A squeegee is a hand tool with a flat rubber blade held in a metal channel on a handle, used to pull water off glass in a single clean stroke. It is the tool that actually cleans a window — the washer wets and loosens the dirt, and the squeegee removes the dirty water in one pass so nothing is left to dry. Professional squeegees run from about R390 and are built so every wearing part can be replaced.
The three parts
- The handle. Holds the channel and takes a pole fitting so the same head can work at height.
- The channel. A rigid metal bar that clamps the rubber and keeps it dead straight. A bent channel puts a wave in the blade and no technique will fix that.
- The rubber. The consumable. It carries the edge that does the work, and it is meant to be swapped — a 71cm replacement rubber is R109.
What size to use
A 35cm blade suits most domestic windows and is the size to start with — wide enough to cross a normal pane in one or two strokes, narrow enough to control. Wider blades cover shopfronts and commercial glazing faster but need a steadier hand and more even pressure. Narrower blades are for glazing bars and small panes.
Our 35cm window cleaning squeegee is R390, and the matching 35cm washer sleeve that pairs with it is R150.
When to replace the rubber
When it stops leaving the glass dry in one pass. A blade wears at the edge, and once the edge rounds over it pushes a film of water instead of cutting it off. Nicks are worse than wear — a single nick leaves a line down every pane you touch. Rubber is the cheapest part of the job and the one that decides the result, so replace it early rather than fighting it.
Store the squeegee blade-up or flat, never resting on the edge.
Squeegee or pure water
A squeegee is the right tool wherever you can reach the glass. Above about two storeys you cannot, and the method changes to a brush and purified water that dries by itself — see how to clean high windows.
Browse window cleaning squeegees or the full window cleaning equipment range.