We get asked about water fed poles almost every week, usually some version of "will this actually reach my second storey windows?" or "can I use it on my solar panels without wrecking them?" Fair questions. A decent pole setup isn't cheap, and there's a surprising amount of junk on the market. So here's the advice we give over the phone, written down.
First, how it actually works
A water fed pole is a telescopic pole with a soft brush on the end and a hose running through the middle. Water comes out through jets at the brush head while you scrub. That's it. You clean and rinse in the same pass, standing on the ground, and then just pack up and let it dry.
The catch is that last step only works if the water is right. Tap water around most Australian suburbs carries somewhere between 100 and 300+ ppm of dissolved minerals. Let that dry on glass and you get the same white spots you see on a car after a driveway wash. Run the pole off a DI tank instead and the water reads 0 TDS, so there's nothing left behind to spot. The pole does the scrubbing, but honestly, the water does the finishing. People sometimes buy the pole first and wonder why their windows still streak. It's the water.
Once you have the gear sorted, our step by step technique guide (with a video walkthrough) shows the frames first order and the slow final rinse that get the perfect result.
How tall does the pole need to be?
Measure to the top of your highest window and add a bit of working margin. As a rule of thumb: a single storey home is comfortable with 12 to 15ft. For a two storey home you want 20 to 22ft, because you lose effective reach once you account for the angle you're working at. For solar panels, 22ft handles most Australian roof lines.
We stock one pole, the 22ft hybrid kit, and that's deliberate. After testing a pile of configurations we found 22ft covers nearly every home we deal with, and going longer than you need just adds weight you'll feel in your shoulders ten minutes in. If you've got third storey glass to reach, we do carry a 30ft pole as well. It's not listed on the site, just get in touch and we'll sort you out.
Aluminium, hybrid or carbon fibre?
This is really a question about stiffness. A long pole flexes, and a flexy pole at full extension wanders all over the glass instead of going where you point it.
Aluminium is the budget option and it's fine up to about 15ft, but past that it gets heavy and whippy. Full carbon fibre is beautiful to use and priced for professionals who run one all day, every day. The hybrid construction (carbon mixed with glass fibre) sits in between, and for homeowners it's the one we recommend without hesitation. Most of the stiffness of carbon at a price that makes sense if you're cleaning your own place every month or two rather than running a window cleaning round.
A note on solar panels
Dirty panels genuinely cost you output, and here in Queensland the mix of dust, salt air and bird mess builds up faster than most people expect. But please don't take a sponge and dishwashing liquid up a ladder. Panel manufacturers are blunt about this: harsh detergents and abrasive scrubbing can void warranties and damage the anti-reflective coating.
A soft brush with deionised water is the method the manufacturers themselves point to. No chemicals, nothing left to bake onto the glass in the sun. One tip from experience: clean panels early morning or in the evening when they're cool. Cold water on hot glass is asking for trouble, and the water dries too fast to rinse properly anyway.
Budget for the whole system, not just the pole
If you're starting from nothing, the honest shopping list is: pole kit, DI tank sized to your local water, and eventually replacement resin (how often depends entirely on your tap water's TDS, which is why every tank we sell ships with a TDS meter). A bypass valve is worth adding so you only burn resin on the final rinse rather than the whole wash.
We put together a tank and pole bundle because most people buying the pole needed the tank too, and it works out cheaper than buying them separately.
Before you buy, quickly check:
- Your highest window or panel edge, measured, plus a metre of margin
- Hybrid or carbon construction if you're going over 15ft
- That the brush head is soft bristle with rinse jets, not a scrubbing pad
- That the fittings suit a standard Aussie garden hose (or grab the adapter)
- Your tap water TDS, so you size the tank right the first time
Have a look at the full water fed cleaning range, and if you're not sure what suits your place, just ask. We're a small Australian business and we answer our own emails: admin@spotfreerinse.com.au. Tell us your house height and your suburb and we'll tell you what we'd buy.
