Reaching New Heights: A Guide to Extending Your Window Cleaning Pole

Cleaning your exterior windows can help keep them free of dirt and stains, but getting to high areas can be impossible without a cleaning pole. Thankfully, these poles are designed for easier use and can ensure that you clean your windows effectively. If you’re not sure how to perform this task, read on to learn more about this general process (and safety tips to avoid problems).

Why Extending a Pole is Smart

Most window cleaning poles are designed to extend further than their initial length to hit hard-to-reach areas. This step is a smart option if you want to clean your windows yourself without calling professionals. For example, it can:

• Minimize your need to climb ladders to clean windows
• Eliminate your risk of falling off of ladders cleaning higher windows
• Make it easier to clean windows you might otherwise ignore
• Improve your window appearance and keep birds from hitting them
• Give you a nice exercise (cleaning with the pole can be quite a workout)
• Save you money on expensive cleaning processes

So, while you could always contact a professional to handle these cleaning steps for you, using an extendable window cleaning pole is a smart investment. It can ensure that you reach these difficult areas without undue challenges. Thankfully, they’re pretty easy to handle if you know how and typically don’t require any specialized skills to operate successfully.

5 Steps for Extending Your Cleaning Pool

While varying window cleaning pole brands may differ slightly in how they’re used, most utilize the same basic techniques. That means it should be fairly easy for you to handle this process and get your windows cleaned quickly and efficiently. The following steps are all things that even an unskilled homeowner should be able to handle without any extra training.

Step 1: Loosen the Lock

Typically, your window pole should have some kind of locking mechanism that keeps the bar folded in on itself. This often requires you to twist, press, or release it, depending on what kind of pole you own. Once you release it, the pole should go loose in your hands, meaning that you can extend it out as you like to reach higher places on your windows with ease.

Step 2: Extend the Pole

Hold the firm end of the pole carefully and pull it out, one section at a time, to the length you want. Avoid pulling it out further than you need to prevent hurting yourself or potentially damaging the pole. Pulling out too many sections at once could make the pole unstable, so take your time and carefully pull out each section until you’ve reached the proper length.

Step 3: Lock the Pole

After reaching the proper length, tighten the locking mechanism and make sure it’s tightly in place. Test it by moving the pole and lifting it up slightly so that it’s inclined. If the lock is tight, the pole sections should stay in place and not fold back into the pole. Never lift the pole fully until you know for sure that the sections are properly locked into place.

Step 4: Clean the Window

Now that your pole is fully unlocked, you can clean your window. Add whatever cleaning device and solution you need to the end of the pole and carefully haul it up to a cleaning position. You might need to use careful back-and-forth motions to break apart stains and other problems on the window. Note that you may also need to take it down and add towels if you want to dry it.

Step 5: Fold It Back Down

After you’re done cleaning your windows, you can carefully fold your pole back into itself. It’s best to put the pole down before you unlock it, or else it might collapse too quickly, get damaged, or even hurt you. Hold it parallel to the ground, unlock the mechanism, and fold it back down. Lock the pole at this point to keep it from unfolding as you store it properly.

Important Safety Steps to Keep in Mind

If you plan on using your window cleaning pole in this way, keep these tips in mind to stay safe:

• Always extend only as far as you need, and don’t extend any higher
• Practice with the mechanism before trying to extend it
• Always put the product on the pole before extending it
• Pay attention to the drop zone to ensure that you’re not endangering anybody: the drop zone is the length of the pole

You Got This!

Even if you’ve never extended your window cleaning pole, you should have the skills necessary to handle it yourself. The hardest part might be the physical strain that a fully extended pole might cause you. That’s why it’s so important to choose the pole that best suits your needs and your windows. Further isn’t always better, so be careful and pick carefully to get great results.