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Friday Favorite: Clean Windows

September 28th, 2012

There’s nothing I like better than sparkling clean windows. Therefore, my windows are cleaned often, at least once a month. The funny thing is that I always thought that was pretty standard until I blogged about it and you all said I was CRAZY! Guess I just really like clean windows.

As you probably guessed, my first order of cleaning here at the new house has been to clean the windows. It’s quite a chore because there are windows of several eras and all of them have storm windows. Since we have no ladder at the moment, I can’t clean the high windows, but many of the lower one I can.


I’ve been scrubbing, scraping, wiping and buffing; trying to get these windows into tip top shape. The razor scraper is such a handy tool when it comes to cleaning windows, especially the extra bits of paint or those things that don’t come off easily with a towel, or those things that get baked on when the windows don’t get cleaned often enough. I wish I had known about before a few months ago, but I’m certainly glad I have one now. I’d highly recommend getting one like for your tool box and window cleaning kit! They also have plastic razor blades for more delicate surfaces. I’ll be ordering some of these shortly.

No doubt it will take me a few weeks to get all the windows clean. Some won’t be cleaned until we can get an extension ladder. Eventually, most of the windows be replaced with larger ones, newer more efficient ones that are easier to clean.

How often do you clean your windows?

If you’re looking for the best way to clean windows, here’s my post about it: Non-Toxic Window Cleaning

19 Comments to “Friday Favorite: Clean Windows”
  1. jennifer fisk on September 28, 2012 at 7:32 am

    I try to clean my first floor windows inside and out in the fall after I take the screens off. I can’t clean the outside of my second floor because of the height so I hire it done ever few years. I love sparkly clean windows but so rarely have them.

    Reply to jennifer fisk's comment

  2. Kelly H. on September 28, 2012 at 8:19 am

    I clean when the windows look dirty enough to clean, to me – at least 2-3 times a year. Some windows are more likely to be cleaned more often since I have a few that get rain splatter and tend to be spotty and I hate that.

    Reply to Kelly H.'s comment

  3. Rhonda on September 28, 2012 at 9:10 am

    I clean all my windows as the seasons change, but he windows my twins can get to, get cleaned on the inside of the house about once a week. The big window on the front door gets cleaned almost every day. You’d think eight-year-olds would keep their hands and faces off the glass, but noooooooooooo (Steve Martin voice) :-)

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  4. Turling on September 28, 2012 at 9:43 am

    You’re suppose to clean your windows? Isn’t that what rain is for?

    Reply to Turling's comment

  5. Karen Mundt on September 28, 2012 at 9:45 am

    I try to clean mine twice a year…”spring” cleaning and “fall” cleaning and then as needed to remove hand and nose prints. My greatest woe though is cleaning the screens. Those I can vacuum, wash, and scrub and still feel like they are dirty. The screens on the windows under the porches are the worst. I could use some good tips on how to get screens really clean! We have been replacing as needed with a more “metal” type of screen and they are easier to clean.

    Reply to Karen Mundt's comment

    • Susy on September 28, 2012 at 8:58 pm

      They can be a real pain. We have the metal ones and Mr Chiots powerwashes them once a year. We do remove them and store them in the attic during the winter so they don’t get quite as dirty.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  6. whit on September 28, 2012 at 10:02 am

    I have a cleaning routine where i focus on a section of house each week. In that “detailed cleaning”, cleaning windows (and light fixtures)
    are the first tasks.

    Missing my new windows at the old house: they were double hung, so both windows could opened inward to clean the outsides. No ladder needed. **sigh**

    Reply to whit's comment

    • Susy on September 28, 2012 at 8:59 pm

      Ah yes, cleaning the light fixtures, something I also did once a month. Mine usually involved taking down the glass globes and running them through the dishwasher while dusting the fixtures. Amazing how much dust can collect during a month on the lights!

      Reply to Susy's comment

  7. Vicki on September 28, 2012 at 10:38 am

    I have to clean certain windows once a week because of the little fingers and slobber tracks left by my little ones. :) Though I dont get to do all my outside windows because of how our house is built on a slope, its difficult to get to the high windows. We all know we cant get a guy to clean windows, they always say they look fine, lol. But for the most part I might be the crazy one having to clean my windows 2-3 times a month. I live on a dirt road so you could imagine the dirt cloud when you come and go everyday. Pretty soon I think ill have like a window washer set up. with a extend-a-pole with a squeegee attached to do my tall windows :) Though at my home before this I have the double hung windows, loved them!!! Good luck!

    Reply to Vicki's comment

  8. Michelle Beissel on September 28, 2012 at 10:51 am

    I am with you, windows are the eyes of a home. Since clean windows are such a joy, I want to make it as easy as possible to maintain that joy. Hence, I live in a house with French windows. All I do is open them, spritz with a window cleaner and wipe both the inside/outside with paper towels, and that’s that. Upper story is as accessible as the ground floor. :-) Screens are a rarity in France; I suppose the ubiquitous shutter pitch hits for them.

    When we lived in England, we profited from inexpensive window cleaning–all the windows of our two-story home done for five pounds! I remember worrying how expensive it would be (a friend of a friend just started to clean them, thinking we had already agreed to the service), and was shocked at the low price.

    Bon courage with cleaning the eyes of your new home!

    Reply to Michelle Beissel's comment

  9. Maybelline on September 28, 2012 at 11:09 am

    You are not crazy for your love of sparkling clean windows. I love them as well almost as much a a freshly made bed.

    My windows are cleaned about once each month as well.

    Reply to Maybelline's comment

  10. Bettina on September 28, 2012 at 2:00 pm

    Can I recommend that when you get new windows you get double glazed, since they both keep heat out in the summer and naturally the cold as well in winter.

    Also, try getting those like in Europe. They open like doors to the inside of the house, and it is the entire window that opens that way (unless you have huge panorama ones).

    The advantage is, that even if the weather is cold outside, you can stand inside doing the entire window. You just have to open it to clean the outside, and the inside naturally when it is closed.

    I have never had to contort myself as much as in the UK and in the States when cleaning windows in comparison to Germany, Switzerland and now here in Spain.

    The nice thing also is that you usually can tilt the window. I.e. it stays locked on the bottom edge and you can tilt the top edge away from the frame to the inside by about 6 inches. That is nice if you want some fresh air to come in, without opening the entire window.

    And yes, my windows get washed about every 4 to 6 weeks as well.

    Reply to Bettina's comment

  11. Terri on September 28, 2012 at 2:39 pm

    I love looking out of a window that appears to not be there! We have had all of our windows replaced with double hungs that tilt in and they are fabulous. I am glad to know I am not the only person out there who actually likes to clean windows! I do tend to do my windows frequently, not because of small two legged children anymore, but due to 4 legged children, (cats) that like to leave nose prints on the glass. (Especially the windows that look out where the birds are!)

    Reply to Terri's comment

  12. Deb on September 28, 2012 at 2:59 pm

    If you have old windows they don’t ever get cleaned except outside and inside. In 17 yrs. our windows have been totally cleaned inside and out, takes 2 people, only twice. I don’t care except do clean kitty smudges inside a couple times/year. Why waste all the time to do this so often. Two times per eyar would be ideal but if folks judge me by my windows then I don’t care to know them. There are certainly much more important things to clean. A rain smudges them and I have no time or inclination to clean windows every month.

    Reply to Deb's comment

  13. Maureen on September 28, 2012 at 3:04 pm

    I hopped up after reading your post and washed a few windows. Wow, that feels good! I try to wash outside windows monthly during warm weather, having such a long stretch where it’s too cold to clean them in Alaska. Inside, when it’s needed or I get motivation, like you gave me today!

    Reply to Maureen's comment

  14. KimH on September 28, 2012 at 5:48 pm

    I clean my north & south windows & the windows in my doors about 4 or 5 times a year.. mostly as needed. They’re really not too bad but I look out them often & I like em clean too.

    The east & west windows, only about twice a year unless something really pulls at me or Im doing some serious cleaning & still have energy. ;)

    Reply to KimH's comment

  15. Norma on September 28, 2012 at 9:26 pm

    I have massive windows and 2 storey and I’m with Deb. Hardly ever clean them. It would take me a week. So if people are fastidious, good for them! And if you judge me by my windows, I don’t care! My house is clean.
    I’m mad about people taking their outside shoes off when they enter my house. I don’t like walked in dirt! Imagine if they have walked on doggy doos. Yuck!

    Reply to Norma's comment

  16. angie h on October 2, 2012 at 1:13 pm

    Just wanted you to know I cleaned my windows this weekend in honor of Chiot’s Run! The problem with cleaning the windows was I discovered how dusty and cob-webby the curtains were…so then I had to wash the curtains too…and then when I took the curtains down the light that was let in showed off all the other nooks and crannies that had been neglected! Next thing you know, I am moving furniture and scrubbing walls and base boards,lol!

    Reply to angie h's comment

  17. Christina on October 18, 2016 at 12:16 pm

    It’s great to hear that you like cleaning the windows as much as you do, even if you are the exception. Of course, it’s no surprise that the first order of business was to get the windows clean in that new house. Congrats on the home.

    Reply to Christina's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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