Ever thought of how to clean windows and how to start going about it?
MEIDE.SG answers your doubts and more in this article, by listing down 10 essential window cleaning equipment, followed by a concise description on how to use them to clean your windows. In fact, you can use these tips to clean your glass panels in the toilet or rooms too! (Note: it may interest you to know the 10 Essential Cleaning Tools for ALL Home Cleaning too here!)
For your convenience, we list the items in logical order of what to prepare and use first. If this is your first time cleaning the window, print out this article for easier reference during your shopping, preparation, and cleaning!
Why You Need To Learn Window Cleaning
People often say your eyes are the windows to your soul. Therefore, can we consider our home’s window panes the windows to our home’s soul?
Our window panes surely provide the lens to outsiders to view our home. In addition, they provide us with a looking glass to look outside of our comfortable home. This allows us to observe our beautiful environment. Knowing how to clean windows is very important!
However, it is also very troublesome and tiring. This is because there are quite a few window cleaning tools available and have to be prepared. Do you know the steps to window cleaning, and what to prepare first?
What Equipment Do I Need To Clean Windows?
What exactly are the essential window cleaning tools? How should they be used? We explain all about the 10 tools you need for window cleaning, how to use them, and in what order, right here:
1. Stools Or A Sturdy Ladder
Many people forget this. Before you even start your window cleaning, assess the height and extent of area to be cleaned!
If you are not tall enough to reach the highest part of your windows, you will need a stool and a ladder to increase your height to clean. Your windows may be a distance away from the floor. This may be hard for your window cleaning. Therefore, knowing how to clean windows properly is very important.
Indeed, cleaning the windows, and particularly the exteriors in high rise properties, may result in injury or even death. Case have been reported in Singapore’s media. Hence, cleaning companies would certainly have guidelines to follow regarding window cleaning. For example, learn about what meide.sg covers for window cleaning here. Thankfully, with innovation, our creative cleaning services can do exterior window cleaning for you, simply with a squeegee on a long rod, or a U shaped brush, to reach the highest and external window panes!
2. Gloves
Secondly, this is the widely known protective gear used by all pro cleaners! Research has shown that using too much dishwasher liquids, and cleaning solutions, will dry out your hands. The chemicals will make them wrinkly and aged. Ask your grandmother or grandaunt, and we are pretty sure they will nod fervently whilst displaying their personal “battle scars”.
Therefore, remember to use gloves when performing window cleaning! Heavy duty rubber gloves are very suitable for cleaning too. In fact, it helps to avoid smearing your fingerprints on the clean window panes throughout the cleaning process.
3. Vacuum Cleaner
Again, this step is often missed. Remove dust and debris from windows, railings and grills before you commence the wet cleaning process.
Throughout the years, your window sills, frames, grills, rails, and panes may have collected much dust and dirt from neglect (or simple forgetfulness). Knowing how to clean windows properly removes all that! Use a vacuum cleaner with crevice tools to easily sneak into nooks and crannies of your beloved windows. In hard-to-reach areas, they can be a godsend. Using the crevice tools, you can suck up the hair, pebbles, and crumbs that lie in the rails of sliding windows. These tools makes spring cleaning really easy for everyone in your family!
4. Duster
Additionally, dust can be removed from window grills, gutter areas and corners with a duster. Indeed, this is The one of the most ubiquitous cleaning instrument in any Singaporean family.
The duster can be a feather duster, a brush, or a handheld sweeper. Firstly, for window cleaning, the window sills, frames, grills, rails, and panes should always be brushed or dusted beforehand. Cobwebs, insect nests, and leaves can be removed easily this way. In fact, using a duster is best when you want to get your kids on their feet to contribute to the family’s spring cleaning. Therefore, getting everyone in your family to know how to clean windows properly improves family cohesion.
5. Microfiber cloth
Another extremely effective tool to wipe away dirt and dust is the microfibre cloth. Microfibres are synthetic fibres that can absorb many times their weight in water. This makes it an excellent tool to help with window cleaning. You can even use it to wipe down your window screens, so it functions as a multi purpose cleaning tool.
Now you are ready for the wet part of window washing
Firstly, wash the window screens with water. You can spray or splatter over it. Then, , spray the window panes with cleaning solution. Use the microfiber cloth, or glass wiper to wipe the window pane. Finally, rinse it with clean water again. Let it air dry before putting the screens on the windows again. Here is a bonus tip. To soak up excess water when using a squeegee on your window panes, put microfibre cloths on the window sill!
A Traditional Option
If you have seen your old grandmother cleaning the windows, this may sound familiar. For the environmentally friendly housewives, you can use recycled old (but clean) newspapers as an alternative. Lay them to absorb drips. Crunch them up to use as a ball or stick, and wipe your windows with them. Magically, your windows would be cleaned too! Hence,you can use newspapers if you do not have microfibre cloth or find them too expensive or troublesome to purchase.
6. Glass Cleaning Liquid With Spray
There are two options – either the all natural way by making the window cleaning liquid yourself, or buying one commercially (eg. from NTUC).
Natural Option of Glass Cleaning Liquid
Have you noticed that when you clean your windows with water, it seems to leave streaks across the glass? Well, that is because you have been doing it wrongly all this while!
Here is what you should do. Make a fully-natural window cleaning solution by mixing 50% white distilled vinegar and 50% distilled water! (Yes, avoid using tap water as mineral deposits in it can cause unwanted lines or stains.) Then, store it in a spray bottle to be used when you clean. You may wish to add tablespoons of household ammonia to the mix for removing exceptionally bad stains.
Bonus Tip: Check the weather forecast! Clean your windows only when there is no direct sun on the windows. Otherwise, there will be streaks left on your windows. This is because the hot window panes will dry the surface very quickly, leaving streaks behind. It is recommended that you do window cleaning on cloudy and overcast days so it would not be too hot. Furthermore, in case you are required to go outdoors for the window cleaning (eg. for landed property), a weather forecast for a thunderstorm may mean you should postpone the cleaning sessions. Now, that is certainly a golden cleaning tip for the detailed housewife or househusband!
Commercial Options of Glass Cleaning Liquid
Find it troublesome to mix and blend cleaning solutions yourself? In this case, if you are looking for a professional cleaning solution, Mr Muscle, Leifheit, and CIF offer suitable solutions too! If you wish to clean your curtains at the same time, why not add Febreeze to your shopping cart as you go to the checkout. Popular brands may cost a bit more, but these specific ones have been tried and tested. So take our word for it.
Most of these liquids come in spray containers. Otherwise, do use one for ease of cleaning. Read on to find out why. (see “Squeegee and Scrubber” below).
By the way, in case you get confused at the shopping shelves, consider checking out our article to differentiate different cleaning detergents too!
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meide.sg is here for you, always.
7. Sponges
Ah, the most common choice of scrubbing equipment for most households in Singapore. You see sponges on the ocean floor, but also in most Singaporean sinks. We use them to scrub our dishes and remove gunk. You can even use them in window cleaning! Use sponges to soak up excess water on the windows. For tougher and harder sponges, use them to scrub off nasty stains. Use a fully natural cleaning solution with household ammonia for a tougher attack against hard-to-remove stains! By now, you would realize that learning how to clean windows is really easy with sponges.
8. Squeegee and Scrubber
You may have seen many professional window cleaners dangling on the outside of tall buildings, cleaning gigantic full-length windows. Be glad to know that you can, and may already have their tools in your home too! Window cleaners definitely could not live without these two tools. “How to clean windows” is a question that can be easily answered with these two tools:
Scrubber / Sponge
First of all, before you start wiping away, ensure that the glass or window pane is wet by sprinkling or smearing it with your glass cleaning solution. You can do so by using a sprinkler or spray head to your solution. Or, use a simple sponge to soak up soapy water and wipe the pane. For medium to larger sized areas, use a larger sponge or scrubber.
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A scrubber is essentially a highly absorbable and durable cloth-like material attached to a handle for easy scrubbing of windows. Think of it as a hybrid between sponge and cloth. Fortunately, many squeegees now come with a scrubber combined on the behind of it for convenient cleaning.
Squeegee / Glass Wiper
What is the best example of doing more work with less? Using a squeegee to clean your windows! A squeegee is a flat wide-head cleaner with an attached rubber blade. It is an incredible innovation you can use to save time and clean windows or glass panes effectively. It is sometimes also referred to as a glass wiper. This article here describes in detail with pictures on how to use and maintain it!
As a summary, wipe your windows first from top to bottom, followed by horizontally. When wiping it horizontally, do angle it slightly downwards for the excess water to flow neatly. For each horizontal layer, overlap by about two inches! Lastly, avoid using a circular motion. Contrary to what you see sometimes, cleaning windows in a round fashion attracts dust due to static electricity.
Additionally, do ensure there are extensions attached to your squeegee to reach tall areas. Remember to wipe out the dirt and water trapped in the squeegee to avoid smearing your windows. Do ensure there are extensions attached to your squeegee to reach tall areas. Remember to wipe out the dirt and water trapped in the squeegee to avoid smearing your windows.
9. Toothpaste
Did you know that you can use toothpaste to clean windows? Yes you can! Apply a small amount of non-gel toothpaste to a damp rag or cloth. Keep rubbing with circular motions over the scratches for at least 30 seconds, then clean away the excess toothpaste. Amazingly, the scratches would have been polished away!
This is a quick and easy hack to remove stubborn water spots and stains during your window cleaning. Whilst meide.sg certainly does not recommend you smear the entire window with toothpaste, this is a definite useful adjunct to window cleaning!
10. U—Shaped Brushes
Using brushes can grant you a higher degree of control over your window cleaning. You can even clean your window exterior! Using a U-shaped brush, you can wipe and clean the previously unreachable areas of your windows outside! You do not have to physically be outside of your home to clean. In Singapore, there has been cases of foreign domestic workers falling to their deaths after attempting to clean window exteriors. A u-shaped brush from Wish can be found here. Or simply buy from Shopee here! Now you know how to clean your windows safer too.
Conclusion
We summarize for you again. To clean your windows, ensure you prepare and know how to use these tools:
- Stool or Ladder
- Gloves
- Vacuum Cleaner
- Duster
- Microfiber Cloth (or newspapers)
- Glass Cleaning Liquid(s)
- Sponges
- Scrubber + Squeegee or Glass Wiper
- Toothpaste (Optional)
- Special U Shaped Brush (Optional)
If using all these window cleaning equipment sounds really troublesome and tough, fret not! Let MEIDE do the window cleaning for you. We know your time and energy is precious. Thus, save it for your more important things in life!
Book your #1 home services today, or join our team!
meide.sg is here for you, always.
This article was originally written by and contributed by our guest writer Mr Bernard Lim – who was a sanitation equipment sales professional. He also enjoys writing about various subjects, such as hygiene and cleanliness, society and economics.
meide.sg have since vetted and modified as necessary to best suit the article to our audiences. In view of the fact that this is an article contributed by a guest writer, meide.sg, meide services, and all affiliated businesses: (1) Reserves the ownership and writing copyrights to this article nonetheless, as explicitly explained and agreed upon with the guest writer/contributors; (2) Have done our best to validate and check it against any form of copyright infringement or plagiarism. However, in any event of dispute or unhappiness, we offer our sincere apologies in advance and are open to negotiation of plausible corrective actions (eg. if adequate credits have not been given). Do contact us at admin@meide.sg in any such instances.