The Forgotten Makeover Tip: Sparkling Windows
With TV shows, magazines, and countless blogs that tell you how to give your home a makeover, it seems easy to feel overwhelmed as a homeowner. After all, your budget doesn’t allow you to give your home a total face-lift, complete with cute Pinterest projects and all-new furniture. You want your home to feel welcoming and beautiful, but you don’t want to break the bank to do it.
What many homeowners don’t realize is that clean windows can achieve exactly what “complete homemakeovers” claim to do: transform your home with a refreshing result.
Dirty windows make your house look dingy and unkempt, and they keep the light out of your interior spaces. Clean windows immediately rejuvenate a home, but some homeowners procrastinate this simple beautifying procedure. Why?
For one thing, the standard window-washing method includes various spray cleaners, wadded-up paper towels, plenty of left-over streaks, and a few choice words. Let’s face it: that kind of “window-cleaning” just spreads the dirt around your glass panes and gives you elbow cramps.
“There’s got to be an easier way to clean my windows,” you think. And you’re right-there is. Below, we’ve listed two easy and effective ways to clean both single- and multi-pane windows. Use these procedures at least twice a year for incredible windows.
Clean Your Single-Pane Windows
Like their name suggests, these windows only contain one pane of glass, so you won’t have to overexert yourself as you clean them.
What You Need:
- Rubber gloves
- Strip applicator (one with a large cloth head)
- Squeegees (use extension poles to wash hard-to-reach windows)
- A plastic bucket
- Dish soap mixed with warm water
- Lint-free cloths
- A ladder (to clean hard-to-reach windows)
Before you begin, use a clean cloth to remove excess dust and cobwebs from your windows. When you wash the windows inside your home, lay a towel beneath the window to catch drips. Then, use the following steps:
1. Fill a bucket with warm water and a squirt of dish soap-you want soapy water with few suds. Use the strip applicator to scrub your window pane. This device knocks dirt and residue loose without scratching the glass, so use gentle, circular motions to spread the soap across the pane.
2. Wet the squeegee in warm water. Start in the top left corner, and pull the squeegee across the pane in a reverse-S pattern. When your squeegee has reached the end of the window, wipe it clean with a dry, lintfree cloth (like a cloth diaper or old linen napkin), then wet it again before you continue with the next step.
3. Use a damp cloth to remove any excess water from around the edges of the glass. Wring dry the cloth frequently so it soaks up the moisture without leaving streaks. Use a dry rag to dry the windowsill.
Wash Your Multi-Pane Windows
Because you have to clean more than one section of glass, multi-pane windows take a little more effort than their single-pane counterparts.
What You Need:
- A soft-bristled brush
- Rubber gloves
- A plastic bucket
- White vinegar mixed with warm water
- Large sponges
- Squeegees (use extension poles to wash hard-to-reach windows)
- Non-ammoniated cleaner
- Lint-free cloths (ensure that these have not been washed or dried with fabric softener-these chemicals leave behind a sticky residue that streaks the glass)
- A ladder (to wash hard-to-reach windows)
Before you wash your windows, schedule your cleaning at a time when sunshine won’t directly touch the windows. The sun’s heat causes the cleaner to dry too quickly, and this process often leaves residue, dirt, and sticky streaks on the glass.
1. Use the soft-bristled brush to remove spider webs, loose dirt, and dust from your windows. Be gentledon’t scrape paint from the window frames. Remember to brush the tracks, sills, and hinges.
2. Put on your rubber gloves. In a plastic bucket, mix one part vinegar and one part warm water. Take the large sponges and wet the window with your water-vinegar solution. Softly wipe the dirt away. Use a towel to wipe extra solution and keep it off of window frames.
3. Wet the squeegee and start in the upper-left corner of the window pane. Draw the squeegee straight down in a single stroke. Wipe the squeegee clean with a lint-free cloth after each stroke. Return to the top of the window and repeat. Remember to overlap the first stroke slightly. When you have completed the window pane, run the squeegee horizontally across the bottom of the window. Dry the window sill with your cloth.
4. Dampen a cloth with water and non-ammoniated cleaner, then wipe your window frames. Wipe them again with a damp, clean cloth to rub away any excess cleaning solution and prevent damage to the paint or metal. Dry completely with a clean cloth.
Eliminate Hard-to-Clean Spots
If you still see spots that didn’t come off of your windows with a little scrubbing, try this “supercleaning” technique: wet the glass, then scrub it with superfine steel wool or an oxalic acid powder. Even after the stain comes away, it may return, so treat your glass with a glass surface protectant.
For further tips and strategies for beautiful, clean windows and a “makeover” feel, contact your local glass and windows specialist today.