You don’t need special cleaning products to keep your windows clean and streak-free or your skills and frames looking as if they’ve just been installed. With the proper technique and correct accessories, this housekeeping chore can be simple and rewarding.
Before window cleaning begins, a little preparation is needed to help make the job easier. First, remove the curtains from the windows and any knick-knacks from the windowsills and then cover sensitive surfaces to protect them from drips.
Long-Lasting Chamois
Do yourself a favour: buy a real chamois. It absorbs water more quickly and is easily squeezed out. With proper care, it will last for years.
- Keep your chamois soft and smooth by using only water or solutions made with water and vinegar or alcohol. Detergents remove the leather’s oils and leave it stiff.
- Rinse out a chamois with warm salt water after every use to keep it soft.
- Never wring a chamois. Instead, squeeze it gently, open it up, shake it out and let it dry slowly in the air.
Windowsills
- Use a soft soap solution on windowsills to battle everyday dirt.
- Remove water stains with a soft cloth moistened with a solution of equal parts methylated spirits and tap water.
Window Frames
- Vacuum the window frame joint with the appropriate nozzle on the vacuum cleaner before starting to clean with liquid.
- Wipe wood window frames treated with clear glaze or varnish with a damp cloth. Replace the water frequently and rub them with a solution of equal parts methylated spirits and tap water.
- Clean painted window frames with a solution of 2 tablespoons of ammonia in about 500ml of water.
- Clean wooden window frames with a barely wet cloth and then dry with a clean, soft cloth.
- Rub off specks on wood frames using a rough cloth moistened with water. Another option is to clean them with a mixture of reduced-fat milk and cold water in equal proportions.
- Stick with hot, soapy water for washing aluminium or plastic frames. Scouring powder will scratch them.
Windowpanes
- Keep them free from condensation, which attracts mould. Wipe them every morning if necessary.
- Clean dirty panes regularly with a vinegar solution of 1 litre warm water and 1 cup (250ml) white vinegar. The vinegar dissolves dirt and deters flies.
- Clean extremely dirty windowpanes first with warm dishwater and then wipe them down with tap water, making sure you don’t leave streaks.
- Add a squirt of glycerin to the water to help windows to resist dust and to ensure that they don’t fog up in winter.
- Mix a few drops of ammonia with the water to keep frost off windows.
- Expel streaks and leftover drips with a lint-free cloth, newspaper or a chamois.
- When squeegeeing windows, moisten the edge of the squeegee to keep it from squeaking and also to improve contact with the glass.
- Polish washed windowpanes with newspaper or an old pair of tights to bring out the shine.
- Clean small windowpanes (skylights, louvre windows, fanlights) with a chamois only. Thoroughly wet the chamois in the wash water, squeeze it out gently and work from the edge towards the centre of the glass. Immediately wipe dry to prevent streaking.
- Wash skylights when it’s raining hard for maximum effect. Carefully tilt the wet window and lather it with wash water, then shut it again and let the rain rinse it off.
- Rub dulled windows or mirrors with olive or linseed oil to get their shine back. Leave the oil on for an hour, wipe dry with tissue paper and then clean as normal.
- Eliminate grease stains with half an onion. The sulfides in the onion are powerful cleaners.
- Remove specks from glass panes with a clean cloth moistened in warm black tea. A couple of squirts of methylated spirits will also dissolve them, making it quick and easy to wipe them off.
- If glazing compound has been left on the glass from when it was installed, rub it off with a little ammonia or white spirits on a cotton ball.
- Scrape stickers off new panes by soaking them with warm water and then removing them using a glass scraper. If any old, brittle stickers remain, rub them with olive oil until the pane is clear.
- Remove fresh paint splashes from panes with white spirits or nail polish remover. For dried paint, use a glass scraper, such as those used for cleaning ceramic cooktops.
Special Cases
- Modern stained glass is so strong that it can be cleaned as you would with normal glass panel. Take greater care with old stained glass: simply wipe it carefully with a damp cloth. If the old grass is actually painted, don’t wash it at all or you risk removing the colour. Instead, dust the panes with a soft brush.
- Clean frosted glass with hot vinegar water to give it a dull sheen and then carefully wipe dry.
- Dust etched glass with a soft brush, and clean the textured side of the glass with a chamois. You can simply squeegee the smooth side.
If you need help from the experts, seek the help of the top window cleaning professionals in Australia today.