This is by far the biggest misunderstanding in the trade. The customer sees one window; the professional sees three elements that are cleaned differently, with different products and different time. The result: the glass is spotless, the frame is still grey, and nobody is happy.
Three elements, three jobs
The glazing. The glass surface — what "window cleaning" covers by default. Wet, loosen, squeegee, detail the edges.
The frame and casing. The structure holding the glass: PVC, aluminium, wood, sometimes steel. It is washed, not squeegeed. It needs a product suited to the material, dwell time, rinsing and drying. Grooves, seals, drainage slots and hinges collect greasy soiling that does not lift in one pass.
The sill or ledge. Often the dirtiest part of the set: moss, rain deposits, run-off residue, soil, sometimes insect nests.
Cleaning all three usually takes noticeably longer than the glass alone. That is why it belongs as a separate line in a quote.
What comes off, and what does not
Frame cleaning removes dust, pollution, rain marks, organic residue and greasy films. On a maintained frame the result is clean.
But some conditions no cleaning corrects:
- PVC yellowed by UV. Yellowing is not a layer of dirt sitting on the plastic; it is a change in the plastic itself. Washing does not remove it. "Restorer" products exist, with very uneven results, and they fall outside routine cleaning.
- Flaking paint or lacquer. A finish problem, not a cleanliness problem.
- Greyed or split wood with failed varnish. That is renovation.
- Pitted or corroded aluminium. The pitting stays visible.
- Seals blackened by mould in depth. Appearance often improves; the original state does not return.
- Cured silicone, adhesive, cement or paint. See the French guide on post-construction cleaning.
Anyone who tells you all of this will come off is selling you a disappointment.
How to get it written correctly into a quote
Ask to see, as separate items:
- The glazing faces: outside, inside, or both.
- The frames: included or not, and on which faces.
- The sills and ledges: included or not, inside and/or outside.
- Ancillary items: ventilation grilles, shutters, insect screens, glazed door thresholds, glass balustrades.
- The stated limits: what no result is promised for, and why.
Without that breakdown you cannot compare two quotes, and you do not know what you are buying.
Should you always take the option?
Not necessarily. Some honest guidance:
- Yes, if the glazing has not been cleaned in a long time. A dirty frame above clean glass is immediately visible, and run-off from it will redeposit marks on the glass at the first rain.
- Yes, on the first visit of a recurring schedule. Bring everything up to standard once, then lighter visits afterwards.
- Not necessarily every visit after that. Many customers take frames once or twice a year and glass only the rest of the time. That is a perfectly reasonable budget call.
- Watch porous external stone sills. They soil quickly.
Our practice
The quote form has an explicit "include frames and sills" checkbox. We do not add the item silently, and we do not quietly drop it to show a lower price. If a frame is yellowed, split or corroded, we say so before the visit, not after.
FAQ
Does frame cleaning cost more than the glass? It depends on the number of windows and their condition. Often the frame item takes as long or longer than the glass, because it cannot be squeegeed.
My PVC frames are yellow. Will cleaning whiten them? No. UV yellowing is material degradation, not a deposit.
Are external sills included by default? With us, no. They are an explicit option, written into the quote.