The Shard is one of London’s most iconic landmarks.
The 310m-tall skyscraper above London Bridge station is the highest in Western Europe and boasts a facade of 11,000 glass panels (roughly eight football pitches) that takes a team of abseiling cleaners three months to clean. Once they’ve finished - and presumably after a cup of tea and some Hobnobs - they start the job fresh all over again.
Something to keep in mind the next time you put off cleaning your own windows.
The fact is that cleaning windows is one of the quickest ways to transform both the interior and exterior of your home. Gleaming on the outside and more natural daylight to enjoy indoors - it’s a satisfying win-win from every angle.
And if it’s the idea of slugging around bowls of water that’s putting you off, a window vacuum is about to become your new cleaning BFF.
These clever home cleaning gadgets come with built-in tanks to siphon off dirty water into a tank that can be emptied into a sink or the loo once full.
Offering anywhere between 20 - 40 minutes of operating time, they can be used on any solid, smooth surface, so as well as windows you can clean induction hob glass, shower screens, car windowshields, and tiles with them too. Window vacuums are generally compact things, and given their versatility, we’re sure you won’t mind making some room in your cleaning supply cupboard for them.
But which one? That’s where we come in. We’ve checked out the best window vacuum cleaners for your money and listed the best in class below. Whether you’re after a robot version that gets on with it with minimal supervision or you need a cordless unit to whip around the house in, any tool in our selection promises to leave you with pleasingly streak-free results.
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ECOVACS Winbot W1 Pro Window Cleaning Robot
Like the idea of pristine windows with zero effort? Let the robots do the heavy lifting.
Ecovacs, the maker behind robot vacuum cleaners, has made a window-washing version. The machine uses intelligent cleaning to douse dirty panels with water before mopping up the dislodged grime with automated path planning and incredible suction. Impure water gets funnelled into a 60ml reservoir that's easy to detach and dispose of without getting your hands dirty too. There are three adaptive modes to use - quick cleaning, deep cleaning and spot stain removal - enough to see to do most home-cleaning tasks.
Oh, and it can be controlled via app too, which also sends reminders for when it's time to do the chore once again.
Buy now £399.00, Amazon
SYTEH Electric Window Cleaner Robot
Robots are here to save the day and get your domestic glass surfaces back to their sparkling best. This smart window cleaning bot works on all sorts of surfaces, from tables and tiles to glass.
The corded machine boasts an incredible level of suction that keeps the gadget locked to the surface, even when it's powered down. Much like a robot vacuum cleaner, this glass version has automatic navigation path planning, using twin mop heads to clean surfaces without scratching them and moving away from obstacles like the edges or window frame. Alongside intelligent cleaning, it can also be controlled with a remote.
Once it's finished, it will return to the bottom, ready to be transported to its next job.
Buy now £63.38, Amazon
Bosch GlassVac Cordless Window Vacuum
Ideal for both indoor and outdoor use, Bosch's window cleaning vacuum means business. It boasts a Power Protection Plus wiper blade that gives clean, gleaming results and glides effortlessly over surfaces from edge to edge.
The machine also comes with a few accessories including two wiper heads and there's a built-in LED light that illuminates dark spots and hard-to-reach areas. We love that it charges with a USB, meaning no extra bulky chargers to store.
Buy now £57.99, Amazon
Karcher Window Vac WV 5 Plus
Here in the UK, the fight against condensation is an ongoing struggle. Many city-dwellers live in single-glazed Victorian and Georgian conversions which fail to keep the heat in and the cold out in an energy-efficient manner. This results in condensation on windows which can cause damp and mildew. For homes like this, the Karcher Window Vac is an invaluable tool.
The gadget sucks up condensation with ease while ensuring windows and walls remain streak free. It’s equipped with a powerful lithium-ion battery which provides 35 minutes of cleaning after one charge, though the three-stage battery indicator on the device will alert you when power is low. Karcher’s WV 5 Plus comes with a spray bottle, microfibre cloth and 20ml of glass cleaning concentrate.
Buy now £89.99, Karcher
Kärcher WV 1 Window Vac
Windows so filthy you can barely see out of them? Say hello to Kärcher's cordless window vac which offers 20 minutes of run time, enough to see to most windows in a domestic setting.
The ultra-lightweight design cleans with streak-free results, sucking moisture off glass panes, shower doors, mirrors, tiles, induction hob panels and more with a LED display showing how much charge is left. It comes with a removable dirty water tank that can hold up to 100ml of liquid.
To use, simply wash windows as usual before running the Kärcher vac over them for smudge-free results.
Buy now £39.99, Amazon
Beldray BEL0749 Cordless Window Vac
Get rid of moisture and condensation easily with Beldray's cordless machine. The rechargeable gadget offers 30 minutes of use from a full battery with a 60ml water tank to collect dirty water. The squeegee device can be applied to wet or dry smooth surfaces, leaving them clean and crystal clear. This is more suited to indoor surfaces rather than external-facing windows which can rack up more grime.
Sold with a one-year manufacturer's guarantee.
Buy now £31.99, Amazon
GEEPAS Cordless Window Vacuum
Forget having to wash windows yourself first; this baby does three jobs in one: spraying, wiping and cleaning. It manages this by using two 70ml tanks for clean and dirty water respectively, running for up to 35 minutes on a fully juiced battery. The cordless design means you're not setting yourself up to trip on wires, and it's a quiet thing too, operating at less than 85dBA so if you fancy a late night or early morning clean without waking the entire household, you can be on your merry way.
Buy now £29.99, Amazon
Tower TWV10 Cordless Handheld Window Vacuum Cleaner
Whether you're fed up with wiping down windows full of condensation or you want to make the weekly clean faster, a window vac can shave serious time off the task at hand.
Tower's vacuum is on the budget side but offers powerful cordless cleaning on everything from windows, shower screens and bathroom tiles. The water tank is pleasingly large at 150ml which gives you more time before it needs to be emptied. As for run time, you'll get half an hour on a full charge, which takes around three hours.
Buy now £29.00, Argos
Dunelm Rechargeable Cordless Window Cleaning Vacuum
From Dunelm comes this cordless and rechargeable window vacuum, designed to clear glass, mirrors, tiles and other smooth surfaces of unsightly water marks and grime. The lightweight model is a hard worker, going for 30 minutes on a single charge and leaving nothing but streak-free results behind. It boasts an integrated clean water and detergent jug, sucking up droplets with help from the microfiber cloth and plastic lip.
Buy now £20.00, Dunelm
Leifheit Telescopic Window Cleaner
Not a vacuum per se but if you're trying to clean high-up windows without a ladder, then a telescopic cleaner is ideal. This one reaches a maximum of two meters and comes with a removable microfibre cloth and squeegee head so you can wash and buff with one very handy tool.
Buy now £23.50, John Lewis
