Need tool to a clean 2nd story sliding glass window

I have a window in the upstairs room of my residence that has a glass
sliding window.  It needs cleaning.

The inside part of the 2 glass sliding panes is easy to clean, but the
outside part is hard.

When I slide the one window pane open a bit, I could reach around with
your arm and clean the 2/3rds that is reachable.  The farthest ¼ is
not reachable and stayed dirty.  Maybe if I had abnormally long arms,
I could do it.

When I slide the right window pane all the way open, I could do the
same to the outside side of the left window pane.  Now it also has 1/3
that is still dirty.

Because of where this window is, putting a ladder up to it would be dangerous. 

Is there an inexpensive tool (under $15 or $30) that would extend my
reach and make this possible?

thanx in advnce

Greetings Sherpaj:

Home Depot and Lowe's sell squeegees and extension poles, and those
seem the best option for cleaning need and your price range.

At Home Depot, the price for an inexpensive squeegee and an extension
pole totals under $30.  See
http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=misc%2fsearchResults.jsp&BV_SessionID=@@@@1664729973.1089127751@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccciadclmedgmjkcgelceffdfgidgkj.0&MID=9876

If the link is stubborn and doesn't load (sometimes happens with these
long URLs), just visit http://www.homedepot.com and enter the word
squeegee in the search box.  The results page will show various
squeegees and extension poles.

At Lowe's link, http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=productList&function=search&categoryId=WINDOW_CLEANING_EQUIPMENT.CATEGORY&topic=goShopping
, you might also have to enter your local zip code after clicking the
link.  I'm set up in their system with my zip code.  If there are
problems with that link, search squeegee at Lowe's then click on
Window Cleaning Equipment.  That will take you to the squeegees.

For the extension poles at Lowe's, I found two by searching that term
and then clicking on Window Cleaning Equipment from that query.  I
found

Ettore  12' Extension Pole $24.93 
Item Number 44758, Model # 42012

Ettore  8' REA-C-H® Extension Pole $18.96 
Item Number 43258, Model # 42008 


Thank you for the opportunity to answer your question.  Should you
require clarification of the links or information I have provided,
please request it before rating my answer - I'll be happy to respond. 
:)

Best regards,
journalist-ga


SEARCH STRATEGY:

Visited Lowe's and Home Depot websites

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Request for Answer Clarification by sherpaj-ga on 06 Jul 2004 18:50 PDT

Any chance you can find a cheaper one, maybe a all in one. The 2 parts
together are around $50.  A lot to pay to wash a window.

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Clarification of Answer by journalist-ga on 06 Jul 2004 22:42 PDT

I noticed a squeegee for under $4 and a pole for around $18 among the
collective choices.  I'll be happy to check a discount firm to see if
they can be purchased more cheaply.  The positive aspect of owning the
combination is that you'll have it for future cleanings.

I'll let you know what i find.

Best regards,
journalist-ga

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Clarification of Answer by journalist-ga on 08 Jul 2004 14:47 PDT

I've located some that are much more expensive such as those shown at
http://www.comforthouse.com/comfort/windowwasher.html and
http://www.keysan.com/ksubl55.htm and
http://consumerguide.bizrate.com/buy/products__cat_id--13010200,keyword--extension+pole,search_box--1.html
  The Lowe's and Home Depot prices seem the best values.

Have you looked at a local discount store such as Big Lots?  They get
different types of close-outs all the time and they might have
something less expensive.

Home Depot had this
EZ>>>ONE
15-1/4 In. Heavy Duty Window Squeegee
Model 56-7700
Internet/Catalog # 117382
$2.88 EA 

Lowe's had an extension pole 
Ettore 8' extension pole 
Item Number 43258, Model # 42008
$18.96
(There was a $4.96 squeegee at Lowe's but that was the least expensive one I saw.)

You would simply secure a towel around the squeegee to wash the
windows, the remove it to squeegee them dry.

For a home-made extension pole you could purchase two mop handles and
somehow fashion them securely together. But attaching a squeegee might
be difficult.  At Lowe's or Home Depot, you could test a mop handle
screw-thread against the squeegee end.  The thread size might match.

#8 on the site at http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=extension+pole&sp-k=Shopping&sp-a=sp1001bad5&sp-p=all&sp-f=ISO-8859-1&sp-c=12&sp-redirect-if-one-result=1
looks to be an up to 12' extension pole for under $10.  Shipping may
increase the price but it may be worth exploring this option.

Best regards,
journalist-ga