My father was a spectacular window cleaner. He used his special formula (definitely including ammonia) and wiped with old newspapers. That seems counterintuitive and I can’t tell you why that smeary black-inked paper did the trick, but the windows he cleaned sure did shine!
It wasn’t an easy task, either, because he lived during the days of storm windows, non-removable panes, and no tilt-ins. So it was an all-day or several-day task. But what a difference it made when he was done.
Daddy liked cleaning windows, and he would sometimes come to our house and clean ours, too. What a gift!
Fast forward to today and we choose to have a professional clean our windows. He does an amazing job and is also just a nice guy whose business we like to support. Plus, when he comes, we don’t have to do it ourselves!
The first time he came to our former home, we told him there were some windows that we couldn’t get open – they had been painted shut or had just warped over time. “I’ll get them open,” he said. And he did.
Eventually we replaced those old windows (and storm windows) with newer thermopane insulated ones that tilted in and had removable grids. We liked those so much better and so did our cleaner. His charge reflected the easier task involved in cleaning them.
Now in our new/old house we have replacement windows, but the grids don’t come out. The garage windows are split between the garage and the bonus room and are in small enclosed compartments that make access very difficult. BUT… our cleaner seemed to have seen all that before.
He came this week and cleaned all the windows as well as the screens and even fixed some loose insulating foam strips. What a difference he made! We are honestly surprised – and delighted – by how much better we can see now.
“We can see clearly now the grime is gone. We can see all shrubbery outside the house. Gone are the dusty smears that had us blind. It’s gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny spring.”
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