How Do Professional Window Cleaners Make it Look So Easy?

 Why Can't I Get My Windows to Look That Good??

Are you running out of tips and 'cutting-edge' products to get your windows looking awesome? Maybe you are one like many who has asked me for the 'secret'; one who cleaned a window and felt it looked good only to be dismayed when the morning sun showed all the smears. There are so many favorite cleaning solutions and handheld rags that people have endorsed over decades, I'm sure over centuries, that have been used to clean windows. Their proponents swear by them, while others say they just don't work. The golden items may include vinegar, dish soap, Windex, Jet Dry, corn starch, ammonia, rubbing alcohol, sponge, newspaper, chamois, scrim cloth, used t-shirt, and so on. I'm not going to discuss or critique each and every item here, but I will try to shift the focus to principles that could make just about anything work to a greater or lesser degree. 

The Ongoing Battle to Figure Out the Secret of Beautiful Windows

You may have noticed that there are more than a few advertisements and infomercials that will assure you that all your nagging problems in life are 'not your fault'. Will I say here that disappointing results with your windows are not your fault? No and yes! I think the word fault in the context of not-perfect looking windows is a bit harsh and unnecessary. It really comes down to the amount of patience and tenacity you are willing to expend, as well as a few sensible principles to apply. As with just about every solution to a problem, the big 'answer' isn't going to pop up on your TV or computer screen out of nowhere. This also applies to the secret of making your windows look fantastic, no matter what time of day it is! Two factors that often contribute to this battle are that many different things can accumulate on glass; anything from grease to soap scum, and that the surface of glass can get quite hot or cold. Add to this that humidity can also affect your efforts in getting your windows to look spectacular. 

How Do They Make My Windows Look So Good, and Can I Do It?

As I earlier alluded to, it mostly comes down to patience, practice, and a sensible game plan. Here are a handful of things to remember and how to deal with it.

Many substances can be on glass- Grease can settle on windows. This would usually be on the inside, due to cooking, high humidity, finger and handprints, among other things. Grease from barbeque grills that are near outside glass can pose a real challenge to cleaning windows as well. Smoke from different sources inside the home can leave residue as well. Getting these forms of grime off glass is possible, but it requires some patience. Water alone applied with a paper towel, shop rag, or even microfiber rag will likely not help too much - even with elbow grease! It will probably just smear the glass, essentially redistributing the residue to more concentrated areas of the glass. You can more effectively approach this problem a few different ways.

Use a rag with a generous amount of water and a degreaser such as your favorite dishwashing liquid (doesn't have to be dripping wet) and give the frames and all the glass a real good wiping. This first step does not need to be with precision. You are working on getting the grease, smoke, dust or whatever loosened so you can eventually buff it off. You can go ahead and use another wiping rag or towel to dry the glass. This should ensure that the vast majority of grime is off the glass. You can finish the process by spraying the glass with a glass cleaner or make your own mix. The mix could be a small amount of rubbing alcohol added to water. Optionally, an even smaller amount of dishwashing liquid can be added as well. Not much, though. At this stage you shouldn't need to flood the window again, but just a few spritzes. Take a lint-free towel or rag and lightly work the spray around the glass and also lightly buff it off. Don't forget to get into all the corners. Also, giving the frame around the glass a good wipe will enhance the overall results. 

Another approach is to use an applicator such as a window scrubber or sponge that holds a solution of water and dishwashing liquid, following up with a window squeegee. You could even use a microfiber rag soaked in solution if you don't have a scrubber or large, thick sponge. With all these options, you need to work the solution in thoroughly. Be patient as one quick pass or rotary motion might not be enough effort. You might even be able to 'feel' the resistance that grease and other residues creates go away as you 'unstick' it from the glass and get it into a suspended state. When ready, go ahead and squeegee the solution off the window. Have another rag ready to wipe up the dirty water that will be on the bottom frame and window sill. You can squeegee from right to left or left to right and you can squeegee from top to bottom. It doesn't matter. Detailing after this does matter. You will likely have left a bit of solution around the edges and perhaps some lines from the edge of the squeegee as you made your passes. If you wipe it quickly and with some finesse you should attain very good results. If you think you must have left some streaks, but can't see them, breathe on the glass. The condensation that temporarily forms should reveal lines or smears that you can't see without strong sunlight on it. 

Heat, cold, and humidity can add to the challenge- professional window cleaners often encounter less than ideal conditions while on the job. Direct sunlight or very low humidity can dry up liquid on the outside of glass very quickly, making it an enormous challenge to clean it properly and make it look better and not worse. Direct sunlight can also heat up the glass inside the house, so much that liquid will quickly dry here as well. Doing the removal part, whether hand wiping or using a squeegee, must be done quickly and accurately to have even a chance of good result. Some good sense would dictate either cooling off the glass first with cold or room tepid water to lower the surface temperature, or just waiting until sunlight is not a factor any longer. When the glass is cold or there is high relative humidity, liquid will not dry as quickly, and when you are using a rag to either fully wipe the glass or detail after using a squeegee you may get frustrated with the water just not going away. When conditions are drier, smears or dirty water streaks may become evident. Patience and a dry wiping device will be your friends here. 

Some things on glass are a bit tougher to get off- soap scum, adhesive from tape or stickers and other things can be even more challenging to get off glass. Soapy water, hot water, even a few other additives may just not cut it. Window cleaners may use a nylon or walnut scrubbing pad, #0000 steel wool, or a scraper with a steel or carbon blade to take care of these more difficult tasks of making windows looks spectacular. Without going deep into an explanation, the handheld pads are quite safe and harmless to try on glass, provided they don't have dirt stuck in them and the glass does not have applied tint on it. Using steel wool or a scraper properly can be very effective but calls for more caution and knowledge. 

 Besides these 'secrets' which really are common sense and best practices, there really isn't much more to say. Patience and practice may be the bigger thing if you want to make your windows look amazing. One special thing that many professional window cleaning companies, mine included, utilize is pure water technology on outside glass. For regular dirt, pollen, and light grime, a technician can perfectly clean low windows, high windows, hard-to-reach windows, you name it, from the safety of the ground. With proper training and technique, windows can be cleaned perfectly in high heat, direct sunlight, cold, and low or high humidity. 

The Takeaway?

If you really want to get your windows looking as good as they can be, give the suggestions in this post a try. Be patient as well. What I outlined is not only way, but I've found it to be an effective and easily-implemented way. Use common sense when it comes to prevailing weather conditions, time of day, and so on. Some glass has imperfections or wear from age that you can't fix with a cleaning. You will have to live with such things unless you go for replacement. 

The other very easy solution is to find a professional window cleaner in your area to take care of this for you. Residential window cleaning is a luxury service, but a very affordable one. It is purchased many millions of times each year in the United States and many other places around the world. The pros have 'done the time' and are focused on the know-how end of this noble task. 

If you have any questions or want to discuss this subject you can email me at dan@danwagnerwindowcleaning.com

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Reconciling Window Cleaning With Rain in the Forecast

There's A Chance of Rain in the Forecast!

Rain, or snow, is the legendary and perceived enemy of a window cleaning schedule! From what I've read in various industry groups on Facebook and forums, the alarms go off in the heads of customers at varying levels of probability for precipitation. Some in southern California say that clients will postpone their window cleaning appointments if there is a 5% chance of precipitation. I can't personally confirm or deny that. I don't know that official forecasts go lower than 20% even in arid regions of the US, but the point seems to be that in areas where homeowners are accustomed to clear days as a rule, even the slightest mention of rain may be a dealbreaker. 

I've also gathered from window cleaning and pressure washing companies in the Pacific Northwest that if they allowed the precipitation forecast to strictly guide their schedule, they wouldn't have a business. On average, in Seattle, Washington it rains somewhere around 150 days per year, but it seems to be more frequent than heavy. It clearly depends on local tolerance for precipitation. Here in northeastern Pennsylvania, a chance of precipitation is pretty common, but not necessarily a daily concern. I checked with my local National Weather Service office and they said the lowest probability of precipitation they will mention on their website's forecast is 20%. They mentioned that on social media posts they may say as low as 10%. Either way, rain is a potential factor. 

 So, Does Rain Make Windows Dirty?

In my years of interacting with residential customers and even passersby when cleaning storefront windows, countless people will say something such as "it's going to rain later this week and ruin all your work", "it's going to rain tomorrow. At least I'll get one day of clean windows!", or "you know it'll rain tomorrow since you're cleaning the windows!" Thus, the question of whether rain truly makes clean windows dirty and how to address it looms large in the minds of many window cleaners. Such an assertion has become about as common as 'if I go skiing or snowboarding, I'll break my leg'. Here is something to think about. Rain itself is pretty clean and pure in its falling state. That does not mean there are no minerals or any other solid matter in it. Technically, pure water (comprising nothing but H₂O) does not exist in nature. It can only be manufactured by distilling or other methods. But it does mean that there are no chemicals or contaminants in typical rainwater- chlorine and so on. There still must be a reason why the fear that rain that falls within days after a window gets cleaned is going to ruin the whole proposition. No question, in certain cases, windows can look pretty awful after being cleaned and then subject to a rainstorm. How do we reconcile the belief with the reality?

What Makes Windows Dirty After It Rains?

As roughly explained above, by and large, rainwater itself is extremely clean and does not mess up clean windows without other factors entering in. A popular saying with professional window cleaners is "Rain doesn't make windows dirty. Dirt makes windows dirty."  If stated the wrong way, this may come across as patronizing. However, it pretty much is the deal. Granted, in some areas such as heavily industrialized locales, there may be a high level of contaminants in the atmosphere which raindrops will pick up and deposit on glass. This would be a potential issue. Other added factors that can make windows look dirtier after a good rain are as follows:

filthy frames or siding above the glass - this is a solid reason to also have a good program to maintain the cleanliness of the building itself. When cleaning companies offer power washing and window cleaning, the power washing always is done first. Any legitimate window cleaning company, in my opinion, will clean the frames and openings that are part of the window at the very least. In this way, it will eliminate or greatly minimize the potential for dirty water from above to mess up clean glass.

very windy conditions after a cleaning - in fairness, if there is a significant chance of high winds kicking dirt around following a window cleaning, rescheduling might be the best option. A growing number of companies -mine included- use purified water to clean outside windows. The pure water is applied through some type of jets that use gentle pressure along with a brush or pad to scrub the glass thoroughly. Then, the loose dirt and debris is rinsed off the glass with the same pure water, leaving no dirt on the glass. The fact is that the pure water will take a little time to disappear from the glass, by gravity and evaporation. If wind and dust are present, there may be an issue with the remaining water droplets picking up the blowing dust or dirt. This will be a judgment call that an honest company will have to make as to whether it's best to reschedule or use the more traditional method of drying the glass right away with a squeegee and detail rag. 

 dirty window screens - many windows such as double-hungs, single-hungs, and storm panels may be accompanied by screens that are outside of the glass, not inside the house. Screens, by design, keep insects out and collect some of the airborne particulates. When it rains, though, screens that have not been properly cleaned as part of the window cleaning service, will give up some of the junk on them and the junk will be deposited on the glass behind them. So, either leaving your screens out or making sure they are thoroughly cleaned, is the key to keeping the glass clean as long as possible. 

splashing water near ground level window panes - sometimes the lower areas of ground level windows are in close proximity to a considerable amount of loose dirt. Perhaps landscaping is not completed or simply not present near some glass, and so persistent water falling onto dirt nearby can splash mud, in essence, onto the glass.                             

clogged gutters or downspouts causing water spills - it often does not take much of an obstruction somewhere in a run of gutter or at the downspout to cause water to back up. If the rate of backup exceeds the rate of proper flow through the gutter system, enough rainfall will cause water to spill over and out of the gutter at any point before the obstruction. The spilling water will either work its way down the siding of simply free fall somewhere beyond the siding. Strong wind or further physical objects below the gutters may divert some dirty water onto glass. Really, then, just as important as regular maintenance of the siding, is the regular monitoring of how the gutters are working. 

We Don't Live in a Perfect World

Ultimately, clean windows will eventually get dirty. Even the highly-touted 'self-cleaning' windows don't promise to never need attention again. Go figure! Many window cleaning companies, including mine, for this reason offer some type of 'rain guarantee'. This guarantee promises that if rainfall after cleaning makes some of your windows dirty up to xx days after service, we will return and reclean such windows at no charge. This should help put a homeowner's fears at ease and also keep the cleaning company's schedule as intact as reasonably possible. When you think about it, if the chance of rain is the sole factor in deciding when ones windows should be cleaned, there are few regions in the world where it would be considered feasible to even bother. I myself have offered a 5-day rain guarantee for probably 20 years and have only been called to return once or twice that I can recall. That's fair and expected, since we don't live in a perfect world! 

What Reasons Are There Not to Cancel an Appointment if There is a Slight Chance of Rain?

As previously reasoned out, a window cleaning company that is completely at the mercy of possible rain in the forecast within lets say the next week, would be in pretty rough shape in most parts of the world. The hard truth is that unless you live in an extremely arid region, it will rain and probably rain will touch your windows within a week or two. I have found that most homeowners will eventually accept this if they don't already. It has also been established that under typical circumstances, rainwater itself does not leave clean windows dirty. If the mitigating circumstances listed above are not present, there should be no issue with cleaning windows before rain is coming or even during a very light rain or drizzle. Another reason, tough as it may be to consider, is that it is not always easy to reschedule an appointment the next day or exactly when a homeowner requests. This all depends on some factors such as how much wiggle room the contractor has, where the company will be in the next few days. Where there is a hard deadline, such as a graduation party, wedding reception, big family gathering, or something else, it may become a very difficult dilemma to solve. 

If you'd like to discuss this or have any questions, feel free to comment below or email me at dan@danwagnerwindowcleaning.com

Dan Wagner Window Cleaning has been serving home and business owners since 1986. Areas covered include Honesdale, Hawley, Narrowsburg, Beach Lake, Damascus, Pleasant Mount, Equinunk, Forest City, Carbondale, Scranton, Dunmore, Lake Ariel, Mount Pocono, Tannersville, Stroudsburg, and others. 

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Residential and Commercial Window Cleaning in Northeastern Pennsylvania since 1986

5706300326

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