Regular window clean up is really important for both the appearance of your home or business building and your health . Who doesn’t love a building with crystal clear windows and especially the views that they uncover for us.
No matter how well-cleaned you keep the interior of your building, if the windows are unkempt most of the time, this is not creating a very positive impression upon the customers or potential buyers.
It’s recommended to do window cleaning regularly, but it’s equally important to clean your windows in the right way for sparkling results. The truth is no matter what type of building you own, you should not underestimate window cleaning. No one can deny that well-cleaned windows add up to the curb appeal of any type of building, either commercial or residential.
Of course, for best results specialists usually recommend to get your windows cleaned by a professional company. If you have decided to do your window cleaning by yourself rather than contact a window cleaning company, remember that it’s not very difficult. It’s not a very complicated to clean your windows in the right way. You just need to have the right cleaning tools at hand and apply some special cleaning techniques.
One of the best tools for window cleaning is the squeegee (also called window blade and scrubber) and you should definitely buy one if you want best streak-free cleaning results. Window blade achieves a shining effect upon the window as it removes all the dust and dirt properly.
A squeegee is a must-have item for any property owner who wants well-cleaned windows that look like as if they are cleaned by real professionals. One handy tip for cleaning windows is to keep a microfiber rag for example in your pocket for wiping up excess water. In this way you can move comfortably from a window to window at heights bringing the rag with you
When buying window cleaning tools for your home or business, make sure they are of good quality. If you need window cleaning tools for your high rise building, make sure their materials are solid enough to endure cleaning many window numbers and they offer convenient use too. This counts for the squeegee as well.
When we need to clean windows that are located high we need reliable cleaning tools and equipment that are practical, safe and easy to use.
Using a squeegee/cleaning blade
It’s important to fit our squeegee with a sharp and new rubber blade to ensure it’s cleaning the glass surface the way it should. It’s recommended to have usually two or three cleaning blades to be well-prepared. A squeegee is an ideal tool for cleaning medium to large window glass panes quickly and efficiently.
When cleaning with a squeegee, make sure to cover every inch of the window glass to achieve a great result. Work at all angles of the glass in order to cover all of its edges and move the squeegee horizontally across the glass. This specific technique allows us to get quick results.
Apply sometimes vertical strokes too if needed. If you have chosen to work with vertical lines, hold the squeegee in such an angle to push the excess water towards the area that isn’t cleaned yet.
Storage
If we want our window blade to last longer and help us to clean our windows, it’s important to store it in the right way. When you store the squeegee, make sure nothing comes into contact with the blade.
Cleaning with a squeegee: Steps
Clean a starting strip
Аt the beginning of the cleaning process we should create a starting strip. This cleaning strip makes the process of making horizontal strokes easier for us. Angle the squeegee so that only one corner comes into contact with glass. Start from the top corner of the glass and clean a narrow strip at one side of the window glass from top to bottom area.
Make a move across the top of the window
Press the window blade at the upper corner of the window and slide it across the window with a steady pace. Make sure to focus on holding the top of the window blade in contact with the upper edge of the window glass.
If you are left-handed you can start from top left hand side of the glass, or from the top left side if you are right-handed. Move the squeegee gently from left to right and as you hold the blade in a vertical position, keep the blade about a centimeter ahead of the bottom of the blade. Water may start dropping from the bottom of the window blade. Continue doing this to the bottom of the glass.
Clean the cleaning blade
Use a clean towel to clean the window blade. Clean it across to remove the excess water and collected dirt particles. How often you may need to change the squeegee depends on how dirty your windows are. You may be able to clean 5 to 10 windows before rinsing the squeegee.
Move down the window
Now we should start again with the process of cleaning the window glass. Hold again the squeegee at an angle and move it in such a way to overlap with its tip your previous stroke. Move it across the window to direct the excess water downwards. Wipe the glass with a clean towel and repeat this step again.
Remove the excess water
Use a rag to soak the excess water along the bottom edge of the window. Then get another lint-free rag and run it across the window’s perimeter to dry any left moisture. Use a clean spot of this rag to clean any streaks. Change the rags when you see that there aren’t any dry and clean spots on them.
Divided-lite windows
If your building has such windows, you should use a sponge in combination with the window blade. You need a small squeegee for this type of window so if you cannot find such, you can just cut off a large one to fit your window size. In the same way as with larger windows, use the tip of the squeegee to clean a narrow strip at the top of the window glass. When you finish it, wipe the cleaned area again with a clean microfiber towel.
Advantages of using rubber blade for window cleaning
Pros:
No streaks
There is no doubt that window blades do a great job in cleaning windows glass efficiently and there are no post-clean-up streaks. The squeegee can clean hard water stains, chemical residues, cleansers, etc.
Speed
By using a squeegee you can clean quickly not only your windows but also other parts of your property such as bathrooms, kitchens, auto wind shields in comparison with other cleaning tools.
You can use it inside the property
The good news is you can clean your windows on the inside with your squeegee. Cleaning with a window blade is suitable for houses with varnished or stained woodwork too. It’s important in this case to squeeze most of the soapy water of the window blade so that dripping is limited.
Carry a microfiber rag in your pocket for wiping the squeegee. This will also help you to quickly dry up any dripping water over the woodwork when necessary. When you are finished, put the squeegee to rest at the edge of the bucket instead of letting it drop in the water.
Cost-effecitve
A window blade isn’t expensive. And if we add the fact it doesn’t need any special chemical cleaning solutions to clean effectively, you have a budget-friendly cleaning tool.
Easy to store
This is obvious since most squeegees come in small sizes.
Cons:
Change
As the blade of the squeegee gets worn with time and it needs regular changing. Most professional cleaners change their squeegees once per day. When the blade gets rounded over, nicked, sliced, it won’t clean as well as it should be.
The moment you notice that your squeegee leaves streaks or it isn’t cleaning the way it cleaned when it was new, this means that it’s time for replacing it. A good-working squeegee has a sharp, new rubber blade. Always keep 2 or 3 squeegees at hand when starting your window cleaning.
We can make our blade last a little bit longer of by simply reversing them to expose a fresh edge. This can be done only when blades that aren’t nicked or sliced. The replacement of an old squeegee with a new one isn’t a hard task and everyone should be able to do it.
How to change the window blade?
1.Remove the old blade. Take one end of the blade and stretch it out until the metal clip is exposed then slide off the clip. Slide the blade out the opposite end. Some Blades of squeegees come without clips. They are held either by screws or the clamp on the handle.
2.Put the new blade. It should be slid into the metal channel. Then you should stretch it and put the metal clip back. If the blade is protruding from the channel, cut a little bit from it until fits the size of the channel.
