Have you ever spent the day spraying, scrubbing, polishing, polishing and “cleaning” your windows, but in a very short time they attract more dirt to your surface?
Well, believe it or not, window cleaning chemical companies are smart. They know that if their product (even the “streak-free” kind) is simply polished and wiped off, the chemical residue will remain on the glass and act as a magnet for dirt. This means you have to clean your windows more often and buy more of your product. Cunning, huh?
As a second generation window cleaner, my customers ask me all the time what our “secret” is to keeping their windows so clean for so long.
The secret!
The “secret” is not a secret at all! Often, consumers who are serious about cleaning their windows are already following the correct steps, but they may not be using the correct formula.
Well, for us, the “secret” consists of a few things:
- TSP (trisodium phosphate)
- A scrubber and a squeegee
- A natural sea sponge
I’ll go through these one by one and explain the benefits of each:
Trisodium phosphate (TSP)
TSP a very generic detergent found in all kinds of cleaning formulas.
You can buy it at most general purpose stores or paint stores (Fred Meyers, Wal-Mart, Miller’s). Painters use concentrated formulas to prepare walls and wood for painting. However, when cleaning windows, only a very small amount is needed. About 1 teaspoon to 1 gallon of hot water, not too much! The less you use, the longer your windows will stay clean.
The other reason professional window cleaners use TSP is that it doesn’t foam. When soap suds are created, residue is more likely to remain on the window, causing the windows to attract dirt more quickly.
Scrubber and squeegee
A good scrubber and squeegee are crucial. Simply polishing a chemical inside and outside a window is not enough. It will leave residue behind – period.
However, a squeegee removes 99.9% of chemical residue and provides a surface that is extremely difficult for dirt to adhere to. Make sure you get a squeegee that uses good quality rubber. Shower grips are not the same!
Believe it or not, you can buy professional quality scouring pads and squeegees at hardware stores like Home Depot or Lowe’s.
The brands that professional window cleaners use, like me, are as follows:
- Unger
- Ettore
- pulex
Natural Sea Sponge
It’s okay, I admit it. This could be a bit elegant for those who only wash their windows from time to time. But as a professional who washes thousands of windows a month, I am picky about my sponges.
Because sea sponges are much more absorbent and flexible, they absorb and hold water remarkably well. No synthetic sponge compares. After cleaning the window with the squeegee, there is a lot of dirty water left behind, and that’s where the sponge comes in. Instead of going through dozens of towels, a simple sponge moves the water back into your bucket with ease.
A technical tip
When squeegeeing, be sure to wipe the squeegee clean with a clean, damp sponge before each swipe and pull the squeegee horizontally across the window at an even speed. This technique removes the streaks. Use a dry, lint-free towel to wipe excess off windows.
It may take some practice, but over time, you can master window cleaning like the pros. Happy cleaning!
