Using the strip washer and razor tool!

Welcome back! Now that we have thoroughly cleaned our screens and they have been set the aside to dry, it is time to move on to cleaning those windows. We will need to go ahead and dump out the soapy water that we used for cleaning the screens and rinse our bucket out. The type of soap that is used for cleaning the  glass is going to be a special concentrated liquid soap  formulated solely for the purpose of  window cleaning. I believe  the best soap available to the homeowner is a product called Easy Glide. It comes in a 1 quart container and can be purchased at your local home improvement center for around $6.00 ( currently this soap is only available at the Home Depot, Lowe’s carries another product called Squeegee Off ,  it is similar in cost ($4.97)  but its fragrance is not as desirable nor is it as concentrated). The one quart container of Easy Glide  makes approximately 25 gallons of window cleaning solution. The average home will require only one gallon per cleaning so this concentrate should last you for many years. In my opinion this is the best smelling soap available on the market today. I have had customers comment many times about it. This product is 100% biodegradable and water based. No dangerous chemicals to worry about if you have curious pets or small children that like to splash in your bucket!

Mix the cleaning concentrate per the manufacturers instructions. To clean the windows we are going to use what is called a Strip Washer. These can also be purchased at your local home improvement stores ( Please see my complete list of items required for window cleaning in previous post) Submerge your strip washer in your bucket of cleaning solution, let as much of the solution drain out of the washer as possible, and proceed to your first  window. place the wet washer against the glass moving it in a back and forth motion until the entire surface of the glass has been wet.  At this point you are going to take your six inch straight razor tool ( from required items list) and ,carefully placing the tool against the glass, slide the razor back and forth across the window pane. the goal here is to remove any paint over spray/ drips, bug deposits, tree sap, etc. from the glass. If you find that the window is drying , re-wet the surface with your strip-washer and continue until the razor slides easily across the pane. You can actually hear the difference in the way the razor moves across the glass once it is cleaned.( at first you will hear a crunchy sound as it scrapes off the debris, after it will glide quietly across) Once you feel you have successfully scraped all of the heavy dirt from the glass it is time to move on to the squeegee work.

Setting your expectations: wetting and scraping each double hung window pane should take about 30 seconds. Always be extremely careful with your razor tool, I have seen incredible injury occur when not used with care. A holster to contain this tool when not in use is Highly recommended. (The links above are to give you a picture of what I am explaining. These items can be purchased from various stores.)

Lets grab our squeegees and get ready to see some real magic!