Minnesota Window Cleaner

:: Twin Cities Window Cleaning ::

WINDOW CLEANING
FOR THE
DO-IT-YOUR-SELFER

Recommended by the pros!
A good quality rubber blade window squeegee will make quick and fun work of window cleaning.

Put a small amount (1/3 teaspoon?) of whatever dishwashing liquid you happen to have in a 2 1/2 gallon mop bucket 2/3 full of warm water and gently swirl it around. Dunk the scrubber in the bucket. As you remove the scrubber from the bucket wring it out by passing it through the circle formed by my thumb and index finger (see picture on the right). Start by tilting the scrubber at about 45 degrees to the window and use its end to go around and clean into the edges of the window. If you can reach the top of the window without a pole move the squeegee sideways (left to right) working from the top down. The tops of many of windows are too high and require a special sideways squeegees. In this case go down the right side of the window, then work your way across the window using top to bottom strokes with the right edge of the squeegee in the dry area and at a slight down-to-the-left tilt so the water runs off into the wet area.

One key to this method is to wipe the squeegee blade after each pass. Use an old terrycloth towel for this, and or use a clean folded corner of the towel to wipe the very edges of the window where you can't use the squeegee to remove the water. If you do several windows during the same session you'll need to change towels occasionally. When using the squeegee in top down strokes the tip of the squeegee leaves a water trail in the dry area. Wipe that off with the towel after each pass and it usually doesn't leave a streak. This doesn't seem to be a problem when squeegeeing side-to-side. Also, going top-to-bottom makes it hard to keep the squeegee moving smoothly near the bottom of doors. If you find this a problem, a final left-to-right pass across the bottom may clean it up.

If it's an inside window, put a towel along the bottom of the window to catch any runoff. Watch for and wipe up any water that gets on the windowsill.

An important part of the window cleaning is to get a good quality squeegee. A $4 one won't do it. However, a 18" squeegee is too long. A squeegee 14" inch in length would be a good all around size for small jobs. Expect to pay about $14-$17 for a squeegee (after that replacement blades are about $5) and about $16 for a scrubber (replacement covers are about $6). An extension pole will cost about $45-$65 if you need one -- you won't need one if you can reach the top of your highest window with the squeegee. A 14" rectangular bucket would be handy.

One more thing, don't wash a window that's in the sun -- catch it in the shade or at dawn or wait for a cloudy day.

Good Luck to you on your window cleaning endeaver.

If you would like a professional cleaning from Twin Cities Window Cleaning, simply phone us at 612-432-1570. We will be glad to help you.

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