Windows
A window vacuum removes the drip and the streak, not the effort. What separates them is how many panes they do before you stop to empty or recharge.
A window vacuum solves one problem: the water you have just used has to go somewhere, and on a cloth it goes back onto the glass as a streak.
Wide blades cover a tall pane in fewer passes and are useless on a glazing bar. Several machines come with two, and if yours does not, buy the narrow one — the awkward pane is the reason you bought the machine.
Between 25 ml and 100 ml across this comparison. The small tanks are not a defect; they belong to machines meant for a bathroom mirror and a shower screen. Ask how tall your windows are before deciding this one.
Most of these have an integrated cell, so battery life is machine life. That makes the stated runtime a durability figure rather than a convenience one. Twenty-five minutes new is fifteen after a few years.
Shower screens, condensation on a cold morning, and the inside of a car windscreen — all jobs where a cloth leaves a film. Several owners buy these for windows and keep them for the shower.
The main use. Removing the water without the drips and streaks a cloth leaves.
Where these machines are genuinely quicker than anything else on a cold morning.
Where the same tool removes water from any smooth surface.
Where a narrow blade helps and where technique matters more than the machine.
| What you clean | The blade | The note |
|---|---|---|
| Large windows | A wide blade | Fewer passes |
| Small panes and mirrors | A narrow blade | Reach into corners |
| Condensation | Either | Tank capacity matters |
| Shower screens | Either | Same principle |
Window vacuums fail at the rubber blade and from being stored wet. A blade with a nick leaves a line on every window, and a tank stored with water in it develops a smell that transfers to the glass.
Mostly about working at height.
100 min runtime · display · spray bottle with microfibre cover
A hundred minutes of battery and a display that tells you what is left — the whole-house machine.
Best for: Houses with a lot of glass, cleaned in long sessions rather than in passing
35 min runtime · two blade widths · spray bottle with cover
Two interchangeable blades — wide for panes, narrow for glazing bars — and 35 minutes to use them.
Best for: Houses with traditional windows, glazing bars and a mix of pane sizes
≈ $190
360° Comfort!Clean · vertical, horizontal or overhead · cordless
A window vacuum that works upside down — which sounds like a detail until you reach a skylight.
Best for: Shower screens, mirrors and skylights — the everyday glass rather than a whole house
Up to 35 windows per charge · LED battery indicator · streak-free
Bosch quotes its runtime in windows rather than minutes — which is the number you actually wanted.
Best for: Households already using Bosch home tools, and anyone who wants a runtime figure they can act on
≈ $100
360° head · Click-System poles · cordless
The one that fits a pole: a rotating head on Leifheit's Click-System, for windows you cannot reach.
Best for: Conservatories, stairwell windows and anything above head height
≈ $90
Yes. A window vacuum does not clean — it removes the dirty water you have already loosened with a cloth and a little detergent. Used on dry glass it does nothing at all, which is the most common disappointment with the category.
Tank capacity and battery, in that order. A 100 ml tank on tall windows means stopping to empty; a 25-minute battery is roughly thirty average panes. Both figures are published, and both matter more than the blade.
No. It removes the water after washing, which is what prevents the drips and streaks a cloth leaves. The washing still has to happen.
It removes the water rather than pushing it to the edge, which is where drips form. For regular use most people find it noticeably better.
Usually the solution drying before you vacuum, or a nicked blade. Working out of direct sun fixes the first and a new blade the second.
It is one of the best uses. On a winter morning it clears a whole house of glass faster than any cloth.
When it starts leaving a line. It is a cheap consumable and a nicked blade marks every window you clean.
Usually, though excessive foam is a problem for some machines. A light solution and a clean cloth are what the tool is designed around.
Meant for: Houses with a lot of glass, cleaned in long sessions rather than in passing
Where it is strongest: 100 minutes: a whole house, conservatory included, without charging
Where it is weakest: Costs roughly twice the WV 2 for battery life you may never use
Meant for: Houses with traditional windows, glazing bars and a mix of pane sizes
Where it is strongest: The narrow blade makes small panes and glazing bars practical
Where it is weakest: Two blades to store, and one will be missing when you want it
Meant for: Shower screens, mirrors and skylights — the everyday glass rather than a whole house
Where it is strongest: Works in any orientation, including overhead — skylights and shower ceilings
Where it is weakest: Verified absent from the US store
Meant for: Households already using Bosch home tools, and anyone who wants a runtime figure they can act on
Where it is strongest: Runtime quoted in windows, which is directly usable
Where it is weakest: Verified absent from the UK store
Meant for: Conservatories, stairwell windows and anything above head height
Where it is strongest: Fits telescopic poles, so high windows and conservatory roofs are reachable from the ground
Where it is weakest: The pole is a separate purchase, and the reach depends on which one
Lances, nozzles and detergents from the same aisle, at the price we read. Confirm the fit against the machine you choose before ordering: it turns on the coupling and the part number, which the listing gives.
The washers above come from the catalog of this site. Specifications are those the manufacturer and the Amazon page publish; prices are what Keepa reported for the date below, and both move. The order follows declared specifications, stated strengths weighed against stated limits, and price. No machine here has been put to work by us, and nothing on this page pretends otherwise.
Last checked on
Prices quoted in these summaries are dated readings. The live price is shown next to each product.
Pressure washers and floor washers swing by a hundred dollars or more across the year, and the biggest "discounts" often land at prices the same model sold for six weeks earlier. UniverTrack tracks the real price history across retailers, spots fake reductions, and alerts you when it is genuinely the moment to buy.
