Window cleaning is a service business with almost no barriers to entry, strong repeat demand, and margins that most people do not expect. A basic residential route can net $600 to $1,000 per day with the right clients. Commercial contracts pay monthly and provide predictable income. You can start this business for under $500 and take your first paying job this week.
Here is a complete, honest breakdown of what it takes — costs, equipment, pricing, and how to land real clients.
Who Hires Window Cleaners (And How Often)
Understanding your customer types shapes everything — your equipment, your pricing, your marketing.
Residential Clients
Homeowners typically hire window cleaners two to four times per year: spring cleaning, before holidays, after heavy pollen season, and after winter. A home with 20 to 30 windows is a $150 to $350 job. If you build a route of 30 residential clients who book twice a year, that is $9,000 to $21,000 in recurring revenue from those accounts alone — before any new business.
The best residential clients are homeowners with large homes, people with dogs (pet nose smear is real), and anyone who just had new construction or renovation done.
Commercial Clients
Restaurants, retail storefronts, office buildings, car dealerships, medical offices — all need regular window cleaning and almost none of them think to find someone until they get a flier in the door or a cold call. Commercial clients pay less per window but they book monthly or bi-weekly, they do not cancel at the last minute, and they refer other businesses.
A small retail strip of 5 storefronts, each paying $80 to $150/month, is $400 to $750 in monthly recurring revenue. Land a dozen of those and you have a serious business.
Startup Costs: What You Actually Need
Window cleaning has one of the lowest startup cost floors of any service business. Here is what a real working setup costs:
Basic Starter Kit (Under $500)
- Squeegee set (multiple sizes: 12″, 18″, 22″): $60 to $100 — Ettore and Unger are the industry standards
- Applicator/scrubber sleeves: $30 to $50
- Extension poles (6-12 ft aluminum): $40 to $80
- Bucket and strip washer handle: $20 to $40
- Scraper tool and blades: $15 to $25
- Microfiber cloths and detailing rags: $20
- Dawn dish soap or professional window soap: $10 to $20
- Ladder (6-ft and 10-ft stepladder): $80 to $200 — you probably already own one
Total equipment: $275 to $535. That covers everything you need for 1 and 2-story residential work and ground-level commercial jobs.
Expanding to High-Rise or Larger Commercial
For 3-story residential or mid-rise commercial work, you will eventually need a water-fed pole system with a deionization (DI) or reverse osmosis (RO) tank. These allow you to clean windows up to 4-6 stories from the ground using purified water — no squeegeeing, no streaks, no ladders at height.
- Basic water-fed pole kit (30 ft): $400 to $800
- DI tank (spot-free water): $150 to $400 to set up initially
- Advanced systems with RO/DI combo: $1,500 to $4,000
You do not need this on day one. Start with standard squeegee work and add water-fed poles when you have enough volume to justify the investment.
Business Registration and Insurance
- LLC registration: $50 to $150
- General liability insurance: $800 to $1,500/year (roughly $70 to $125/month) — absolutely required before working on anyone’s property
Total startup cost range: $500 to $2,000 for a complete residential and small commercial operation.
How to Price Your Services
Pricing varies by market, but here are reliable benchmarks:
Residential Pricing
The most common approach is per-pane pricing:
- Interior + exterior per pane: $8 to $15 per pane (small standard windows)
- Large picture windows or specialty glass: $20 to $40 per pane
- Screen cleaning (add-on): $3 to $5 per screen
- Track cleaning (add-on): $2 to $4 per track
A typical 2,000 sq ft house with 20 windows runs $200 to $350 for interior and exterior. A larger home with 40 windows can easily be a $500 to $700 job. You can do a 20-window house in 2 to 3 hours solo.
Commercial Pricing
Storefronts are usually priced as a flat monthly rate after you assess the square footage of glass and frequency:
- Small storefront (exterior only, weekly or bi-weekly): $75 to $200/month
- Restaurant or retail (exterior + some interior, monthly): $150 to $400/month
- Office building (ground floor exterior, monthly): $200 to $600/month depending on size
Commercial clients want a monthly invoice, not a per-visit charge. Price it that way from the start.
How to Find Your First Clients
Most new window cleaners overthink marketing. The best tactics are also the simplest.
Door Hangers in Residential Neighborhoods
Print 500 door hangers ($40 to $80 at VistaPrint or a local printer) and hit your target neighborhoods on foot or from the car. Focus on homes with clearly dirty windows, homes with dogs, and established neighborhoods where homeowners have the budget. A 1 to 3 percent conversion rate is realistic — 500 hangers could get you 5 to 15 new clients.
Google Business Profile
Set this up immediately. Window cleaning is a high-intent local search. When someone types “window cleaning near me,” they are ready to book. A complete profile with photos and reviews will put you in front of warm leads for free. Ask every customer for a review — even one photo and three sentences from a happy homeowner beats no reviews.
Commercial Cold Outreach
Walk into local storefronts, restaurants, and offices with a simple one-page offer sheet. Introduce yourself, hand them something physical, and tell them your monthly rate. Most business owners have not thought about their windows in months. The bar for standing out is low.
Call ahead for larger commercial targets (car dealerships, medical offices, office buildings). Ask for the facilities manager or office manager — not the owner. They are the ones who handle vendor relationships.
Nextdoor and Facebook Community Groups
Post a simple introduction in local groups. Offer a first-time discount to residents. One job in a neighborhood leads to neighbors seeing your truck and asking for cards. Bring physical business cards — they still work for service businesses.
Platforms: Angi, Thumbtack, TaskRabbit
These send you qualified leads in exchange for a fee. Useful in the early months while you are building organic reviews. Budget $100 to $200/month for leads on one or two platforms until your Google profile and word-of-mouth picks up.
Licensing and Legal Requirements
Window cleaning has minimal regulatory requirements, but do not skip the basics:
- Business registration (LLC): Protects personal assets. File in your state for $50 to $150.
- City business license: Some municipalities require one. Check your city hall website — usually $25 to $100/year.
- General liability insurance: Non-negotiable. One broken window without coverage could cost you $500 to $5,000 out of pocket. Insurance costs $70 to $125/month for a solo operator.
- Commercial vehicle registration: If you are using a van or truck primarily for work, you may need commercial plates. Check your state’s DMV requirements.
The SBA’s licensing and permit guide walks through what most states require for service businesses like this.
Building Recurring Revenue
The real money in window cleaning is not one-off jobs — it is recurring accounts. A client who books every 3 months for $250 is worth $1,000 per year from one address. Build enough of those and you have a business that generates income without constant new customer acquisition.
When you finish a job, offer a maintenance plan. Tell the client how often you recommend cleaning for their home type, and give them a slight discount (5 to 10 percent) for committing to a schedule. Offer to send a reminder text two weeks before. Most will say yes if you just ask.
For commercial, always pitch a monthly contract on the first visit. Businesses prefer a predictable expense over a variable one. A signed contract — even a simple one-page agreement — locks in revenue and signals that you are a professional operation.
What It Really Takes
Window cleaning is physical work. You are on your feet, climbing ladders, working in heat and cold. In the first few months you are also your own scheduler, marketer, and bookkeeper. That is the reality.
What makes it work long-term is that the repeat rate is high, the overhead is low, and customers who are happy with their window cleaner rarely shop around. Build a reputation for showing up on time, doing clean work, and being easy to communicate with — that alone puts you ahead of most competitors in this space.
Related Reading
- How to Start a Pressure Washing Business: Equipment, Pricing, and First Clients
- How to Start a Handyman Business: What to Charge, What You Need, and How to Find Clients
- How to Start a Lawn Care Business: Licensing, Equipment, and Getting First Clients
Start Building Something Real
Window cleaning is a low-cost, high-repeat service business that you can start this week with cash in your pocket by the weekend. But building it into something that actually pays requires knowing how to price, market, and retain clients. Join Hustler’s Library for free for guides and tools to help you grow any service business from scratch.
Ready to Know Where You Stand?
The Business Journey dashboard maps your exact position across all 13 stages. Track your progress, unlock resources for each step, and build with a framework used by thousands of founders at Hustler's Library.
No credit card required · Takes 3 minutes · Personalized to your stage
