For many home owner window cleaners, their preferred method of cleaning is to use a homemade solution. One of the easiest, although not most effective, is the simple mixture of a bucket of warm water with a small amount of washing up liquid. Cheap and effective (to an extent), this mixture is favored by many usually purely for the fact that is cheap and cleans windows to an acceptable degree.  You have to be a little careful that you don’t use this on speciality windows as it can leave serious streaks; for example, it does not work well on uPVC windows.

However, cleaning windows with washing up liquid and water, after a while, begins to leave windows looking greasy or streaky. After a search on the internet, a look in a local book store or library or speaking to a friend, most home owners will opt for a much more traditional way of cleaning windows. Although on first looking at the ingredients it doesn’t sound as effective as using warm water and washing up liquid, cleaning windows using newspaper, water and vinegar can have fantastic results. Mixing the vinegar with water in a strong ratio (approximately 1 part vinegar for every 4 parts of water), apply to the windows with an appropriate cloth, such as a chamois and dry then buff with crumpled up pieces of newspaper. Whilst a little more effort may be needed on stubborn marks, this process of cleaning windows has worked for many years and is one of the most used ways of cleaning windows all across the world.

Even though most home owner window cleaners do not use any accessories, taking note of the tools professional window cleaners use may help the window cleaning process. For example, it is often said that any non-professional window cleaner should own a squeegee. A squeegee is a tool that is in the shape of a ‘T’ – with the horizontal line being a rubber, windscreen wiper-like blade and the vertical line being a handle – that provides some amazing assistance when cleaning windows. Once the windows are wet and any marks have been removed, the squeegee should be moved over the window, from top to bottom, to remove any excess water. It may seem simple, but using a squeegee will almost guarantee that the window is left streak and smudge free.

One of the more modern ways to clean windows is to use a steamer. Available for use all around the home, they make excellent work of windows – regardless of how clean or dirty the windows are. Fill the steamer with water, plug it in, allow for it to boil and then use the connecting hose and accessory on the window. The steam produced will remove any marks from the window and, once moved over with a squeegee, will leave them looking brand new and as though they have just been cleaned by a professional window cleaner.