When I'm cleaning windows...............

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "ben doon" saying something like:

Half-brick.

Use newspaper the lead of the ink makes a difference and gives a shine.

A proper squeegee to get the water off the glass, then it won't dry and leave smears.

Owain

Try a *little* washing up liquid in some warm water, with a dash of dishwasher rise aid. (Too much washing upliquid will smear)

After squeegeeing the glass, polish with a piece of kitchen towel or newspaper.

sponix

Johsons 'Windowlene', put on with a damp rag then left to go to a dry powder then wipe of with a dust free cloth.

Obtainable in your local supermarket

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

A small amount of washing up liquid in warm water. Rinse with clean. Dry with a real chamois.

You'll have to find some very old newspapers for there to be lead in the ink. Or carbon, which gave rise to this old wife's tale.

Which lead would that be Drivel?

I find a damp "Microfibre" duster does a good job.

John

Windolene spray-on cleaner, lots of absorbent kitchen roll, and the sun shining in.

Spray the windolene on. Spread it and get most of the dirt off with one soggy bit, and then polish it clean with a dry bit. With the sun shining in - preferably at a low angle - you'll see any remaining smears easily, and can polish them out.

Windscreen washer additive from Halfords.

Go and get some AUTO GLYM car windscreen cleaner. Put it on and then rub the haze off to leave a clear finish. It takes smoke and grease deposits off. Or you can buy a solvent based cleaner that window fitters have. Make sure it's not a fault with your double glazing. My neighbours had some cowboys in who supplied sealed units that look smeared from the outside. The vacuum must have been too great as the glass is somehow distorted compared to everyone elses.

Sealed units are not "vacuum filled" (!). If the glass is distorted, it's probably due to poor fitting. The units are likely to fail in short order.

BTW No vacuum is employed usually in double glazing, panes are sandwiched and just kept apart at foiled edges causing a slender airpillow (not an airgap) and often accompanied by silica-gel granules to counteract moisture. Bottom shims and fillers are essential when hanging/positioning the DG module in its taller/wider framework.

Maybe somebody before you used too strong a caustic chemical that affected its finish with a "permanent" smear. Jim

I'll go with Windolene, which is basically white spirit and chalk I think. The solvent shifts virtually anything and the chalk absorbs the residue but, unless what's on the glass isn't water soluble, water would do just as well.

AFAIK, you can get units with a partial vacuum inside although they are rare. Most are filled with intert gases or even air.

sponix