Window Cleaning
in Charleston, SC

Clean windows change how a home feels more than almost any other exterior service. Light comes in brighter, rooms feel larger, and the views that make Charleston living worth it are actually visible. But keeping windows clean here is harder than it is almost anywhere else in the country, and that's not an exaggeration.

Window cleaning is a different discipline from pressure washing or power washing. Exterior glass is cleaned with a water-fed pole and soft-bristle system, and interior window cleaning is available as a separate service, done by hand with squeegee and solution. Never high-pressure force, which would void warranties on energy glass and risk cracking the panes outright. If you have been searching for 'power washing near me' to clean windows, what you actually need is professional window cleaning finished to a spot-free standard.

Why Charleston Windows Get Dirty So Fast

Three things work against Charleston windows year-round. Salt air from the Atlantic deposits a fine mineral film on every exterior surface, especially on homes within a few miles of the coast. Sullivan's Island, IOP, Folly Beach, Kiawah, and downtown are all heavily affected. Spartina and oak pollen coats glass every spring, bonding to surfaces in a way that simple window cleaner barely touches. And the Lowcountry's high humidity means any residue that lands on glass stays wet long enough to stain or etch over time.

On top of that, most Charleston homes have full-screen storm windows or high-performance energy glass, both of which show streaks and water spots far more visibly than older single-pane glass. The combination of aggressive environmental load and unforgiving modern glass is why professional window cleaning pays for itself quickly.

Exterior Window Cleaning: Water-Fed Pole, No Streaks

Exterior window cleaning is where the salt haze, pollen, and storm residue actually live in Charleston. Our exterior method uses a water-fed pole with a soft-bristle brush that scrubs the frame and glass, then rinses everything clean for a spot-free finish, backed by our streak guarantee. The pole reaches up to 40 feet from the ground, so most second-story exterior windows on Charleston homes are accessible without ladders and nothing leans against your siding. The same pole system is what we use for solar panel cleaning on rooftop arrays.

We take off all screens before exterior window cleaning and reinstall them once the glass is done, and screen cleaning itself is available as an additional service. Exterior tracks are cleaned while we are at that side of the window. We schedule exterior visits in dry weather windows whenever possible. Charleston pollen season (April and May) and post-tropical-storm cleanup are the two peak demand windows.

Interior Window Cleaning: Squeegee, Drop Cloth, Hand Detail

Interior window cleaning is a separate service, and we highly suggest booking it alongside your exterior cleaning to see the full results. It's done by hand with traditional squeegee-and-solution cleaning, because you can't realistically run a water-fed pole inside a home. Interior work takes more time but produces beautiful clarity. We move furniture away from windows as needed, use clean drop cloths on sills and floors to protect trim and flooring, and hand-detail every pane edge so the corners don't show the leftover film that DIY cleaning always leaves behind. For any skylight that needs exterior rooftop cleaning, see our dedicated skylight cleaning service (different access requirements and chemistry).

Most clients book interior and exterior together because the exterior work won't reach its full visual impact until the interior glass is also clean. Dirt on either surface shows from both sides. Booking both on the same visit also means one mobilization instead of two.

Hard Water Stain Restoration

Hard water stains from irrigation overspray are the single hardest window-cleaning problem in Charleston. The white cloudy patches you see on the bottom third of first-floor windows facing your sprinkler heads are minerals that have actually etched into the glass surface. Standard window cleaning won't remove them because the minerals are bonded at a microscopic level. We treat them with a specialized glass restoration compound that chemically dissolves the mineral bond, then polish the glass back to clarity. Hard water stain restoration is priced separately from standard cleaning (the technique takes longer per window) but most homes only have stains on a handful of lower windows, so the add-on charge is typically modest.

Once we restore stained glass, the best long-term fix is to redirect the irrigation heads. We'll show you which heads are causing the problem during the cleaning visit. Otherwise the stains return within a season. With irrigation redirected, twice-yearly cleaning prevents new etching from ever forming.

Screens and Tracks: Where the Dirt Actually Lives

We remove all screens before exterior window cleaning so the glass gets cleaned edge to edge, then reinstall them when the job is done. Screens accumulate pollen, salt, and spider webs thickly enough to noticeably cut the airflow through an open window, so full screen cleaning is available as an additional service: each screen is washed and rinsed before it goes back in. Exterior tracks are cleaned whenever we clean exterior windows, so grit doesn't wash right back onto the finished glass.

If your lower windows have hard water stains from irrigation overspray (usually showing as white streaks or cloudy patches on the bottom third of first-floor glass), we can treat those as an add-on. Once irrigation has actually etched glass the repair takes a dedicated restoration compound and hand polish, but it's much cheaper than replacing the glass itself. Twice-yearly cleaning prevents irrigation etching from ever becoming a problem.