Streak-Free Window Cleaning
As a residential housekeeper, I've cleaned my share of windows. Whether they are five feet tall, single pane windows, or fifty year old windows in a seventy year old house, it's easy to spray a commercial window cleaner on, wipe it off with paper towels or newspaper, and sometimes still find yourself struggling to look through the streaks. It doesn't have to be this way! Once you have the right tools, if you follow these instructions, doing windows won't be such a hassle anymore. You can also use these tips to clean glass tabletops!
First, let's start with your window cleaning product. I've found that the best cleaner - which also happens to be the least expensive - is a spray bottle filled with water and a squirt of dish soap. Yep, that's it! Think about it - you use dish soap and water to clean the glasses you drink out of.
Why wouldn't you use the same product to clean the glass you look through?
There's no magic ratio to the solution. I simply fill up a spray bottle with water, add one or two "squirts" of dish soap, put on the spray attachment, and shake a little bit to combine.
If you clean your windows often, you don't even need to use the dish soap every time. (One caveat: If you smoke in your house, chances are good that your windows have a brown film on them, that may not be visible to the naked eye, but you'll certainly see it when you clean your windows! In this case, I would use the dish soap solution during each cleaning.)
There are a few other tools you'll need to get a streak-free shine. Squeegees can be found at most home improvement and general merchandise department stores, for under $10. (I've even seen them stocked at dollar stores recently.) Before you purchase one, measure the windows you'll be using it on. If your windows have small, individual panes of glass, you'll want to pick up a smaller squeegee that will fit between the individual panes. If you're cleaning large plate glass, your arms will thank you if you get a larger squeegee.
You'll also need a sponge. Again, if you're cleaning smaller windows, then a small dishwashing sponge would work just fine. For those of you with large picture windows, you'll probably want to pick up a sponge more suitable for car washing.
While you're in the car washing department, you'll also want to pick up a microfiber cloth or two. Please note: it is VERY important that you pick up the right kind of microfiber cloth. For cleaning windows specifically, you will want a very plush microfiber cloth, not the kind where the loops are more flat and rough. The latter is useful for other cleaning purposes, but is pretty much worthless when doing windows. Microfiber can also be purchased by the yard on several websites, and I've found this is the best way to purchase it.
If your windows are particularly dirty, haven't been cleaned in a long time, or have paint on them, you'll also want to get a razor blade. No, not the kind for your legs or your face. Get a single razor blade, and do yourself a favor and pay the extra 50 cents for the little plastic holder for it.
Last but not least, you'll need an old towel or old t-shirt.
Now, let's clean some windows!
First, get your sponge wet under the faucet and squeeze it out. Spray the window liberally with your cleaner. While it is not best to clean windows on a very sunny day (because the window cleaner can dry on the window before you get a chance to squeegee it off), if you spray enough cleaner on the windows and work quickly, the sun will actually help you locate the streaks.
Using your sponge, get the cleaner spread all over the window, and take note of any dried on dirt, paint, or other stubborn spots. You can either use the scrubby side of your sponge to attack the debris, or, if it's particularly difficult to get off, now is the time to use your razor. Spray the individual paint smudge or other debris liberally with the water solution, place the sharp edge of the razor so it is flat against the window. Slide the razor back and forth along the dried-on spot until the paint comes off. Then, spray again and wipe with the sponge. The razor must be at a low angle to the window, and you must slide the long edge along the glass, so that you aren't scratching the window, you're just scraping the debris off.
If the window is still sufficiently wet, now is the time to use your squeegee. Either work from top to bottom, or side to side, whatever you are most comfortable with. No matter which direction you are working in, you want to go all the way from one edge to the other, in long strokes. After each stroke, wipe the squeegee with the old towel or t-shirt, so that it is dry before you make another pass.
When you have squeegeed the entire window, sometimes, streaks will remain. Wait until the streaks dry, then take your DRY plush microfiber cloth (if it's wet, it won't work) and rub the streak away. The microfiber will remove the streak without adding additional streaks like paper towels do.
If you are cleaning a door that has an attached grid to make it look like it has individual panes, do yourself a favor and remove the grid (usually attached by a few small screws) and clean the large pane of glass underneath, rather than cleaning the individual rectangles. It takes about the same amount of time, but makes the cleaning part so much faster.
That's it! Not only does this method do a good job, it actually makes cleaning windows kind of fun. This method also works well for glass table tops and mirrors.
