Unger

An Unger squeegee on a telescopic pole cleans your windows from the ground, and an Unger grabber picks up trash and reaches the top shelf without a ladder or bending over. Both lines keep your feet on the ground. Unger builds these tools for professional window cleaners and custodians and sells the same ones for home use.

Unger started in 1964, when Henry Unger, a professional window cleaner, began designing cleaning tools in Hamburg, Germany. He brought window-cleaning ideas from the United States to German window cleaners. The company is now headquartered in Connecticut, with a facility in Solingen, Germany, and it’s known for its stainless-steel squeegees and telescopic water-fed poles.

Window squeegees and telescopic poles

Put the stainless-steel window squeegee on a telescopic pole and you clean second-story glass standing on the lawn. Unger’s telescopic poles come in steel and in aluminum, and the aluminum one runs to 24 ft. Buy the shortest pole that reaches your highest window with a foot or two to spare. A pole run out to its last section flexes, and a flexing pole makes the blade chatter and streak. For real height, take the aluminum pole, because a long reach gets heavy fast in steel.

Most streaks come from glass that’s drying before the blade gets there. Wet the whole pane first, start in a top corner, overlap every stroke and wipe the rubber with a cloth after each pass. A cleaning tool holder on your belt keeps the squeegee and clean cloths away from dirty tools, so you’re never wiping grit back onto the glass. Unger’s hard rubber works best on big flat panes in warmer weather, and its soft rubber conforms to uneven glass and suits cooler days, so match the rubber to the temperature you clean in.

LOCK-ON water flow poles and wash brush

Unger’s LOCK-ON line is a set of poles and heads that lock together. The water flow pole runs hose water to the head, so with the multi-angle wash brush on it you scrub and rinse siding, windows or a truck in one pass. The same line includes the dual ended pole, a brush for wood and composite decks and a 22 in. foam floor squeegee. Set the brush angle so the bristles lie flat on the surface; a brush working on its tips wears unevenly.

Nifty Nabber or Rugged Reacher

The Nifty Nabber is the light grabber. It has an aluminum handle, rubber-tipped grippers that keep from damaging what they grab, and a magnet built into the head for keys and coins. It handles everyday pickup around the yard, pulling a box off a high shelf and hanging holiday lights, and Unger builds it for people with limited mobility too. Take the 36 in. for ground pickup; take the 48 in. for higher shelves or a taller user.

For heavy objects, rough outdoor work or anything you’ll lift with both hands, go to the Rugged Reacher. Its jaws have stainless steel teeth set in reinforced rubber, and the trigger adds gripping strength, so a rock, a branch or a full bag stays put. The neoprene sleeve on the shaft gives your second hand a place to hold for two-handed lifting. Keep the Nifty Nabber on litter, recyclables and broken glass, and put the heavy lifting on the Rugged Reacher.

Whether a grabber lasts past the first season comes down to its build and the guarantee behind it. Unger replaces any Unger Professional product found defective in material, construction or workmanship. The guarantee is written for home use and excludes damage from commercial use, from skipping the use and care instructions, or from modifying the tool, so a crew picking litter all day should buy the Rugged Reacher’s steel teeth for that work.

Other Unger lines

Unger also makes pure water window cleaning kits that reach windows up to 5 stories high, microfiber cloths for streak-free glass, dusters in materials from microfiber to lambswool, and light bulb changers whose long handles keep you off a ladder.

Unger tools at a glance

Tool	Job	Key spec
Window squeegee	Window glass	Stainless steel
Telescopic pole, steel	Windows and high surfaces from the ground	10 ft.
Telescopic pole, aluminum	Taller windows	24 ft., Connect & Clean locking cone, Quick-Flip clamps
LOCK-ON Water Flow Pole	Washing with hose water	48 in.
LOCK-ON Dual Ended Pole	LOCK-ON cleaning jobs	60 in.
LOCK-ON wash brush	Siding, windows, vehicles	Multi-angle head
Nifty Nabber, 36 in.	Everyday pickup and reaching	36 in. long
Nifty Nabber, 48 in.	Higher shelves, taller users	48 in. long, 3.9 in. wide, 2.6 in. high
Rugged Reacher	Heavy-duty and outdoor pickup	Rotating head, trigger-pull grip

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Unger squeegee works best on a floor?

Pick the blade for the floor you have. The 22 in. LOCK-ON foam floor squeegee pushes water across garage and shop floors, and the foam follows small dips a rubber blade skips. The 36 in. AquaDozer is curved and made for smooth surfaces, and the curve pulls water toward the middle of your stroke so less of it runs out past the ends. On uneven floors, take the 18 in. AquaFlex, because a stiff straight blade rides over the low spots and leaves puddles behind.

How do you grab something at an awkward angle with the Unger Rugged Reacher?

Turn the head before you reach. The Rugged Reacher’s head rotates, so you can line the jaws up with a branch lying crossways or a can tipped on its side and not twist your wrist around to meet it. The trigger-pull grip works the same down at your feet or up overhead, so set the angle first and then squeeze.

What does Unger make for washing windows besides the squeegee?

EasyGlide Glass Cleaner comes in a 32 oz. bottle for the house and a 1-gallon jug for bigger jobs, and Unger also makes a glass cleaner that takes off hard-water stains, soap scum and mineral deposits. For inside glass, Stingray Cleaning Liquid lifts the dirt and leaves a protective layer, so the next cleaning goes quicker. Finish with the 12 x 12 in. microfiber cloths, sold in a 4-pack, because they don’t leave lint on the glass.

How do you clean an Unger microfiber duster or cloth?

Machine-wash it in a mesh laundry bag or by itself, with no fabric softener and no bleach, since both damage the fibers and it won’t pick up dirt as well. Air-dry it or tumble-dry it on the lowest setting. Unger says microfiber usually holds up to about 500 washes, and one that went through the wash with softener should work again after 3 or 4 washes done the right way.