7:00 AM.

Once the admin work is done and the second cup of coffee is in hand, it’s time to head to the shop. By 7:00 AM, the crew is rolling in. Wes checks in with everyone, goes over the day’s jobs, and starts prepping equipment.

Equipment Prep

No matter what kind of jobs are on the list — residential, commercial, rope access, or remote — prep is essential.

For rope access jobs, it means packing:

• Ropes

• Harnesses

• Carabiners

• Anchor setups

  
  

If it’s a larger or remote job, like the Split Lake school project, you’re also planning out skid-steer support and specialized safety gear.

Worker prepping equipment for a window cleaning job.

Every day includes:

• Double-checking trucks

• Topping up chemicals

• Testing pressure washing equipment

• Confirming water-fed poles and PPE are good to go

  
  

There’s no room for shortcuts. One missed piece of gear can throw off the entire day.

Coffee or Breakfast?

Let’s be honest: coffee is non-negotiable. It’s your fuel, your lifeblood, your quiet moment before the chaos. Breakfast? That’s a maybe. Some days there’s time, some days you’re out the door with just caffeine and momentum.

On the Job

You roll up to the first job site. Whether it’s a downtown high-rise or a residential home, every job has its own rhythm.

Arrival and Walkthrough

• Commercial or remote project? Expect a site contact to walk you through safety, access, and scope.

  
  

• Residential job? Sometimes it’s a detailed walkthrough, sometimes the client just waves from the kitchen window and lets you do your thing.

  
  

Tools of the Trade

You load up with:

• Squeegees

• Scrubbers

• Water-fed poles

• Razor scrapers

• Ladders and/or rope gear

• Eco-safe chemicals

• Microfiber cloths

• PPE

  
  

Every job is a mix of technique, precision, and adaptability. You need to read the window — is it coated? Tinted? Double-pane? That changes how you clean.

A Job in Progress

Let’s walk through a typical day:

Window cleaner cleaning windows with rope access.

1. Arrival & gear unload

   
   

2. Walkthrough with the site contact or homeowner

   
   

3. Set up ladders or rope access, depending on the job

   
   

4. Clean windows one by one — outside first, then inside

   
   

5. Address challenges:

   • Third-floor windows blocked by tree limbs

   • Hard water stains baked in by the sun

   • Rope work during windy conditions

   • Winter work in snow or icy spots

     
     

6. Final check: You double back over every window. No streaks, no missed corners.

   
   

Then you snap some before-and-after photos, and the transformation speaks for itself.

Payment & Logging the Job

For residential jobs, most customers pay on the spot. For property management companies or larger contracts, invoicing goes through the office. Either way, you log the job in Housecall Pro before calling it complete.

Midday Break

Lunch varies. On local jobs, it might be a quick sandwich or something from the gas station. On big remote projects, the whole crew takes a longer break to warm up, refuel, and trade jokes. It’s a reset button in the middle of the day.

Afternoon Hustle

There are more jobs to hit. A downtown office building. A school. Maybe a residential touch-up. By this point, you’re into the rhythm — clean, check, repeat.

How Do You Stay Energized?

• Coffee (again)

• Snacks

• A solid playlist

• And most importantly? The crew.

  • Laughing, joking, telling stories.

  • That team dynamic keeps the day light even when the work is heavy.

    
    

Wrapping Up the Day

You finish your final job around 4:30 or 5:00 PM. Back at the shop, there’s a checklist:

• Clean gear

• Refill tanks

• Restock chemicals

• Load trucks for the next day

• Check in with the crew

  
  

If you’re mid-way through a multi-day project, you huddle up with the team and make a plan for tomorrow.

What Makes It All Worthwhile?

That moment when a homeowner says, “I didn’t realize how dirty my windows were until now.” Or when you step back from a commercial job and see an entire building transformed. There’s satisfaction in the shine, in knowing your work made a space better — cleaner, clearer, safer.

And on big projects? Like Split Lake? It’s knowing you contributed to something important — like helping a school feel new again.

Favorite Part of the Job?

The transformation is satisfying. So is the problem-solving — figuring out rope angles or how to reach that impossible window. But what really makes the job? The crew. Long days fly by when you’re working alongside good people who can make you laugh even when you're 40 feet in the air.

Professional window cleaner ensuring windows are spotless.

As Wes puts it:

“I really enjoy the before-and-after transformation and the problem-solving that comes with rope access jobs. But honestly, the best part is working alongside the crew — the laughs and good energy on long days make the work fly by and keep things fun.”

Final Thoughts

Being a window cleaner means early mornings, long days, and serious attention to detail. It also means getting to see the world from some pretty amazing views — rooftops, high-rises, and spotless glass overlooking lakes and cityscapes.

So next time you see a sparkling window, remember — someone climbed, scrubbed, and squeegeed their way to that shine. And they probably did it with coffee in hand and a crew of legends by their side.