Best way to wash windows inside and out?
 

We have lived in our mobile home for 3 1/2 years now and I must admit that I have never washed the windows :nono: To be fair, I have been quite busy fixing anything and everything around the farm...but I digress. Does anyone have a tried and true window cleaning routine? I remember seeing a "professional" window cleaner use a soft bristle brush and soapy water and then a squeegie. Windex won't really do the trick.

I learnt to wash windows from a man who supported his family as a window washer. He used a bucket of very hot water with a good healthy squeeze of dishwashing liquid. He had old bath towels that he had torn in quarters. Wash window with soapy water, do not rinse, dry with towels. If you dry in one direction on one side and a different direction on the other you can tell which side has a streak. But you won't have many, if any, streaks with this method. Now if your windows are very dirty outside, I'd recommend hosing them down first and to do this on a cloudy day so they don't dry off too fast. This is how I washed the plate glass windows of my business on a busy mainstreet.

Oh I can answer this one! My husband worked for a window cleaning service for a few years. They use in their wash water Dawn dishwashing detergent! The original kind I think its blue. They wash the windows with a blue cloth (surgical towels) cause they are not suppossed to leave much lint. And then they squegie dry. If you have hard water stains or build up on the glass then scrub with 000 steel wool its the really fine kind and won't scratch your window unless its plexiglass.

If you've got factory mobile home windows it will be another 3 years before you do it again! It's a real pain if they are single hung windows, only the lower moves up and down, if you have inner and outer windows(storm windows).

My grandmother was very frugal and used to save coffee filters for cleaning glass and mirrors and for polishing silver. She and all her neighbors would save their coffee filters. Grandma kept them hanging in a mesh lingerie bag on her back porch. About three times a year, I would take Grandma to the local washateria where we would wash that bag of filters in soap and bleach...we would put white vinegar in the rinse water and dried them in the dryer (no dryer sheet as this will contribute to streaking). We then would sit that evening and iron them flat and place the stacks in air-tight containers.

Grandma and her lady friends even used them for hankies, made homemade babywipes out of them, and used them for crafting with the grandkids.

white vinegar and a cotton cloth

You described the windows that I have :( Looks like I have my work cut out for me......

:rotfl:

Use crumpled up news paper. It is best to have one person outside and one person inside. We used to charge $2.50 a window. A couple tablespoons of vinegar in a galon of water. Use a cloth rag dipped in the solution to wash the window and the crumpled nespaper to finish.

I used to live a block away from the ocean and those windows got gunky fast. The only thing that would get the salt gunk off was easy off oven cleaner and a thick rag. This trick was taught to me by the rental unit cleaning companies that had to come in and clean the windows twice a week.

I have those outside regular, inside storm windows and haven't washed anything but the inside regular lower level windows, and they do now make a nice sun filter.

But, with these indoor screwed on the wall-framed storm windows, do you have to unscrew them and take them off, clean them, and the other window - then put them back up? I think that's probably it, and it's a main reason they are sun filters now.

Thanks for the info.
Angie

windows
 

I have those same windows. I hate them. You have to take them off the sill, of the trailor INSIDE. Wash the inside and out. Then go out side and get the outter one. Only get mine once ever 2-years or so. Some NUT must have thought up that . Wished I could find him and let him wash them. :rolleyes:

spray or wipe on vinegar, rub dry with newspaper. On your nasty window set up you're on your own.

I washed all the light fixtures and even all the crystals on two little chandeliers here in the months after we moved in- think while they didn't smoke inside they exuded enough tobacco smoke from their persons that all the glass higher up in the rooms had a fine golden patina. What a labour. I hope they had never washed them in all 5 years of their living here because I am not going to be doing that on an annual basis that's for sure.

I have double glazing. I sure hope when I finally go to wash them that there's nothing inbetween the glass panes that doesn't come off. Last house (England) we luckily had a man come monthly if we wanted (I only wanted every other) and cleaned all outside windows for 5 quid (about $9). Did all his houses (he had competition) in the whole neighborhood in a day or two each month- and doubt he reported his income. Sadly the idiots who'd built the Army quarter we held had put the one window with condensation (or a leak to allow it later) between the panes right over the kitchen window, the one we looked through most.

I washed the inside of those windows twice in four years. The mirrors there and here- every 6 months.

3.5 years?
 

Thats just plain gross.. I just tilt my windows in and use a car wash mit damp with soap, mainly suds. Take a wide razor blade to yours first to scrape off any 3.5 year old gunk. Then the soapy water mit and then finish with a squeege and a dry towel.

I used to invite my mom over for lunch and mention my dirty windows and she'd take care of them. She eventually caught, luckily for me I found my DW.

The absolute BEST way to wash windows inside and out?

Hire somebody! Anybody!

On the outside I use car washing liquid soap and a soft boat cleaning brush with a long handle. I wash the frames of the windows at the same time to get rid of dirt that may drip back on the clean glass. The car washing liquid soap doesn't leave spots or streaks. Dawn always seemed to leave both. Squeegee the water off and use coffee filters as a final touch up.

Inside we use a spray cleaner called Clinch. It works better than any other spray cleaners such as Windex.

BTW: A car dealers detail man told me to use Bon-Ami cleanser to get the road scum and diesel fuel off the cars windshield. Bon-Ami doesn't scratch the glass.

Just my 2 cents........... NJ Rich

I like to use 1/4 cup of cornstarch to 1 gal warm water, keeping stired. A spounge,sqwege, and a towel..very fast and works great,wally

LOL this makes laugh so hard, we at one time lived in a new modular home (aka trailer). 3 years later it still had the stickers on the windows LOL
Only time I ever wiped them was to get rid of sticky fingerprints down low. Glad I am not the only one who isn't into cleaning windows :)

:eek: You mean you're supposed to take the stickers off???

Limey

Could you clarify, were these used filters? Also was anything added to the babywipes? Thanks!

I like doing windows :) I use a bucket of warm water with about 3 glugs of vinegar. A thick cloth for washing then squeegy then wipe edges and corners with a dry cloth. (same cloth to wipe squeegie) I do the same inside as outside. I have a pole that connects to the skweegie (I can not spell that for the life of me) and thick cloth for outside higher up windows. :)

Outside I use dishsoap & water & a sponge mop to wash, then hose off with the hose & let dry. I do it on a cloudy day & they seem to come out pretty good. I don't dry or squeegie off the outside. Inside I use vinegar & water, wash & dry them.
I don't use vinegar outside because I have too many flowers all around the house.
For those that have those single hung windows that have to come off to clean, that WINDEX OUTDOORS works pretty good in a pinch. Still come out better if there really bad if you wash them with the sponge mop or rag's though.

vinegar and newspaper. the newspaper won't leave lint or smears.

when I've been out of vinegar I've also used babywipes with no fragrance in them. they work fantastically but vinegar much cheaper.

you also can use LINEN cloth instead of newspaper. old linen napkins or tablecloths are cheap at auctions if holey. they must be PURE linen with no cotton or polyester mixed in. leaves no lint.

My neighbor showed me a great way to clean windows, she uses the microfiber cloths (dollar store), with soap and water and then dries them with a lint free towel - you know, those thin dish towels that look like flour sacks.
I didn't believe it until I saw it, all reusable items.

Old friend of mine owned the company that cleaned outside windows in downtown Chicago...including the Sears Building. VERY dirt city, Chicago.....

All his firm used was white vinegar in water. Spray it on the window, then a strong single squeegee swipe and you're done.

He'd clean the big mirrors in the riding hall every few months using that technique and they always sparkled, with no streaks.

He said the problem with using a detergent without rinsing is that the soap scum you leave will actually collect dirt that would normally just blow off of the glass....so you end up having to clean more often.

A bucket of warm water (1 gallon) 1/2 cup of ammonia -- and if its below freezing add 1/2 cup of denatured alcohol. apply librerally to window with a sponge or soft bristle brush (the dirtier they are the more wather you use), squeegee it off. if they are square windows go from top to bottom in a straight line wiping the squeegee with a clean rag after each stroke. Use enough of the water mix to clean the windows - the squeegee is to dry the windows

More experienced squeegee users can work in a swirling pattern across the windows and get the whole thing in 1 swipe, but I wouldn't recommend that for rookies.

I use hot water, about 3 glugs of apple cider vinegar, a drop of the blue Dawn dish detergent and a squeegie. The birds fly into the windows after I'm done!
LOL - we still have the little round red stickers on our 2 windows upstairs. Why don't the installers take them off when they put the windows in? There's no way I'm climbing a ladder 20 feet to take them off!

Today at work I washed exterior windows that haven't been touched for about 6 months and looked bad. But it got up to 57 degrees and needed to be done.

Took about a pint of white vinegar and put it in with 2 gallons of very hot tap water. Sponged the solution on and wiped off with a squeegee. Cleaned windows first time without any need to redo. Used a microfiber cloth to wipe up any excess. Worked very well and recommend to all.

Thanks.

I find Stoners Invisible Glass darn hard to beat. That and some newspapers for a final wipe, works darn well.

Never tried this, but some folks that live on waterfront have told me they use Cascade dishwasher detergent in a pressure washer to clean the outside of their windows. Their windows do look beautiful.

For outside windows, I use Cascade dishwashing soap with sheeting action (also called shine shield, I believe), in bucket of warm water. I use a sponge mop dedicated to that project. First hose down the window, then scrub with sponge mop using Cascade mixture. Rinse off with hose and the sheeting action in the Cascade prevents streaking. No wiping necessary.

I agree with the newspaper method. Circular motion, with ammonia and or vinegar. My grandmother taught me to do this when I did chores as a kid, and it's how I still clean glass. Change the newspaper when it starts to crumble but turn it often till it does.

Solution for cleaning mh windows
 

I had the same issues with trying to clean mobile home windows and I pretty much solved this seemingly impossible task. I got a flat long, narrow microfiber dusting wand and extension pole which fits perfectly between panes. Got both at Home Depot. Just spray with window cleaner and put in between windows to clean them.

If it's really grungy -- towels, dish soap and hot water, and then vinegar. If it's not, towels and vinegar.

Great info, but you all now this is a post from 2009 right??

I think it was here that I got the recipe,1 part water,1 part alcohol,1 part vinegar. Wad up newspapers to clean after you spray on the solution.

tricky's recipe works great, i also rub back and forth on the inside, then up and down on the outside and you can see where the streaks are...

Warm water in a small bucket, 1/2 cup ammonia to 1 gal of water. Window brush and squeegee (all available from any hardware store).Handle for both brush and squeegee if your have windows taller than you can reach.
Dip brush in water/ammonia mixture and liberally wash window. Take squeegee and in smooth even movements wipe window clean.
Its an art so it'll take some time to master but even a novice can get windows clean this way without having to buy expensive store bought window cleaner and paper towels.

:eek: how many times will I fall for that?