Last updated on December 20th, 2022
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The Best Water fed Window Cleaning Poles Put to The Test
I used to have a professional window cleaner that cleaned all my windows (all 13 of them) every couple of weeks but just recently they stopped doing their round leaving me without a window cleaner. Unfortunately, there are no other window cleaners that do the rounds on my street so I had to come up with a way to keep the windows clean. The issue is, although I’m not scared of heights, the thought of cleaning all my windows the old-fashioned way with a cloth, squeegee and bucket was going to be too risky for me. I recently painted the terracotta tiles black under my 1st floor bay window using my telescopic ladder and that was enough for me. I like to have my feet firmly on the floor, where they belong.
I had recently seen quite a few window cleaners in other areas using window cleaning poles connected to a hose leading to their vans and I also have a couple of friends who have used them so I thought now would be a great opportunity to try them out myself and see which ones really are the best window cleaning poles.
This is when I came across water-fed window cleaning poles which were designed with home use in mind. After testing this WFPD16 5 Meter Water Fed Window Cleaning Pole I think it is easily one of the best water-fed window cleaning poles. I actually connected it to my auto hose reel as well. I discovered how easy these window cleaning poles make cleaning your own windows. I have used my patio pressure washer in the past with an attachment but it’s not ideal.
What I discovered after trying a few models now is they won’t all reach the 1st floor windows. Some are only really suitable for ground floor windows so if you have a bungalow then that’s fine. If you have ground and first floor windows you need a reach of at least 16ft (4.8m) and that should also reach your soffits and fascia as well as over a porch and garage if you have them because they can restrict the reach.
I also took it to my brother’s house to try it out on his conservatory and it worked a treat and made cleaning the sides and roof easy enough.
Next, I would recommend getting one with a built-in soap dispenser you can turn on and off on demand. This is what I really liked about this WFPD16 5 Meter Water Fed Window Cleaning Pole. This model is one of the only ones that actually have a soap dispenser built in. Something else to take note of, don’t use normal washing-up liquid. It does work but it quickly uses up all the soap after only a couple of windows.
I use this HG Window Cleaner and it’s what the professionals use. Because it’s a thick super concentrate cleaner, you will only need to fill the soap dispenser up once, maybe twice if you have a lot of windows. I have 13 windows of various sizes because I have a rear extension and it will clean them all with some to spare. Usually, a bottle will last 3 washes and it’s about £3 a bottle.
Finally, you want the brush to have soft bristles. I found that even though it takes a little practice to use a squeegee, it’s also a great feature to have, as shown above, it just makes getting streak-free windows easier.
Finally, I found models with aluminium frames (like my WFPD16 5 Meter Water Fed Window Cleaning Pole) appeared to be the sturdiest when fully extended, except for the shorter models that had limited reach anyway. I think all the models with the longest reach had a little flex in them, but not enough to cause me to worry about the durability or to affect how well they cleaned the windows.
I have reviewed 5 different window cleaning poles with assorted features, listing their pros, cons and special features as I give my recommendation. My Buyer’s Guide discusses the elements to look out for in these products but most were covered above. I start with my best pick below with a quick overview followed by the more detailed reviews which are more about the specifications such as materials, reach and features.
Best Pick
Runner-up
Best Water-fed Window Cleaning Poles Reviews
1. Telescopic 16ft Water Fed Window Cleaning Pole
Best Pick
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So, I thought it would make sense to start with my best pick, the one I have been testing most recently, the Telescopic Wfpd16 16ft Water-Fed Window Cleaning Pole.
I think this is probably the best water-fed window cleaning pole I have tested up to now, some of the previous models were either too short when fully extended, meaning you couldn’t reach above the top windows, and even if I could, it was a bit of a stretch.
Something else I hadn’t originally thought about was reaching the windows above my porch, above my side garage and above the extension at the back of my house. The problem is most of these poles are designed with you standing a couple of feet away from the wall to reach the top windows. This is absolutely fine if nothing is obstructing the way but if you have a porch or a window above a garage, you don’t have enough length to reach the windows above it because you can’t stand directly underneath the window.
The pole on this Telescopic Wfpd16 is an impressive 16ft, that’s 5 meters long. This is probably the longest I have seen with the water feed and soap dispenser incorporated into the design. With this I have been able to reach almost all my windows with the exception of the extension at the back of my house, it’s just too wide. However, I can get onto this single-story roof with my Tripod ladder so I’m good there. I can also clean the Velux windows on my extension without using a ladder which is great.
The pole itself is made from aluminium and it’s quite sturdy. It does become slightly whippy when the last extension is used but it’s very minimal, or at least I think it is.
Another plus point is that this model has a soap dispenser feature that is lacking in many other models. I also like how it easily attaches to any standard hose fitting as shown above. I have tried this on both my hose reel and space saving expandable hose and it works fine on both types of hose pipes.
The soap dispenser is built into the water connector at the base of the lightweight and rust-proof aluminium pole. You will notice from the picture that it has two on/off switches, one for the water and one for the soap dispenser. This is a great design because it allows me to rinse my windows first just with water and scrub, then use the brush with the soap dispenser on and then finally turn the water off, let it drain out the pole and then use the squeegee to clear the windows.
As for the cleaning head, this is a brush with soft bristles that has a squeegee on the rear side. Just flip the pole around from washing the windows to use the squeegee to wipe off the excess water. Although the cleaning head doesn’t swivel, it is set at 135° for optimum contact with your window panes and I find this is just right for me.
Pros
- Telescopic aluminium window cleaning pole with 5 sections to telescope out to 16ft (5m) long.
- The cleaning head has a brush with soft bristles and a squeegee on the back.
- Two connectors at the base of the pole – one for just water from your garden hose and the other for the water plus soap.
Cons
- I’ve been trying to find something I don’t like and I honestly can’t really find anything, if I’m being really picky it’s perhaps a little expensive.
Our recommendation
The Telescopic Wfpd16,16ft Water-Fed Window Cleaning Pole takes five sections to extend to its full length of 5m and I think it’s extremely well built and yet still lightweight at a little over 2kg making it easy to use.
Overall, I really like this model. The ability to turn the water and soap off independently makes it a great window cleaning pole to use. If I had to recommend just one model, this would have to be it which is why I named it my best pick and is the one I use myself.
2. Hi-Tech Water- Fed Window Cleaning Pole (4m)
Runner-up
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The Hi-Tech Water- Fed 4m Window Cleaning Pole is different from the other models in my review because the water doesn’t flow through the entire width of the aluminium pole. The extendable pole is manufactured from ripple anodised aluminium tubes which are lightweight and very sturdy as well as rust-proof. The design of this window cleaning pole keeps the cleaning pole from becoming as heavy as some of the models, which includes my best pick. For me, the extra weight saved won’t make much difference but for some people, maybe those who are not as young as they once were, perhaps it would.
The pole extends from a base unit that’s 1.35m long and this length is perfect for cleaning ground floor windows to 4m in length by adding three more sections that are telescopic. You can stop at whatever length of pole you want along the way. The cleaning pad is actually a narrow brush at the top of the pole but it has soft bristles. There’s a good size, built-in squeegee, I think it was about 10 inches long to use if you just turn over the pole so that the squeegee side is against the window. This is very similar to the Telescopic Wfpd16 16ft Water-Fed Window Cleaning Pole.
Now for me, the selling point is that water runs up the inside of the pole through two narrow PVC tubes. At the bottom of the pole, the tubes connect to a clear 8mm diameter, 20ft hose which has a brass fitting. This is a nice touch and will connect to a standard hose connector on your hose pipe.
At the top of the pole they connect to two brass holes in the back of the brush and that’s where the water is fed into the cleaning head. These tubes convey less water than the full aluminium pole would, making the window pole a lot lighter to hold up.
One downside of this (and most other water-fed poles) is there’s no soap dispenser – you need to bring down the brush and dip it into the liquid soap manually.
Pros
- The telescopic aluminium window cleaning pole extends in four sections taking it from 135cm to 4m in length.
- The brush head has soft bristles and a built-in squeegee.
- Water flow is from a garden hose into a 6m of 8mm plastic hose that travels within the aluminium tube and up into the brush.
Cons
- No soap dispenser.
- No On/Off button for the water.
Our recommendation
The Hi-Tech Water-Fed Window Cleaning Pole is a good choice if you don’t want a model that has a built-in soap dispenser. With less water flowing through the two 6mm plastic tubes, there is less weight to hold up which is nice. Overall, this thing is very well put together and is a decent window cleaning pole.
You will need to have a bucket of soap water handy to dip the brush in but I know some people prefer to do it this way and to be fair, it probably does use less soap this way. The Hi-Tech Water-Fed Window Cleaning Pole is my Runner-up Pick in this review.
3. Lomida Extendable Window Squeegee with Spray, 3 in 1 (2m)
Best Pick – Budget
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While the Lomida Extendable Window Squeegee with Spray, 3 in 1 (2m) is a water-fed model, it’s excellent as a hand-held model for lower windows too. This is because there are two water-spray triggers – one in the first section of the pole with the cleaning pad and the other at the bottom of the extended pole.
The first section of the pole with the brush is just 25cm in length, making it a comfortable size to hold in your hand. The water bottle fits into the cleaning head, between the (washable) microfibre pad and the 10cm squeegee. Just fill up the bottle and pull the comfortable trigger close by to release a wide fan spray of water.
As both the microfibre pad and the squeegee are on the pole at the same time, you can alternate their use. However, there is no soap dispenser bottle so you will need to manually apply liquid soap to the pad or just dip it in a bucket of soapy water. You receive two microfibre pads with your purchase and you can wash them in the washing machine – cold to warm water – and then hang them to air dry.
In its extended state – that’s a variety of lengths up to 2m with the five extension rods – ensure that the section with the second water trigger is the one that you put at the bottom of the pole. The sections fit together with a button splicing design rather than the somewhat cumbersome rotating joints often seen.
Pros
- The telescopic aluminium window washing pole extends out from 25cm to almost 2m in five extension rods.
- Water delivery is from a water bottle attached to the cleaning head.
- Two cleaning heads – a washable microfibre pad and a 10cm squeegee – can be alternated.
- Usable also as a hand-held window cleaning unit.
- Includes two machine-washable microfibre pads.
Cons
- The cleaning head is fixed in position.
- No soap dispenser.
Our recommendation
The Lomida Extendable Window Squeegee with Spray, 3 in 1 (2m) is an excellent water-fed hand-held model. At just 25cm long, the microfibre cleaning pad section is easy to hold and use; just twirl the pole to bring the squeegee into play. Pressing either of the triggers releases sprays water from the bottle attached to the cleaning head. This Lomida model is a well-reviewed inexpensive choice of a window washing water-fed pole.
The Lomida Extendable Window Squeegee with Spray, 3 in 1 (2m) is our choice for Best Pick – Budget.
4. MASCARELLO 3m Aluminium Telescopic Water-Fed Window Brush
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The Mascarello 3m Aluminium Telescopic Water-Fed Window Brush is another inexpensive model that delivers on performance. This water-fed window washer extends to 3m with four sections. Being made of aluminium, this unit is rust-proof and lightweight, though the water does flow throughout the entire width of the tube.
This budget model has some features that we really like. There’s a flow switch for water in the form of a lever. This controls how much water there is, hence the pressure of the water that comes into the washer pole. This is useful if you don’t want a strong stream of water against your window glass.
We also like that the bottom of the pole has a soft grip (EVA sponge) for your hands. This not only makes it easier to hold and control the washer pole but also insulates your hands from the coldness of the water that’s transmitted through the aluminium.
The cleaning head is a brush that has soft bristles and the water outlet is in the middle of this. Unfortunately, the squeegee can’t be on the pole at the same time as the brush so you need to switch them out when you want to dry the damp but clean windows.
While this Mascarello pole unit has many reviews, some online reviewers complain that it leaks, especially from the hose connector. Some suggest wearing rain gear when using this, but this is also a comment that we encountered on most of the other items we looked at.
Pros
- The telescopic aluminium handle extends from 132cm to 3m.
- Water-fed from your garden hose that you attach to the end of the pole.
- The water outlet is in the middle of the soft bristles of the cleaning brush.
- The handle rotates to reposition the pole with the attached brush head.
- A non-slip grip on the handle lets you hold the extended pole securely.
- A water valve is a lever to control the water flow.
Cons
- The squeegee attachment is separate from the cleaning brush.
- Leaks a bit, especially from the hose connector.
Our recommendation
The Mascarello 3m Aluminium Telescopic Water-Fed Window Brush is a model at a budget price that has some welcome features that other models don’t have. The soft-grip handle that is insulated from the cold water is one of them, as is the water lever for controlling the flow of the water. Just plan how you clean your windows so switching over the squeegee and brush doesn’t become a hassle.
5. Hi-Tech 16 ft Water-Fed Extendable Cleaning Pole
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The Hi-Tech 16 ft Water-Fed Extendable Cleaning Pole is a respectable aluminium unit that extends to 5m in five sections. That’s long enough to reach the tops of the windows in most standard-design houses.
Water flows in from your garden hose through the standard connector at the bottom of the pole and exits through the soft bristles of the cleaning brush at the top. Some online reviewers state that the garden hose connector isn’t a standard Hozelock connector so doesn’t fit all garden hoses. You may need to replace the connector yourself in this case. We do like that this model has an On/Off switch for the water flow so you don’t have to keep running to the outside tap when you want to shut the water to the washer pole off.
As for the cleaning head, there’s the brush we mentioned and a squeegee as well. However, the squeegee is quite small and some online comments highlight that it’s more like a thick rubber blade than a flexible squeegee. Again, be prepared to provide your own squeegee for drying the windows.
One additional purchase that is of great use is the optional soap dispenser. Having soapy water exit the brush is a great time saver as you don’t have to keep bringing down the brush and manually applying soap to it.
Pros
- The telescopic aluminium handle extends from 142cm to 5m.
- Water flows in from your garden hose at the base of the pole and exits through the brush head at the top.
- Water control is an On/Off button on the water connector.
- The brush head has bristles and a thin squeegee on the reverse side.
- Pole comes in five separate sections to put together.
Cons
- The head is fixed in position.
- The soap dispenser is an additional purchase.
- The squeegee is too thick, more like a rubber blade.
Our recommendation
The Hi-Tech 16ft Water-Fed Extendable Cleaning Pole is an aluminium unit that opens to a useful 5m long. The pole is in five sections so you have many choices as to how long to make it up. There’s an On/Off switch for the water to save you running to your outside tap to turn the water off when you need to take a break. And you do have the option of purchasing a soap dispenser as well.
Buyer’s Guide for Water-fed Window Cleaning Poles
We’re enthusiastic about water-fed window cleaning poles, but we want you to be aware that they do have their difficulties, though these difficulties aren’t deal-breakers. We start our Buyer’s Guide by discussing these and then move on to talking about some of the options you may like your window washing pole purchase to have.
To be aware of
If you have concerns about these “features”, check out our Best Pick and Best Pick – Budget which provides options that have designs that overcome these limitations.
Weight
Except for our Runner-up Pick, the Hi-Tech Water-Fed Window Cleaning Pole (4m) and our Budget Pick, all of the window cleaning pole models we review run the water from the base of the pole to the top.
This is quite a volume of water when the pole is fully extended to 3m or 4m. And water is heavy (1L weighs 1kg). We just want you to be aware of the additional weight this adds to the weight of the empty pole.
Control
Online reviewers report that the weight of the window cleaning poles, when fully extended, sometimes makes it troublesome to manoeuvre them. The longer the pole, the less easy it is to use. And don’t forget that you’ve also got a garden hose full of water attached to the bottom of the pole to pull around as well.
Features
Soap dispenser
If you’re planning on using soap and water to wash your windows, you need a model with a soap dispenser. The alternative is to keep lowering the pole, plunging the cleaning pad into a bucket of soapy water and putting it back up to continue cleaning. The soap dispenser may be at the top or the bottom of the pole; either way, water mingles with the soap before the water reaches the cleaning pad or brush.
Cleaning pad and squeegee in one
However you apply the soap to the window, you need to squeegee the soap and residue off. It’s more convenient if you just flip the pole around to the other side of the cleaning head and use the in-built squeegee there. Not all models have this and you may need to bring the pole down, replace the cleaning pad with the squeegee and go back up.
Length
When figuring out how long you need your cleaning pole to be, consider more than just the height of your highest windows. What is also important is the number of sections of pole you need to use and this is where it can get a bit complicated.
The more sections you have, the variety of heights you can clean your windows to by using one section, two, then three and so on, to increase the length of the pole.
But some online reviewers report that having many short sections sometimes causes the pole to bend a bit when it’s extended a way out. Longer sections give fewer places for the unit to bend.
This is a trade-off between the selection of height and stability.
Hand-held option
If you’re planning on doing your lower windows by hand, check that your chosen window washing pole has the shortest length that allows you to hold it comfortably. The first section of some of the models in our review is quite long; however, our Budget Pick is perfectly suited for you to hold in your hand.
Final Conclusion
Water-fed window cleaning poles let you clean your windows efficiently without having to stop and dip the cleaning pad or brush into a bucket of soapy water. This saves time as well as strain on your shoulders and upper arm muscles, encouraging you to perhaps clean your windows more often. The models I reviewed have a variety of lengths to suit different second stories in houses and some useful features.
My Best Pick is the Telescopic Wfpd16, 16ft Water-Fed Window Cleaning Pole. With its 5m full extension, this is a washer pole that can reach high up on the tallest houses.
My Runner-up is the Hi-Tech Water-Fed Window Cleaning Pole (4m). With its thin water tubes, this is a good choice if you are worried about being able to hold up a regular heavy, water-filled window washing tube.
The Lomida Extendable Window Squeegee with Spray, 3 in 1 (2m) receives my Best Pick – Budget Rating. This is a good choice if you are planning on using the unit mostly as a hand-held short pole because the water feed is just for the first section of the pole near the cleaning head.
If your sparkling windows now make your patio and driveway look a bit shabby, head over to our Top 7 Best Pressure Washer For Patios & Driveways review. Plus we also have instructions on actually doing this – see our How to clean patio slabs with detergent, bleach and a pressure washer article.
Last update on 2024-12-03 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
