Cleaning Windows

When we lived at Donner Lake we had lots of big windows facing the lake for views of the water, some of which were four stories off the ground. No way was I going to clean those babies, so we hired professionals, which costs a lot! I watched them carefully to learn how to do it quick and efficiently. That way I could do the important ones and the easy ones, so we needed to pay the pros less often.

Almost the whole backside of our current house is windows, which means a lot of cleaning for me. They have to be done early in the morning, before the sun hits them. I like to do it in the fall, because the trees in the backyard are starting to turn and the view is so nice. Now I can do all of them in half an hour, inside and out. Here’s the technique:

First you need a high quality squeegee. If you don’t own one, get in the car and go to Home Depot. Pay the $12 for the best one. We use the same one in the shower too.

When you’re cleaning inside, put a big old towel down on the floor or windowsill to catch the drips.

Get a bowl with warm water and a few little drops of liquid dish soap in it. Use a small rag to wipe down the whole window, leave it fairly damp.

Use the squeegee to wipe long strokes from top to bottom. Wipe the squeegee dry with a clean paper towel between each stroke. This is critical, don’t get your dirty water dripping on your clean window parts.

Use the clean paper towel to wipe around all the edges and maybe any drips that you missed. It takes less than three minutes per side.

While you’re at it, why don’t you get out the vacuum and get rid of all those dead bugs in the tracks?

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PS. It helps make the job more enjoyable if you can hum the Van Morrison song, “Cleaning Windows.”