ArcaMax

You can’t deny the positive view of clean, clear window glass, because it brightens the interior of your home. Whether you hire a window washing service or do it yourself, the reward is a fresh, new perspective. Clean windows in one room have a restorative power, and the squeaky-clean smell may inspire you to go on a binge and do the windows throughout your house.

If you hire a window washing service, the charge to wash 12 double-hung windows from the inside and exterior of a house will be $181, which includes labor and material. Thrifty homeowners can do the job for $25, the cost of the materials, and save a whopping 86% for their time and effort. Those materials include cleaning solutions, a window squeegee and scrubber. You also need two ladders (for inside and outside the house), a bucket and lint-free clean rags for washing and drying. Washing windows is a good two-person job that goes quickly when one worker cleans the exterior while the other cleans the inside of the window.

If yours is a one-story house, washing windows is a no-brainer because you can safely reach the windows to work on them. However, the job gets dicey if you have a two-story house and don’t like working on an extension ladder, which you’ll need. One option is to wash the first-floor windows yourself and hire a service to wash the ones upstairs.

Tip: The pros tell us you’ll get the best results from washing windows on a cloudy day because sunlight dries the glass quickly, which causes streaking.

Pro Cost: $181 — DIY Cost: $25 — Pro time: 2.2
DIY Time: 3.3 — DIY Savings: $156 — Percent Saved: 86%

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To find more DIY project costs and to post comments and questions, visit www.diyornot.com and m.diyornot.com on smartphones.

©2025 Gene and Katie Hamilton. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.