Wondering if you really know how to clean windows after all? Are you staring at streaks, streaks, and yet more streaks? Or maybe things look clear and then the angle of the sun changes and you need to start all over again.
If you are using commercial glass cleaner and paper towels to clean your windows, you need to look no further for the source of your streaking problem. Glass cleaner can leave a film behind that not only streaks, it gives dust a handy place to settle. As for the paper towels, they are full of lint – every time you touch your windows with one, that lint gets left behind. A classic vicious cycle.
So what do you need to clean your windows? And what is a good technique?
Window Cleaner
Time to throw the bottle of blue away. Well ok, you can keep it for a while, but you’re not going to need it anymore, I promise. Have a look at this easy homemade window cleaner recipe and eliminate the problem of streaky build-up for good.
The Squeegee
Take just a moment to imagine a professional window cleaner working on a huge glass storefront. Does he have a bottle of blue in one hand (squirt squirt) and a roll of paper towels under his arm (wipe, wipe)?
Of course not! That’s not how to clean windows. He has a big bucket of suds (most likely not much more than water) and a squeegee!
If you decide to go the professional route for how to clean windows, you will need to equip yourself with a high-quality squeegee and replace the rubber blades often. Look for these brands recommended by window cleaning experts: Ettore, Sorbo, and Unger.
You will also need to get the hang of your squeegee. By practicing on a few dozen windows you should get pretty good at it.
The Technique
Gather a bucket of that homemade window cleaner, a few cleaning cloths, and your high-quality squeegee, and get at the task like a professional. Dip the sponge side of your squeegee in the cleaner and thoroughly clean the window, or use a Professional Window Cleaning Combo for this task. If your windows are really dirty you may need to do two passes, one to get the bulk of the grime off, and a second to wet it for the squeegee process.
The next step is the most important. You want to squeegee away the water before it has time to dry on the windows. It takes a little practice.
Begin by wiping the top edge and side edges of the window with a clean dry cloth, leaving a 2-inch space of dry window along the edges. This will keep water from dripping and leaking onto the area you are about to clean. Place the squeegee blade in the dry area on top of the window. Pull the blade down the window with one even stroke.
You need to angle the squeegee and use the right amount of pressure so that it glides smoothly down the surface, neither bumping nor skimming over the water. When you have finished your stroke at the bottom of the window, wipe the squeegee blade with a clean cloth to remove the water. Continue cleaning in overlapping downward strokes always starting in a dry area with a wiped squeegee. Finish by wiping the bottom edge with a clean dry cloth.
I recommend using the squeegee method if you have enormous panes of glass to clean (a sliding glass door for example). However, if you only have small panes, using a squeegee can prove difficult, and there is a better method anyway . . .
Now that you know the squeegee method for how to clean windows, learn about the best way to clean windows.
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