DIY window cleaning

[Harry Bloomfield]

Having just done the outside, ground level windows - I wonder how many of you, clean your own windows? The upstairs is done separately, from the inside, because the only useful ladder to reach the upstairs which I have, is too heavy and cumbersome for the job. Hence upstairs is tackled at the same time and from the inside, as when the entire inside is done.

I have, apart from a few breaks when we have had window cleaners for short periods, always cleaned them myself and waited until they needed doing rather than some window cleaner imposed schedule. Window cleaners tend to come round once per month, they only clean the glass, not the sills and surrounds because they use a hose and brush from the ground, whereas I clean them properly. Once per month generally tends to be far to often anyway. The other problem is that they stick at it only for a short while, then you don't see them again and have to find another. You are still left with doing the insides, doing which - you might as well do both sides.

Much better, would be system where you simply invited them to clean the windows, just once, when the customer felt they needed to be done.

 

[Mottie]

Much better, would be system where you simply invited them to clean the windows, just once, when the customer felt they needed to be done.

There's nothing to stop you doing that now Harry.

 

[charliegolf]

I spent £35-40 on an extending pole and washer head, some irrigation tube fed from the outside hose. Drilled the pole near the top and fed the thin pipe through, having cut the bottom off the plastic hand hold at the bottom. The thin tube sides up and down as I lengthen and shorten the pole. Robert's yer father's brother.

Like this, but waaay cheaper.

 

[JP_]

I was all my own windows from the outside, without a ladder.
I am the only one left on the street that has not converted their bungalow into a house.

 

[^woody^]

I do mine off a ladder, but it tends to get less an less often over the years.

I've been [passively] looking for a water fed pole system for a few years now, but one that uses de-ionized water for soap-less cleaning and streak-free drying, and then I can do the plastic roofline and timber cladding too. The expense and palaver of the de-ionized water making has put me off.

So if anyone can recommend a nice cheapish system/supplier for just home use, I'd be interested.

The window cleaners I've seen locally don't do or don't do a good job of the plastic fascias, verges and soffits, so I've never felt like using them as I'd end up having to do some myself anyway.

 

[The Samaritan]

Anyone getting new windows, always go for those where the outside of the windows inc frames can be cleaned from the inside. Every property we have bought in the last 18 years or gets those windows.

Window cleaners do not clean frames properly nor the sills, We do our own twice a year, ie sills, internal side frames etc and we get the window cleaners in about 4 times a year, ie the chap that does next door every 4 weeks or so.

Thanks

 

[Mottie]

Our one lives down our street. Uses the pole and filtered water. Our upstairs windows go from one side of the house to the other, triple patio doors downstairs at the back. Our previous cleaner who worked from a ladder refused to do the upstairs front when we had a front extension with a tiled roof. He charges us £12 for front back and side, up and down.

 

[Ihavenojob]

Mine get done when it rains.

 

[RandomGrinch]

Every couple of years or so, I take out the first floor sealed units.
It allows for a proper going over of the frames and cills and the glass is a bit easier to clean when it's flat!
It's also a good time to paint the soffits, if needed!

 

[Dork Lard]

This is just one example where my aging & failing eyesight is actually a benefit.

I simply do not care if my windows are ever so slightly dirty, whether I'm on the outside looking in or the insides looking out.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

It's also a good time to paint the soffits, if needed!

None to paint here, I replaced with all plastic years ago and they have stayed clean so far, apart from a puzzling section at the back of the house (semi). It faces east, with a predominantly westerly wind/weather and the nearer to the centre of the two semi it goes, the dirtier it looks - which don't understand. Unless it is because it is the most sheltered from the weather section?

 

[conny]

When we moved here over 6 years ago we employed a window cleaner from up the road. Started at £20 and he would come every fourth week. Do top and bottom all the way round including french doors, glazed side panels and uPVC back door. First 2 months he turns up and does what he said he would do. Third time he turned up was after 6 weeks. Said he'd been doing someones garden for them and offered his services to do ours. I declined. Turns up 6 weeks later again and price had gone up to £25 2 months go by and my wife received a text message to say he would be round at the weekend, (if he was free), and the price had gone up to £30 She texted back not to bother. I got my ladders out on the Sunday and did them all my self, including wiping down all the frames and cills. My wife was very pleased with the results so I said I would do them once a month, (weather permitting), from now on. Midweek I come home from work to find a slip of paper sticking out the letter box asking for payment for cleaning the windows at the weekend! I asked him to call down for his money and when he did I asked what day did he clean them. He said Sunday when we were out. I then asked how he knew we were out and he said the car was gone and he had to lean over the back gate to slide the bolt off and get his ladders through. I asked if he had much difficulty climbing over all the bricks and timber I had stacked up against the back door since the previous weekend. He then stammered a bit about maybe it must have been earlier in the week because they looked so clean he must have done them but got his dates mixed up. I simply told him not to bother in future as I would be doing them myself in future and that he wouldn't be getting paid for work I did when he didn't turn up at the weekend.
I've been doing them every month since and they look brilliant each time, especially with the frames and cills getting wiped down every time.
Harry, my back window cills, which face east, also get quite dirty. I have assumed it is from dust being blown around the garden but the fronts face a busy road less than 20 feet away so I would have thought they should be the ones to get dirty but they aren't.

 

[Odds]

We used to have a window cleaner who used a long pole to brush-wash the windows but he was sacked after i got fed up with him traipsing across the rockery, and having the yard soaked after he'd done.
Got a guy now who does it the 'traditional' way: soapy water and a leather to wipe everything down. Uses a ladder for upstairs windows and does a thorough job every six weeks. Saves me the bother (i don't like heights) and it's worth £15 just to keep it all tidy - £135 a year is a small price to pay, considering how much a new window costs.

 

[Old Salt]

I live in a bungalow. Windows take about an hour but its 3 days to dig the holes for the ladder to go in.

 

[diy_fun_uk]

I do mum's windows as she's elderly and lives in a high rise. The windows are classed as fully reversible so they essentially turn all the way round for cleaning, well, most of the way round. however there's no way older people could easily do it, or those that don't have a head for heights.

What I've noticed is if I use good old warm water and washing up liquid, the windows don't stay clean for that long in real terms. However if I use window/glass cleaning spray and cloths they retain a degree of cleanliness much longer.