9 most common mistakes when washing windows: the opinion of professional cleaners

Window lighting during cleaning is of utmost importance, because without light it is impossible to know whether all the dirt has been removed. But as Caroline Forte, director of the Housekeeping Institute’s Cleaning Lab, explains, choosing a sunny day to wash is a big mistake. “The combination of the rays and the glass they heat will cause the product to dry faster than you can wipe it off, leaving behind hard-to-remove marks,” says Caroline.

Cleaning windows without first using a vacuum cleaner or brush is the second common mistake. “Before starting wet work, remove dust and dirt, otherwise, after mixing it with water and detergent, it will turn into a cloudy mess that will be difficult to wash off. A poor window cleaning sequence means you spend more time and effort and still get poor results,” says Forte.

“Don’t skip spraying even if your windows don’t look very dirty. Don’t think that if there is no grease on the glass, we can make do with water,” advises Caroline. For those who prefer homemade products, she suggests mixing two cups of water, half a cup of 9% white vinegar and a quarter cup of 70% alcohol in a spray bottle and using the solution obtained.

Read also: Not just vinegar: what to replace the different detergents with

By the way, about water! There are the obvious mistakes, like using a dirty cloth or skipping corners and edges, and then there are the ones that almost no one thinks about. For example, it is very rarely mentioned in spray recipes that distilled water is better suited for their preparation – the fact is that tap water can be harsh, and therefore a homemade product will leave streaks.

“Inappropriate use of detergents leaves marks on the windows after all your efforts. If you wipe the glass and see streaks, you probably used too much spray or soap in the water, says professional cleaner Stephen Yip.

The use of abrasive materials may cause scratches on the glass; Using old, worn cloths can cause streaks and stains from dirt and detergents retained in the fabric fibers. You should not wipe the glass with newspaper (this will leave traces of paint or the newspaper itself – modern paper is not like the old one that our mothers and grandmothers used) or paper napkins cheap (they will become a source of lint).

“Your best friends are a rubber squeegee and quality microfiber cloths. They are enough to thoroughly clean and dry windows,” explains Sarah San Angelo, a cleaner and blogger for 20 years.

If you needed a reason not to spend your entire weekend cleaning windows, this is it: According to Forte, trying to handle a colossal amount of work at once only leads to it being overdone. with negligence. The expert advises to “eat the elephant one piece at a time” and clean each window separately. And the owner of the cleaning company, Arman Khalili, reminds that you should not be too zealous even in this case: applying too much pressure can damage the window and you will have to spend money to repair it.

It is enough to wash the glass so that the windows look clean and the house is filled with light – it is not surprising that many people forget to carefully treat the frames, which have so many grooves and crevices, and window sills. However, all the experts remind us that the tidying of these areas is very important: it is not only a question of aesthetics, but also of the functioning of the window mechanisms.

Using a cloth that’s too wet or not wiping off enough water are laughable mistakes compared to the one major mistake you can make. Remember, if you don’t live on the first floor, never wash windows from the outside without special equipment. Buy a window cleaning robot, call the pros, or just ignore the exterior: anything is better than seriously injuring yourself trying to achieve the perfect result.

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