How to clean windows like a pro – yourself
Households across the country are feeling the pinch due to the recession. Many households just don’t have the disposable income that they once had. High house prices and student tuition fees mean that we are all looking for ways to save a bob or two.
With a little bit of know-how you can reduce your window cleaning bill by around a third by cleaning the inside windows yourself. By all means you will need to expend a bit of effort, something that not many of us want to do, but the results can be pleasing, especially when we look at the piggy bank at the end the end of the year.
By following a few simple steps this brief guide will have you cleaning windows as good as the guy you see down the road. You know – the one who seems like he’s been cleaning windows – since the Victorian age.
What equipment do I need to clean windows like a professional?
First of all throw away that manky bottle that you’ve got in the cupboard under the kitchen sink! I know it promises to make your windows sparkle, to remove the grime and take the strain out of cleaning but the truth of the matter is it aint gonna work. If you choose to use it you will wipe and wipe and wipe until your arms ache with pain and what will you get for all your efforts? Tennis elbow! You’ll have a smudgy mess, and wish that you paid the window cleaner in the first place. If you look at your window cleaner, if you can see him through your windows, you may even see him chuckle. So please take my advice, and don’t, whatever you do, use the dodgy chemical that the harp on about on the TV ads.
Can I just say at this point also, please, please, please, please, please, if you are going to use a ladder do so responsibly, and if you are pregnant, get the other half to do the work for you.
Statistical ladders often mean accidents. What’s the defininition of an accident, I’ll leave you to check on google.
Now that that’s out of the way we can get down to the nitty-gritty. How can we clean windows like a professional – the traditional way?
In the olden days before all this high-tech-stuff was around what did the old window cleaners used to use? Like the one in the photo above, No, don’t say “vinegar and newspaper” who wants their house smelling like a fish and chip shop?-P00! Hold your nose . Any takers? I didn’t think so. No, not vinegar, but plain old H2O, it’s not rocket science really , just water and little secret ingredient, well at least it was until now, shhhhh! don’t tell anyone I told you, washing up liquid, “Is that it” I hear you say, “yes, that’s it”, water and a little washing up liquid, “surely there must be something else”, you say, and yes, you’d be right, but this is the recipe that will, hands down, beat all those chemicals that appear on the adverts-where the grime disappears with the waving of a wand -and if you believe that you believe anything! Believe me, try it and you will see, it worked in the past, when traditional window cleaners got up at the crack of dawn and charged a shilling per house, and it still works now.
Now that we’ve intoduced the cleaning agent, next the tools.
Go down to your nearest pound shop, “did I say pound shop” “yes that’s right, you wanted to save money didn’t you.” Go down to you nearest pound shop, if you have one near where you live, if not a hardware store, and buy yourself some micro-fibre cloths, you will need at least two, these cloths achieve results as good as that grey cloth that traditional window cleaners used, which was called a scrim.
How to clean windows like a pro
Now to the part that requires all the effort, the part none of us really like. Here’s what you do, after you’ve put on your marrigolds (yellow, or pink it doesn’t matter) : take one of the special cloths that you got from the pound shop earlier.
Soak the cloth in the water that has the ‘secret solution’ in. After its has soaked wring it out until it is only slighly moist and wipe the window pane in a circular or side to side manner ensuring that you get into the corners. Then take the dry cloth, which is why you need at least two, and repeat the process that you carried out with the moist cloth, drying the pane completely. Repeat this process on all windows that are to be cleaned and smile and enjoy the view outside, and smile at the window cleaner while you’re at it! Why not, after all you’ve begun window cleaning like a pro- traditional style.
Why not drop me a line and tell me how it went.