Your favorite way to clean windows and screens?

[MamaBearTeacher]

Time to clean. Yuck, I am not looking forward to this! How do you clean your windows (both inside and ouside) and window screens? Do you just use water and vinegar, a favorite cleaner, a special cloth? Do you have a very efficient method? I have not come up with a way I really like and I'm looking for tips.

[Bang!Zoom!]

There's something about Glass Plus <--brand

 

Gets the job done.

 

Screens I would long soak in warm water and then use a soft soft brush and rinse with a hose.

[KristenR]

Perfectly timed post!

We recently moved into a house with a salt water pool in the backyard. Love the salt water pool-- hate cleaning the windows and glass door leading out there.

 

Any suggestions?

[JennyB]

My husband cleaned windows for years and years. If you have a squeegee and sponge then he just used a squirt of joy in a bucket of water and had at it. Use a chamois for the streaks and the sides. The best for the screens is furniture polish. Just put some on a rag and wipe the screens with it. You can also just run your joy sponge on the screen and then rinse with a hose.

 

Have fun. I love clean windows.

[Mynyel]

You clean your windows? :001_huh::svengo:

 

:D

 

I do it about once a year and have to use a magic eraser every time. I am not the one to ask!

[RoughCollie]

I usually use a vinegar and water mixture, and crumbled newspaper.

 

Yesterday, I didn't have any newspapers, so I used a microfiber cloth and the vinegar/water mixture.

 

I used the microfiber cloth to "dust" the screens, and the spider webs, etc., fell right off.

Edited September 3, 2011 by RoughCollie

[kewb]

My father's answer: That is what rain is for.

My mother's answer: Vinegar and water. Use newspaper for a streak free shine.

 

My answer: That is what rain is for, but when there is dog slobber on the window I use my mom's answer.

[chepyl]

Hire my hubby;)

 

DH has a window cleaning business. He uses dish soap and water, a scrubber cloth and squeegee. For screens he used the same thing and a hose.

 

He uses towels to dry the edges. You can't wash the towels with fabric softener, however. Oops:tongue_smilie: I don't wash his towels anymore...he does.

[Denisemomof4]

I wash my windows on the inside several times per year. The downstairs windows get this film on them, kind of smokey film. Nobody smokes in our house, not even guests who smoke. They have to go outside.

 

The outside are always a mess. I wash them at least once per year but honestly, they could be done monthly. I'm sure it's because we live on a dirt road.

 

EVERYTHING I try causes streaking. I hate that! I did have luck with a squeegie but I can't find it now. WHY do kids use MY items as toys?:cursing:

 

I need to check on this thread later. I really need a better system than what I have!

[FaithManor]

Have three boys, wait for them to grow up, let them wash the windows and screens!

 

Oh wait, you mean you want to do them now and not in 14 years?

 

Bummer, no good answer then.

 

Faith

[Mom-2-7]

When kids are fighting, put one on each side of the window with a spray bottle of plain water and a towel.

 

I get (mostly) clean windows and giggling kids!

[cdrumm4448]

Before I had kids I read Jeff Green's cleaning books. Then, I ordered some of his supplies. Professional squeegie, lambswool washer, extension pole, etc. Best stuff I ever used. I can clean all the downstairs windows (outside only) in 30 minutes. I have tons of windows.

 

http://www.thecleanteam.com/

[Abigail4476]

Time to clean. Yuck, I am not looking forward to this! How do you clean your windows (both inside and ouside) and window screens? Do you just use water and vinegar, a favorite cleaner, a special cloth? Do you have a very efficient method? I have not come up with a way I really like and I'm looking for tips.

 

We remove all the screens and spray them down with the hose. I use this lovely friend to quickly and easily clean the outside windows, and it does a great job--especially on very dusty or dirty windows. It takes me about 45 minutes to wash and rinse all the outside windows on our one-story house. They air dry and my husband replaces the screens. I probably do it 3-4 times a year. Also, it says on the box that 1 cleaning pad does 20 windows, and I would agree--1 pad does our whole house.

[KungFuPanda]

I wait way too long between cleanings, so it's a serious job when I do it. I also have huge windows.

 

I remove all of the screens. Wash them in the tub with dish soap, and rinse in the shower. While the screens dry, I clean the windows using a bucket of water with dish soap and a squeegee. This gets the serious gunk off. Then I go over them with windex and a diaper to get the streaks.

 

I can't reach two of the upstairs windows from outside, so they get hit with the pressure washer when we do the siding. Both chores are now seriously overdue.

[chickenpatty]

LOL!

[1GirlTwinBoys]

For glass, I like 3/4 vinegar to 1/4 water and quite a few drops of essential oil like orange, lavender, or lemon.

 

For screens, dish soap & a brush, or Simple Green and a pressure washer hose.

[Audrey]

Time to clean. Yuck, I am not looking forward to this! How do you clean your windows (both inside and ouside) and window screens? Do you just use water and vinegar, a favorite cleaner, a special cloth? Do you have a very efficient method? I have not come up with a way I really like and I'm looking for tips.

 

 

First, I remove the screens and vacuum them. If they are very dirty, I take them outside and use the pressure washer on them (on the lowest pressure so as not to tear them). Then, I let them dry while I clean the windows. I spritz a 1:10 ammonia and water solution and use a squeegee on windows, inside and out. Then, buff with a microfibre cloth. It's very fast and efficient. I have A LOT of window in the house. I have a telescopic thingy that attaches to my squeegee for the upper story windows. I still have to get on a ladder, but I don't have to be on the big ladder (which I really don't like).

 

I should add that I do windows every Sunday, so it is rare that screens are so dirty that they need soap. I do spritz on the ammonia and water for the kitchen window screens though as kitchens tend to produce that sticky residue.

Edited September 4, 2011 by Audrey

[RoughCollie]

I wash my windows on the inside several times per year. The downstairs windows get this film on them, kind of smokey film.

 

My windows get a brown film on them. Our landlord says it is from oil heat, and it can also be caused by burning wood inside (which we don't do, except for the pellet stove).

[Sahamamama]

Is there really a thread about this? :lol:

[KidsHappen]

The people who power wash the house do the outside and the people who deep clean do the inside. :001_smile:

[BinahYeteirah]

I should add that I do windows every Sunday

 

Really? Wow.

[KungFuPanda]

First, I remove the screens and vacuum them. If they are very dirty, I take them outside and use the pressure washer on them (on the lowest pressure so as not to tear them). Then, I let them dry while I clean the windows. I spritz a 1:10 ammonia and water solution and use a squeegee on windows, inside and out. Then, buff with a microfibre cloth. It's very fast and efficient. I have A LOT of window in the house. I have a telescopic thingy that attaches to my squeegee for the upper story windows. I still have to get on a ladder, but I don't have to be on the big ladder (which I really don't like).

 

I should add that I do windows every Sunday, so it is rare that screens are so dirty that they need soap. I do spritz on the ammonia and water for the kitchen window screens though as kitchens tend to produce that sticky residue.

 

I can't even get my brain around that. You have GOT to have the cleanest windows in the world.

[Denisemomof4]

My windows get a brown film on them. Our landlord says it is from oil heat, and it can also be caused by burning wood inside (which we don't do, except for the pellet stove).

 

well there ya go. We burn wood inside. I was surprised at the film on our addition's windows. They were cleaned at the end of November, right before Thanksgiving. I remember because we were putting pressure on the contractor to get his butt out of there so we could celebrate Thanksgiving in our new room!

 

By spring they all needed to be cleaned inside. They hadn't been touched once. There is a gas fireplace in there but we burn the wood stove on the same floor.

 

ETA: we do have oil heat but it really doesn't go off anywhere in the house but dd11's room. She is on a separate zone.

[Denisemomof4]

I can't even get my brain around that. You have GOT to have the cleanest windows in the world.

 

I also find this shocking.:D

 

I clean ONE window at least weekly in my house. It's the window that all my dogs run to every time they hear a noise. That's the ONE window you can come to see at my house, Audrey.

 

Wait, it's Sunday. She's not going to see this. She's out washing windows!:tongue_smilie:

[Audrey]

I also find this shocking.:D

 

I clean ONE window at least weekly in my house. It's the window that all my dogs run to every time they hear a noise. That's the ONE window you can come to see at my house, Audrey.

 

Wait, it's Sunday. She's not going to see this. She's out washing windows!:tongue_smilie:

 

 

:lol: I did it after breakfast.

 

(Semi) seriously, though... I know weekly seems like a bit much, but in my defense... I live on a farm and the house faces the lane. We have our equipment and semis going by frequently, especially spring to fall. The windows get very dusty/dirty. I really do have a very pretty view from the front of the house, but if I can't see out the windows, it's kind of spoiled. Also, I have OCD, so I'm nuts from the get go. :tongue_smilie:

[Abigail4476]

First, I remove the screens and vacuum them. If they are very dirty, I take them outside and use the pressure washer on them (on the lowest pressure so as not to tear them). Then, I let them dry while I clean the windows. I spritz a 1:10 ammonia and water solution and use a squeegee on windows, inside and out. Then, buff with a microfibre cloth. It's very fast and efficient. I have A LOT of window in the house. I have a telescopic thingy that attaches to my squeegee for the upper story windows. I still have to get on a ladder, but I don't have to be on the big ladder (which I really don't like).

 

I should add that I do windows every Sunday, so it is rare that screens are so dirty that they need soap. I do spritz on the ammonia and water for the kitchen window screens though as kitchens tend to produce that sticky residue.

 

WHOA!!! Every Sunday? You're my new window-washing hero!!!! :lol: My husband acts like I'm killing him to enlist his help once every three months.

 

Our windows are very old and they sometimes get condensation trapped between the layers of glass. It drives me crazy because I can clean and clean and you still can't see through them.