Ivy says:
My mom always said there’s something very spiritual about washing your windows. Her theory on this is that the windows are the eyes of your home and by washing the windows, you’re opening up those eyes to let the sun shine in. It’s a newish year, and if you’re an American, we have a brand spanking new President. It’s a good time to wash your windows and bring in the new.
Now, it might be too cold where you live to wash your windows outside, but you can certainly do a bang-up job on the insides of the windows, at least. A lot of people swear by vinegar and newspaper to wash their windows, but I personally like some Windex®
(or the generic kind, most likely) and a blue shop towel
. No matter what method you use, just get it done. That way, next time someone mentions they don’t know the last time they washed their windows, you can say you in fact, DO know when you washed your windows – day after inaguration day. Easy peasy.
Of course you could pick any other holiday or time of the year. Some people include window washing in their spring cleaning. The main thing is to pick a time that is obvious to you and easy to remember.
When do you wash your windows?
Send your domestic questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.
Hi there,
I agree with you on window washing. Clean windows make a huge difference. I recently did ours and the curtains. It is amazing how fast they collect dirt and dust! We are in the midst of a remodling project and you can bet they will need it again once this project is done.
Take Care,
Trixie
I washed my windows over the weekend….and they were really grimy before (dust storms and such in Arizona). My 2 year old rode her bike right into the patio doors……my little hummingbird. She was so used to not being able to see through them, I guess?
(Note to self: clean windows every two weeks to avoid injury to youngest daughter…)
I, myself, am a fan of Windex and the Classifieds (black and white newspaper)
I have 3 dogs, 5 wall-height plate glass windows, and 5 glass doors. Every day should be window-washing day, but in reality, it’s about once a week. I walk around the house with a bucket of water with a little liquid dish detergent in it, 2 microfiber towels (one wet and one dry), a dry microfleece cloth, and a Magic Eraser. This cleans most things that don’t require disinfecting, including windows.
I have two windows I cannot reach from the outside without a scaffold, so all I can do is hose ’em off. They’re not *too* awful. Three years ago, I replaced two plate glass windows with openable ones with special glass from Anderson. They shrug off dirt and water spots, and have never required washing – I just dust the frames.
Does this mean I only have to wash the windows every four years? AWESOME!!!
PS When we had central heat/air I used to change or clean the filter every month when the light bill came in; was easy to remember and easy to maintain.
What a good idea. I never think to wash my windows but I need to start doing that. Ugh, thinking about it, I bet mine are awful, I don’t know they last time they were washed.
hmmm… I’ve never washed the windows in our home – we’ve been here 3 years (-ish). And I really don’t think they were washed for years before we moved in. This is good…. it’s spiritual, huh? I might have to get on this this week.
That’s on my yearly schedule for April, when it’s much warmer. BUt I am going to try and use RainX on the outsides this year to see if it will help keep the outsides cleaner. I read somewhere that it helped.
I usually do one room a day, and wash the curtains as well, so April is good since I have time off for Spring Break then.
My mom ( a long time Realtor) feels clean windows make the house feel clean and are a must whenever selling a home 9 or just wanting to live in a clean looking home for that matter) what she has found, and bestowed upon me is a fluffy scrubber and a squeegee with a product called squeegee off. It really does work wonders and much easier (along with completely streak and lint free job) than towels or newspapers.