Many different manufacturers have come out with their own carbon fiber trad poles over the past few years. I have only used a single brand which is XERO. But apart from the brand, it is what carbon fiber does for you when cleaning windows with a pole.

All of us window cleaners began with, or still use, aluminum poles from Unger, Ettore, etc. While aluminum poles get the job done, there are some cons to using them. First, the rigidity when fully extending an aluminum extension pole can get very bendy at 12’ and over, which in turn gives you a lot less control of your tools. Second, aluminum poles can be a pain in the winter. The aluminum becomes freezing cold and good luck on getting the collars to release for extending or collapsing the pole with wet gloves or frozen solution that has dripped down into them. Third, the collars or twist locks on aluminum poles can break often and need replacement a lot more than carbon fiber pole clamps. It’s common if you’re a full-time window cleaner to need to buy two aluminum poles throughout one year. Lastly, most carbon fiber trad poles can convert to water fed poles with a simple attachment change whereas aluminum poles may need quite a few extra attachments to make them into a water fed pole. Those then add weight to the pole making it have even more flex than when using traditional tools.

Another pro to investing in a carbon fiber trad pole is that most will also be able to have sections added later if you need the pole to extend higher, while for aluminum poles there are limited options for being able to add extensions. So, you will need to buy a 12’ aluminum and a 30’ aluminum pole where with carbon fiber poles you can have all those options in one pole.

Since having carbon fiber poles introduced to me a few years ago, it has 100% made me a better window cleaner. It has giving me the control to clean with traditional methods at 30’ and have the confidence to not leave streaks or hiccups behind. Plus, with all the different colors and wraps that have come out with Xero and other brands they have almost become a collector’s item for window cleaner’s who want to have a different color pole for each day of the week…maybe lol

Carbon fiber is just simply the way to go these days when buying an extension pole for your window cleaning business. You may not want to give a brand new employee one due to how often newbie’s leave there poles at jobs, but for the well experienced tech or for a holiday bonus a carbon fiber pole can help any window cleaner get to the next level with their window cleaning techniques.

-By SteveO