Can exterior windows be cleaned in winter?

Sometimes, but cold limits it. Below freezing, water and standard solutions can freeze on the glass, so many providers pause exterior work during the coldest stretches or switch to methods suited to cold weather. Interior glass can be cleaned all year, so many buildings keep that on schedule and catch up on exteriors after the thaw.

Is window cleaning part of our regular janitorial service?

Usually only partly. Janitorial crews typically wipe entrance doors, interior glass and fingerprints on reachable glass as part of each visit. Exterior windows, high interior glass and anything needing poles or lifts is normally a separate service with its own schedule, either from the same company or a dedicated window cleaner.

What is purified water cleaning?

It uses water filtered to remove the minerals that cause spots. The crew scrubs the glass with a brush on a long pole that feeds this water, then rinses, and the glass dries clear without a squeegee. It works well on low-rise buildings and lets the crew reach upper windows from the ground.

How do we handle windows above the third floor?

Those usually need lifts, boom equipment or rope access, and the work should be done by a company that specializes in it and uses proper fall protection. When you request a quote, list the number of floors and say whether the building has roof anchors. The provider can then say how it would reach the upper glass.

Is there a charge to request a quote?

No. Submitting a request here costs nothing, and you are under no obligation to hire anyone.

Is Minneapolis Office Cleaning a cleaning company?

No. We are a free quote-matching service, not a cleaning company. Your request goes to at least one independent commercial cleaning company working in the Minneapolis area, and that provider prepares the quote and does the work.

Commercial Window Cleaning in Minneapolis, MN

Ground-level glass is usually cleaned by hand with a scrubber, a squeegee and a cleaning solution, then detailed at the edges so no drips are left on the frame. For low-rise exteriors, many crews use water-fed pole systems that push purified water through a brush on an extendable pole. Because the water has its minerals removed, it dries without spots, and the crew can reach second and third story glass from the ground without ladders.

Height changes the job completely. Once a building is taller than a few stories, the exterior glass is reached with lifts, boom equipment or rope access, and that work belongs to specialists trained in fall protection with the right anchors and gear. Ask any provider how it handles upper floors, and whether it does that work itself or brings in a high-rise window company. A general cleaning crew should not be hanging off a building.

Not every mark comes off with a squeegee. Hard water spots from sprinklers leave mineral deposits that need a dedicated remover, and paint, stucco or adhesive left after construction usually has to be scraped carefully with a blade suited to glass. Common mistakes include cleaning glass in direct hot sun, which streaks because the solution dries too fast, and ignoring the tracks and sills, where grit builds up and makes clean glass look neglected.

Window cleaning through a Twin Cities year

Minneapolis glass collects a different kind of dirt each season. Through the winter, slush and road salt spray up onto storefront windows and lower glass along busy streets, leaving a hazy film that shows once the sun gets higher in spring. Freezing temperatures also limit exterior work for weeks at a time, since water-fed systems and standard solutions do not perform well in deep cold. Many buildings in Downtown Minneapolis, Northeast Minneapolis and St. Paul book a thorough exterior clean once the thaw arrives, then keep regular service through summer and fall.

Storefront glass in Uptown, the North Loop and retail centers in Roseville and Minnetonka gets the most frequent requests, often weekly, because customers see it up close. Office buildings in Bloomington, Plymouth and St. Louis Park more often book exterior work by the season and interior glass during regular cleaning visits. Interior work continues all winter, so lobby glass, partitions and skyway-facing windows can stay on a steady schedule while exterior work waits for warmer days.

What changes the cost of window cleaning

Number of panes: Providers often count panes or openings rather than square footage. Many small divided panes take longer than a few large sheets of storefront glass covering the same wall.
Height and access: Ground-floor glass is simple. Second and third floors need water-fed poles or ladders, and anything above that requires lifts or rope access by a specialist, which changes the quote significantly.
Condition of the glass: Hard water spots, construction residue or glass that has gone a long time without cleaning needs extra steps and products beyond a standard wash and squeegee pass.
Frequency: A recurring weekly or monthly route is planned differently from a one-time visit. Regular service usually means each clean takes less time because the glass never gets far behind.

Sample commercial window cleaning schedule

Task	Frequency
Storefront and entrance door glass	Weekly to every other week
Interior glass partitions and lobby glass	Weekly or each cleaning visit
Office exterior windows, low-rise	Monthly to quarterly
Frames, sills and tracks	With each exterior clean
Interior side of exterior windows	Quarterly to twice a year
Upper floors by lift or rope access	Once or twice a year, by a specialist

Read this as a baseline, not a commitment. After walking your office and hearing how people actually use it, your provider will revise it.

Typical scope of work

Interior and exterior glass cleaning
Wiping frames and window sills
Vacuuming and wiping window tracks
Entrance door glass and hardware
Water-fed pole cleaning for low-rise exteriors
Spot removal for drips and fingerprints
Screen removal and cleaning where present

The final task list and schedule get agreed between you and the provider during the quoting process.

Service areas

Businesses throughout the Minneapolis area send us commercial window cleaning requests, including from Downtown Minneapolis, North Loop, Northeast Minneapolis, Uptown, St. Paul, Bloomington and beyond. See all areas.