

“The summer is the busiest time, and I work around 16 hours a day. Alexander Tzamburakis, a window cleaner in Chicago, says he makes $125,000 per year as a contractor who bids on window washing jobs at grocery stores. And owners of window cleaning companies can earn more money than you might think. Many window cleaners only make $12 to $16 per hour, but high-rise window cleaners with years of experience can make $35 per hour. THE MONEY ISN’T GREAT, BUT OWNERS OF WINDOW CLEANING COMPANIES CAN MAKE A LOT. “They don't want to hear your music,” Hooper states.

Small radios, though, are a no-go because they can easily become a nuisance, especially when working at people’s homes.

I listen to podcasts mostly,” Hooper says. Other window cleaners who work on smaller buildings, though, may use cell phones on the job. “For safety reasons, music and cellphones are not allowed up in the scaffolding, but some of us listen to our own music in our heads,” Horton writes. THEY LISTEN TO PODCASTS WHILE THEY WORK.īecause high-rise window cleaners need to keep distractions away, using radios and cellphones on the job is generally forbidden. “Ladder work, roof work, pressure washing … I do it all, but these aspects of the job are challenging for even the most physically capable of women,” Smeltzer says. But the job isn’t without its challenges.
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Sheila Smeltzer, the president of A+ Pro Window Cleaning, tells The American Window Cleaner Magazine that she likes her job’s flexibility-it allowed her the time to be a mom and run her own business. Most window cleaners are male, but female window cleaners are gaining traction and visibility. IT’S A MALE-DOMINATED INDUSTRY, BUT THAT’S CHANGING. My job is to clean windows, not look at pedestrians,” Horton explains. As with any job, I get caught up in my daily work, so I don’t have time to look down. Instead, they say they simply don’t have time to look down and watch pedestrians on the street. When they’re working at great heights, window cleaners don’t look down, but not because they’re afraid. That’s a big improvement compared to 1932, when an average 1 out of every 200 window cleaners in New York was killed annually. Data from The International Window Cleaning Association showed that between 20, only one high-rise window cleaner was killed each year. And although accidents can terrify window cleaners, they’re usually not fatal. DESPITE THE POTENTIAL DANGERS, DEATHS ARE RARE.īecause they’re serious about safety, window cleaners start work each day by inspecting their equipment to make sure all the safety gear is in working order. They had absolutely no room for anything else!” 6. The homeowner had an inflatable boat, fully inflated, standing on end in their master closet. Mitch Jacobsen, co-owner of Better Window Cleaning Seattle, tells mental_floss that his company does residential cleaning, so he and his workers “see all kinds of stuff through windows." The most unusual thing he says he's seen, however, "was not through a window, but inside a house. Window cleaners are given unusual access to peer inside people’s private spaces (or work inside houses, when they clean the interiors of windows), so discretion is a job requirement.
