Window Cleaning Tips

Streaks, spots, and fingerprints-are you groaning along with me? Keeping windows clean can be a task, especially if you have young children in your home! They seem to especially love touching the window glass with sticky fingers and pressing their mouths and noses up against them as well. Luckily, there are some great window-cleaning tips you can use to keep your glass spotless, streak free, and shiny! • This may come as a shock, but throw away the paper towels, special window cleaning cloths, and everything you thought was great for cleaning windows. The absolute best thing you can use is old newspaper! It cleans perfectly, with no streaks or spots left behind. Simply spray on some water or your favorite window cleaner and ball up a sheet of newspaper. Clean the windows the same way you would with a cloth. You will see that the newspaper is the best window-cleaning tool you have used. A great thing to remember is that it s good for mirrors and picture frames, too! • If you would like to avoid chemicals in your home (especially if you have children), water works as well to clean windows as chemicals do! If you find that a window is particularly difficult to get clean, try one part vinegar and one part water in a spray bottle. Vinegar is an excellent natural cleaner, and it s inexpensive as well as being chemical free. It should do the job very nicely. • If you have gotten paint, glue, or some other type of substance on your windows and are trying to find the best cleaning chemical to get it off, you probably won t. Not only are chemicals dangerous, but using them to try to get items like these off is pretty useless. What you can use is a razor blade. Of course, being very careful, tilt the razor blade so that it is nearly parallel with the surface of the window. You will then tilt it so you are coming at the window at a very slight angle. You can then use the sharp edge of the razor blade to scrape the item off the window using small, short strokes. Once you have gotten that off, use water or vinegar and water to clean the windows thoroughly. • Crayon on the windows? This happens and there is actually a very easy way to get it off. Use a typical pencil eraser to remove the crayon. If that doesn t work, use something like a sponge or towel to try to scrub it off. • On outside windows, use a sponge and soap to clean them, then simply rinse them off with the water hose or a pitcher of water. To avoid spots, dry them with a soft towel or cloth. This keeps your outside windows from being dirty, spotty, and gross-looking, and it s easier to clean them this way rather than spraying and wiping each window! These ideas will help you keep your windows clean and shiny! Kristi Patrice Carter is a housecleaning maniac and the proud author of Super Woman Doesn t Live Here Any More: The Ultimate 2 Week Plan for Getting Your Family to Help With Housework." For ordering information and information on Daily Housecleaning Schedule , please visit http://www.dailyhousecleaningschedule.com