It’s one of those things that you end up leaving for months at a time, and one day you suddenly wake up, look out the window and realise there’s a thick layer of dust or dirt over it and your view is seriously compromised.
Supermarkets, bargain retailers and home improvement stores sell all manner of expensive solutions for this problem, from pricey chemical sprays to ‘natural’ cleaning products.
But you don’t necessarily need to shell out for a single purpose cleaner which will end up back in the cupboard after one use. Instead, you can simply use washing up liquid.
A humble bottle of Fairy – or an off brand washing up liquid – is perfect for cleaning windows, according to property experts Rightmove. The house selling website says: “It’s amazing what a difference clean windows can make to your home. Not only do they look a thousand times better; cleaning them can let in surprisingly more light, even if they were only slightly grimy.”
Rightmove says you can use a tablespoon of washing up liquid with some warm water to create the perfect home-made window cleaner.
It adds: “Get your bucket and fill it with warm water, then add a few drops (about a tablespoonful) of washing-up liquid. What you don’t want here is bubbles in the bucket. If you put too much detergent in and you create a foam, start again – soap equals streaks.
“One note of caution: we wouldn’t recommend washing your upstairs windows, no matter how comfortable you are on a ladder. Remember you’ll be sloshing water around and unless you really know what you’re doing, it can quickly become dangerous. Get a window cleaning professional in – even if they’re only doing the upstairs.
“Dip your sponge in, give it a light squeeze, and wipe around the frames. If it’s your first time for a while, you’ll probably need to rub hard, but as with all cleaning, start light and press harder if the dirt isn’t lifting off. (It’ll be easier next time.)
“Now you can set about wetting the pane. Most of the time, you’ll only need a light wash over the whole pane. You’ll only need to start rubbing harder if there are stubborn marks on there. Tree sap is particularly tough, so if your window is under a tree or shrub, you might want to use a light scourer or something slightly more abrasive than a sponge, for example, a cloth – nothing too scratchy, though.
“Now comes the most important part – removing the water. You can’t call your windows clean until this part is over, because they are essentially coated in dirty water. If you let the water evaporate, the dirt will remain, only now it’ll be mixed with sticky soap.
Here’s the expert touch: wrap a dry cloth over one finger and drag it from top to bottom right down one edge, so you have a dry line of about 1 cm (half an inch) touching the frame. This is because the squeegee won’t quite fit in the angle between the frame and the pane. If you’re right-handed, dry the left edge; otherwise, do the opposite.”
Rightmove says the process for cleaning indoor windows ‘is exactly the same’, so the tip can be used both inside and outside.
Even if you’re not planning on selling your house, there’s never a bad time to get a nice clean home without having to shell out.
