Window Washing

Window Washing for Fun & Profit

Joys of having clean windows and mirrors.

When was the last time you looked out your front room windows at one in the afternoon, and it looked like it was five at night? Forever? It's time you cleaned them.

It's not as daunting a task as you may think. Like any other task, it'll be a lot easier breaking it up in pieces -- not your windows -- your steps in cleaning them.

I've been washing windows professional for five years. The following isn't THE way to clean windows. It's my way. If some procedures seem a little odd, change them to your liking. First enjoy the vision of your finished adventure. Clean windows. Don't make a chore of it, make a game of it. Don't grouse about it. Enjoy the task.

Tools: Most items can be gotten at Home Depot, Lowe's, or any janitorial supply house.

You can also check search engines for "window washing supplies/equipment"

"T" handled mop head. New ones come with a mop-cover.Usually terry cloth.

Squeegees -- various sizes. 4"(?), 8-12",18",24"(?).If getting only one, use an 18".

Unger & Ettore brands are recommended

"Combo" = mop and squeegee as one unit. I saw one at Lowe a year and a half ago.

Bought it. Love it. I haven't seen any other pros use it, though. A real time saver.

After washing the window, flip the handle and squeegee.

Spritz bottles -- for French windows & cleaning the tracks.

Soapy water for wood, metal and marble.

DNA (DeNatured Alcohol) Mix 1 part DNA + 2 parts Water; Use on small glass areas.

Water holders:

Round 5 gal. buckets. Convenient to carry. Need a lid to avoid splashing while walking.

Inconvenient to dip larger mop handles in.

Commercial rectangular bucket with wheels. Good on hard surfaces, poor on grass.

Expensive for home use only.

Ice chest with lid, preferably with hinged lid. Also has a carrying handle.

15 - 18" long. 18" will fit diagonally in a 15 - 16" chest. I use one. Love it.

Soap: In a survey of 6,309 window washers, all but three chose 'Dawn'. Use the clear one.

Best for offing fingerprints.

Rags: Types & best ones to use.

Best: Blue 'mechanics' cloth towels are lint-free. Can be laundered & reused.

Excellent for 'polishing'.

Don't use the red shop rags. They're not lint-free.

Old T-shirts and any rags. For very dirty tracks and sills. One time use, then toss in the garbage.

Miscellaneous stuff

Couple of cheap paint brushes. 1"&4".

Sweeping dirt from window tracks.

Standard & Phillips screwdrivers. Loosening screen tab holders.

1-1/2" pocket scrapper. Paint spatter, bird droppings, stuff like that.

N.B. Never scrape on dry glass; may scratch the glass. Use wet rag to 'water' area first.

1 gal. Bucket to hold tools, extra rags and liquid refreshments.

(It's irritating and time wasting to forget something and have to fetch it.)

Telescopic pole. For home use, a 3ft X 2 is fine (equals 3 - 6ft).

If you prefer separate mop & squeegee, better to have 2 poles, to save time in exchanging mop & squeegee. Alternatively, use 2 old broom handles, taper the ends if necessary.

Q-tips. Cleaning in small nooks, like around wind locks & corners of tracks.

Page 2 Procedures for inside house windows:

1. Unlock all windows and slightly open.

I prefer to clean the in and outside of the windowsill from the outside. More elbow room. Less chance of bumping the Ming vase off its pedestal.

(Though it only happened to me once.)

Note: Do each step completely for all windows and doors. You'll save time overall;rather than doing each window completely, then moving onto the next window.

2. Remove all screens and rinse with hose. Wipe really dirty frames with damp rag. Put off to the side to air dry.

3. Using the large paint brush, sweep the bottom and sides of the channel. For the real dirty and mud-caked, clean with a wet rag, which will be thrown out at day's end. Wipe dry. Close window. Move onto the next window.

4. With all screen and windowsill done, now comes the fun part. Cleaning the glass. My preference is to do the inside first. It's more involved. In anything I do, I get the least liked, and longer-to-do stuff done first.

5. First, move any furniture that will hinder your access to the window. If possible, take down all drapes, curtains, shades and stuff attached to the glass, like sun catchers, goofy animals, plastic suction cups.

Though this is time-consuming, an empty window is far easier to clean.

I don't bother taking down drapes. They're generally six inches or so from the window. Enough room to get the 'combo' on the glass without soiling the drapes.

6.Squeeze out most of the water by running your hand with the thumb and index finger circling the mop down the full length. Do this several times, until no drippies occur.

NOTE: To avoid getting the carpets wet, place water buckets on a small blanket, or throw rug of yours.

7. Wipe across the glass until fully wet. I like going horizontally, back and forth. I then flip the 'T' and squeegee one side to the other, starting at the top of the window.

Wipe the rubber across its length. Go down to the next row of water.

Overlap on the dry glass slightly to avoid a wet bead of water forming. Continue until all panes are done on that window.

With a clean dry rag, wipe all edges of each pane. Then the full pane. This is called 'polishing' the glass. Check for missed smudges or wet spots.

When finished, stand back and admire your work. If you get an applause from the audience, acknowledge their ovation. Take a bow. Move on to the next window.

Repeat # 6 & 7 for remaining inside windows.

One note here. Don't put the stuff back around and on the windows. If you missed some spots that will be seen from the outside, it'll be easier to see and to touch up the insides without stuff dangling in your face.

Page 3 Procedures for outside house windows:

After all the inside windows and doors are done, we move outdoors.

You can use a small stepladder to get to the top of the windows. Don't. Even small stepladders take extra time to move & setup. If you don't want to spend the money for a telescopic handle, you can make a handle from an old wooden broom handle. Whittle a taper the size of the opening of the t-handles.

If you have awnings, you may not be able to get to the top of the window using the combo mop/squeegee. On these, you may want to use separate mop and squeegee. You can get by with only one handle, swapping between the mop and squeegee. This can be time consuming if you have a lot of windows. Make two handles for these windows. One for the mop, one for the squeegee. Handles are also best to use on windows over bushes.

The washing procedures for the outsides, are the same as for the inside of the windows, except you
don't squeeze water from the mop.

Page 4 Finishing up:

When all windows are clean inside and out, check for smudges and unpolished (grayish cloudy)spots. Do the insides first. When you're satisfied with the job done inside, but before you put all your stuff back on the windows, make a mental note on spots you've missed on the outside.

Even if you're Felix Unger, fight the urge; stay inside and finish up, before going back outdoors.

Next, replace blinds, shades and curtains. Restore the placement of furniture.

Okay Felix, now you can go outside and polish the spots you've missed.

That's it! Empty the bucket, rinse it out, and put your cleaning stuff away. For six months, or so.