5 Don'ts of Cleaning Glass

Cleaning glass can be an especially frustrating chore. Sometimes it seems that no matter how hard you try, you can't get a streak-free shine. If you struggle cleaning the glass in your home, you are probably making one of these five mistakes.

• Don't use paper towels. Paper towels are a useful tool for cleaning many things in your home, but glass isn't one of them. Paper towels not only leave behind streaks, they leave behind lint too. Ditch the paper towels and opt for a microfiber cloth for streak-free glass.
• Don't clean your windows on a sunny day. If you are washing your home's windows, wait until a cloudy part of the day. Exposure to direct sunlight causes most glass cleaning solutions to prematurely dry and leave behind streaks.
• Don't use tap water. The best way to clean glass is with a specially-designed cleaner, such as Windex, however water can be effective as well. If you choose to clean your home's glass with water, pick distilled over tap water, which leaves behind spots due to the minerals in it.
• Don't skip out on polishing. After cleaning your home's mirrors, windows, and glass tabletops, take an extra 30 seconds to make them shine. You can polish your windows with a variety of household products such as crumpled newspaper, chalkboard erasers, or a cotton t-shirt.
• Don't forget the sills and track. While the surface of the window is primarily made up of the glass panes, it is important to remember to clean the window sills and tracks too. This can usually be accomplished with a wet, soapy rag and alcohol-dipped cotton swabs for the hard-to-reach areas.

If you live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, you are only one phone call away from a sparkling-clean house. The Maids of Dallas is the only housecleaning service in the area that provides their customers with window cleaning and hand-scrubbed floors – this is just one of the reasons why 96% of our customers would recommend us to their family and friends. To book an appointment with your very own cleaning team or to get a free quote, call us today at 972-437-6253.

4 Tips for Streak-Free Glass

Streak-free glass is not impossible to obtain, but it takes more than store-bought cleaner and 30 seconds of your time. To make the windows, mirrors, and glass tables in your home shimmer in the sunlight, use the following tips:

Clean your windows on a cloudy day.

If you are cleaning your home's windows on a bright summer day, the direct rays of the sun will cause the cleaning solution to dry prematurely and leave behind streaks. To prevent this from happening to you, clean on a cloudy day or wash the windows on different sides of your house at different times when the sun is not shining directly on them.

Forget the paper towels.

As mentioned in one of our previous blog articles, paper towels should not be included in your glass-cleaning toolbelt. Wiping glass with a paper towel will leave behind more than just streaks – you'll be looking at a mirror full of lint. Stick to using paper towels to dry your hands; when cleaning glass, you should instead opt for a squeegee or microfiber cloth.

Easily spot streaks.

If you are cleaning a two-sided glass surface, such as a table or window, wipe one side with horizontal strokes and one side with vertical strokes. That way, if you can't seem to get it completely streak-free, you will at least be able to tell which side is dirty to avoid unnecessarily cleaning both sides again.

Make your glass shine.

Streak-free glass is wonderful, but if you want to go the extra mile you can make it sparkle with an extra thirty seconds of work. After wiping the glass surface dry with a microfiber cloth or squeegee, polish it off with a clean chalkboard eraser or piece of newspaper to make it gleam.

Let the Maids of Dallas make the windows in your home sparkle by calling (972) 437-6253 and booking a cleaning. Most house cleaning services don't offer window cleaning, but The Maids is not like most house cleaning services. For more information about The Maids of Dallas, visit our website or connect with us on Facebook.