How to choose the best ladders for window cleaners

As with many other jobs, there’s no ‘one height fits-all’ solution when it comes to ladders. It depends on the height of the window you’re cleaning in question, and often whether you’re a homeowner doing a general household task, or a professional window cleaner looking for a more hard-wearing ladder for commercial tasks.

The good news is that either way, we’ve got what you’re looking for here at Browns Ladders! Depending on the job, there are several varieties of ladder you might find useful, ranging from light step ladders to taller extension ladders, or even specialist window cleaners ladders.

Why it’s worth considering step ladders and extension ladders

For indoors household tasks or ground floor windows, you’ll often find that folding step ladders are more than up to the task. Almost a household staple for many homeowners, they’re also a favourite of professional window cleaners, often used for cleaning storefronts and wiping windows from the inside. Stepladders like our Lyte Trade Aluminium Swingback Steps are available in a range of heights from between 0.6m to as closed heights of as high as 2.82m. Most professional window cleaners tend to find that having a stepladder on hand is more than sufficient to deal with most indoor window cleaning tasks.

Meanwhile, for jobs that require more working at significant height, durable extension ladders like our Lyte Industrial Triple Extension Ladders will come in handy for even the most demanding of jobs. Many of these sorts of extension ladders are available with a maximum open height of up to 10m, which is more than enough to reach second floor windows when window-cleaning. To be honest, if you routinely need to go higher than that, you’re better off using rope access anyway!

You can take your pick amongst our stock between aluminium and fibreglass extension ladders. Fibreglass is usually more expensive, but ideal for working around power lines and similar surroundings, as they don’t conduct electricity. Unless you’re working in those circumstances, though, you’ll generally find that aluminium extension ladders can do the job perfectly well.

So what are the very best ladders for window cleaners?

Though extension ladders and step ladders have a lot of strength in their versatility, unquestionably the best ladders for window cleaners are – unsurprisingly – Window Cleaners’ Ladders. These specialist pieces of access equipment are designed in an A shape, where their side rails taper into a triangular point. This allows the ladder to be used in tight corners and other awkward spaces that might not be easily accessible for a standard sort of extension ladder. Specialist ladders like our 2-section Aluminium Window Cleaners Ladder also have serrated rungs to give users a better grip in wet conditions; which is reasonably par for the course for the average window cleaner! What’s more, they also have rubber feet fitted to the top and bottom to give the ladder a better grip against the ground – handy if it’s getting gradually damper due to rain or water runoff.

Here at Browns, we pride ourselves on maintaining a huge range of access equipment and ladders for window cleaners, electricians, and a variety of other tradesmen and professionals. Feel free to browse our full range here, or if you need any help or advice, just give us a call on 01282 615 517, and we’ll see what we can do to help!