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Updated: See what we think of our Kärcher Window Vac after almost 6 years of using it at the bottom of this post!
Over the course of the last year, we’ve been lucky enough to have partnered with Kärcher to review some of their fab products.
All of the Kärcher products we’ve received so far have been amazing and unlike a lot of gadgets that get bought and disappear into the cupboard after a few uses never to be seen again, we actually still use all of them regularly.
Our newest gadget is the Karcher Window Vac.

As we love all other products we’ve received we, of course, had high hopes for our newest gadget, too. Anything that makes cleaning windows quicker has got to be a good thing, right?
Here’s how we got on with our vac (ours is a WV5 Premium) along with some helpful tips on how to use a Karcher window vac!
1. The Karcher window vac box includes everything you need to get started.
Pour the cleaning liquid and some water into the spray bottle, attach the top and microfibre cleaning pad and then give it a shake to mix.

2. Spray the window (or whatever surface you’re cleaning) with the spray bottle and rub the liquid over the glass with the microfibre cloth, then use the window vacuum to suck the liquid off the window.

I’d love to give you more instructions, but that’s really all there is to it.

It only took a couple of minutes to clean each window and it really is a mess-free and easy way to clean your windows as you’re vacuuming up any liquid while you’re cleaning.
At first, we struggled to get the window completely streak free but realised that this was mainly down to the glass not being wet enough. If you can hear the vac squeaking as you run across the window, you’ve just not applied enough liquid.

Just go over the window again with the spray bottle and microfibre cloth and then vacuum the liquid away.
I admit to having window cleaners that visit about once a month for the outside (which is totally the norm here in the UK) and I’d say that our windows don’t get too dirty – except for when my nephews visit and they somehow end up covered in little fingerprints!
We’ll at least that’s what I thought because the water we sucked up just on the ground floor windows ended up looking like this!

Eww. Considering I thought that our windows were fairly clean, we were amazed at the amount of dirt that still came off them.
I admit that I’m surprised by how much I like the Karcher window vac. It sucks up the dirt amazingly well and is really light and easy to use. Most importantly though, we have lovely clean windows!
As with most of the other Kärcher products that we’ve reviewed, the included instructions are sparse and I personally would have liked a bit more information, but the window vac is so easy and self-explanatory to use, that the pictures on the side of the box are more than enough to get started.

The battery lasted long enough for us to clean all of the windows in our house (18 window pains, some of them inside and out), two mirrors and our bathroom tiles and it still has some charge, so I’d say that it would be easily possible to clean the whole house on just one charge.
Overall it’s a great little gadget that makes cleaning windows quicker. I admit that it’s a gadget that I would probably not have bought because I didn’t think that I needed help with cleaning windows, but now that we’ve given it a try, I wouldn’t want to be without the Karcher window cleaning vacuum.
We love this gadget but no Karcher window vac review would be complete without a list of some of the pros and cons.
Pros of the Kärcher window vac
- It makes cleaning windows much quicker.
- It’s really easy to use.
- There’s practically no mess involved as you suck up all of the dirty water.
- It’s very lightweight and is great for just walking from window to window without having to carry a bucket of water with you.
Cons of the Kärcher window vac
- We struggled to get our windows streak-free, although we did improve from window to window, so I assume that we’ll get the hang of it after cleaning them a few more times.
- Lack of instructions – there are some images printed on the box and in general they are enough as using the window vac really is self-explanatory, but I personally would have liked just a bit more.
- You have to remember to charge it.

I’m almost looking forward to getting some dirty DIY done so that I can clean the windows again! (Well, almost…).
Do you have a Karcher Window Vac – what do you think of it? Do you have a house cleaning chore that you hate most? Do you have a favourite gadget that makes housework easier & quicker?
PS. If you’d like to see some of our other Kärcher reviews, here they are:
- Kärcher Steam Stick
- Kärcher K4 Compact Home Pressure Washer
- Kärcher Wet & Dry Vacuum Cleaner
- Kärcher Rain Box
Update: Kärcher Window Vac Review 6 Years Later!
I can’t believe we’ve already been cleaning our windows with our Kärcher window vac for almost 6 years. The window vac has held up beautifully and still functions exactly the same as it did when we first got it.

In the beginning, we struggled to get streak-free windows but with a bit of practice (and making sure that the rubber is always clean), it does get easier to achieve perfectly clean and streak-free windows.
Other than that, it does exactly what it promises and makes cleaning windows much quicker, which is a good thing as we now have 68 windows to keep clean!

If you have a lot of windows, we’d still recommend the Kärcher window vac as it will save you a lot of time!
Wendy morley says
We have hard water and the vac is totally useless and a complete waste of money
I get lines down the window and once cleaned they look worse than ever especially in sunlight
Christine says
I completely agree that it’s difficult to get the window to be streak-free, it’s our biggest issue with the vac, too, Wendy. We found that making sure the surface is really wet helped. As soon as the vac drags over the glass it leaves marks, so making sure that there’s a film that you’re sucking up really helps. We actually also use ours to clean the mirror and shower screen in the bathroom when they’ve steamed up. Maybe that’s something you could try, too? It’s always so annoying when you buy something that doesn’t work as you expect. It works really well for us (after a bit of practice) but I agree that it’s not Kärchers best product ever (I think their vacuum cleaner is the best I’ve ever used. It’s indestructible and a total bargain.)
Cx
Richard Howard says
I could not disagree more. The window vac is probably the most useless household device we’ve ever had. It is simply impossible to get a streak-free window – and we’ve been trying for months and months to perfect our technique; light pressure, heavy pressure, moving slowly, moving faster, more liquid, less liquid. But the window vac remains stubbornly useless at cleaning, but good at making streaks. I’ve now dumped it in the waste bin.
Christine says
We definitely struggled to get the windows streak-free, too. We got the hang of it after a while but it definitely takes practice, Richard. We found that using a lot of liquid and keeping the rubber squidgy part that you pull along the glass super clean really helped. It’s by no means a perfect tool but find it really helpful and it makes cleaning our windows much quicker.
Cx
Gloria Wagstaff says
We just bought a Karcher WV2 and we agree that the instructions are sparse. We’re about to use it, and we’re about to rip off the little plastic tag (“seal”) which covers the sprayer. No reason why we shouldn’t rip it off, is there? We’re a bit nervous….
Great website!
Christine says
Thank you, Gloria! We still use our Kärcher window vac and love it. I honestly can’t remember the seal on the sprayer – I was obviously too excited to start using it! ;) I’d say go for it.
Cx
Gloria Wagstaff says
And it’s BRILLIANT! Makes light work of window cleaning. We ended up with a few streaks, but those will be eliminated with practice I’m sure.
Christine says
Yay, so happy to hear that you like it as much as we do!
Cx
Lucy says
Oh I love a good Karcher product! Glad you guys like it. We use ours nearly everyday (have a couple of condensation issues until we get some of the glazing sorted). You’re right though, it is annoying if you’ve forgotten to charge it and it runs out halfway through! X
Christine says
Yep, we’ve not had a bad one of theirs yet, but I guess any product is only as good as the person that uses it! Off to stick ours in the charger now! ;)
Cx