A while ago, as I fell asleep half delirious, I caught an ad talking about a wondrous looking thing called a window cleaning vac by Karcher. It was a vacuum, with a small cylinder attached to it that sucked the water up after you’d cleaned the windows, via a squeegee attachment.

Because I thought I’d dreamt it, I looked it up the next day and lo it really did exist. The reviews were fab. It was a gadget. We’ve long been looking for something that makes window cleaning a bit more efficient – it wasn’t the cleaning per se we found difficult, but how to achieve a smear free finish (even as I write those words, I am mocking myself). So of course I bought it.

It’s brilliant. You use it after you’ve cleaned the windows with soapy water. It takes a bit of technique but not much. My partner immediately seized it as his and started cleaning the windows in quite a frenzy. He even used it on the stainless steel cabinet fronts in the kitchen (brilliant, but I still think baby oil does a better job, he agreeth not). You can use it to mop up condensation if, like us, you have single glazed windows.

Buy the most basic model, the WV50. You don’t need the spray bottle (but buy it if you want), you don’t need anything else save for a cloth and a bucket. If you have teeny tiny windows you may want to buy the smaller squeegee attachment but that’s it. Save for replacements blades when you need them. It’s rechargeable. It’s fab.