Cleaning your windows and mirrors for the holidays does not fill one with “tidings of great joy.” But it can be a lot easier if you don’t find your nice clean mirror covered with a light film or streaks after you thought you cleaned it.
No Film – No Streaks – Just Sparking Clean
While window cleaning is not an art, it does require finesse, practice, and knowledge–knowledge that we’d be pleased to pass on.
Best Cleaning Products
First of all, you’ll need the right cleaning products. Here’s a list of common cleaning products we recommend for this task:
- Stoner Invisible Glass – Stoner’s makes a line of glass cleaning products that cleans everything from windshields to residential windows. For a completely streak-free shine with minimal effort and no harsh fumes, we recommend Invisible Glass. Be sure to use the type of cleaner specifically marketed for residential use, not for car windshields–unless you also want your windows to repel rain.
- Simple Green Naturals Glass & Surface Care – This environmentally friendly product is biodegradable and can get rid of tough grime on glass, like soot from your fireplace. It also has a unique but pleasant mint-and-rosemary scent. Best of all, it’s a multi-surface cleaner, so when you’re done cleaning your windows you can move on to other surfaces without setting it down.
- WD-40 – Alright, so it’s not your usual glass cleaner. We put WD-40 in this list because it can get rid of some tough stains easily. For example: did your kid write on your window with crayon? Or do you have spots on your shower door? No problem. WD-40 is equal to the task.
Proper Cloths for Wiping
Now that you have your arsenal of cleaning products to work with, it’s time to assemble your cloths for wiping. Here’s what we recommend:
- Microfiber – Microfiber lifts dirt up off the surface of the glass without leaving lint deposits behind.
- Newspaper – It’s true, newspaper cleans glass without leaving shavings of itself behind, unlike paper towels.
- Squeegee – Ok, so this isn’t a cloth of any kind. But squeegees do a good job of removing liquid and dirt at the same time. When using a squeegee on the interior of your window, you’ll want to place a towel at the bottom of the window to absorb liquid that falls to the floor.
Techniques
Using the proper technique is as important as having the right tools. See below:
- Spray down the window with your cleaner of choice.
- Place the squeegee at the top left corner of the window. Sweep it around the window in a reverse S shape. Do this until the window has been completely cleaned. You can see this method here:
- Use the microfiber cloth or newspaper to buff the window and remove excess soap at the corners.
- Repeat on the other side of the window.
Tips
Below are a few tips for getting your windows perfectly clean:
- When using WD-40 to remove difficult stains, use a microfiber cloth to scrub at the stains before using the squeegee.
- When cleaning multi-pane windows, use a small squeegee or cut down a large squeegee to fit the panes perfectly.
- Use a broom to wipe away cob webs before cleaning.
That’s it! you’re trained and ready to clean your mirrors and windows without leaving streaks or a film behind.
Tashman Home Center
For proper cleaning tools and products stop by Tashman Home Center in West Hollywood. Our Hardware store has over 20,000 items in stock. And, if we don’t have what you need, we’ll be happy to order it for you and have it shipped to our store for your pick up without any shipping charge to you.