Every few weeks we take over a property from a cleaner who disappointed someone, and the story behind it is usually the same: the company was chosen on price alone, and nobody asked any questions. Here are the five worth asking — including the ones we would want to be asked.
1. Are You Insured?
Ask for public liability and employer’s liability, and do not settle for “yes, of course” — a real company can show you. We publish ours, including the €6.5m public liability cover, on a dedicated insurance page, because the companies that have it are never shy about it.
2. How Exactly Do You Clean?
The most revealing question on the list. A company offering a water-fed pole and nothing else cannot deliver a proper first clean — baked-in dirt, paint flecks and mineral staining need scrapers and fine steel wool, as we explain in our tools guide. Pole-only is fine for maintenance; it is a red flag for restoration.
3. Can I See Your Reviews?
Then actually read them — recent ones, not the star number. Reviews are, in our view, the single most important signal about a cleaning company, more telling than years in business. Window cleaning is a trade that can be learned quite quickly; consistency is what reviews measure and longevity does not.
4. How Do You Handle Me on the Phone?
Compare companies on how they treat the enquiry. Clear answers, a written price, a named arrival window — the professionalism of the booking usually predicts the professionalism of the clean.
5. What Exactly Is Included?
Which windows, inside or out, frames and sills or glass only, and the price agreed before work starts — the full checklist is in what a quote should always include.
The trap to avoid: comparing on price alone. The cheapest quote is usually cheap for a reason you will discover on the glass. Judge on the five questions, then price among the ones that pass — we are happy to be judged on all five, starting here.