Whilst the rainbow that appears after a heavy downpour gets all of us flaunting our pictures on Instagram, the watermarks that stay on the window panels just can’t be filtered out. Although it hasn’t been proven that watermarks are solely caused due to the dried-up droplets of rainwater,  it has always been a persistent problem for any household.

Thus, we spill some tips and tricks below on clearing them up in time for the next round of guests to your abode.

 

Top tips to note before cleaning

Here are tips that we often overlook. No doubt, they may seem relatively minimal, but these are essential in making that whole cleaning session worthwhile.

 

Do not clean windows on sunny days

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Pick a cloudy day to clean the windows, or perhaps start by wiping down the shady side of the house. Undeniably, spraying window cleaner directly on hot windows causes it to dry up too quickly before you can wipe it away — leaving hard-to-remove streaks behind.

Thus, to avoid needing to repeat the whole process of cleaning, we indeed suggest doing a rain-check.

 

Work from top to bottom

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Have you noticed how the petrol kiosk staff clean your car windows? A quick spray of the cleaning solution, position the squeegee from the top, slide it to the bottom of the rear, and that’s it — a sparkling clean window.

It may not seem like a big deal, but it’s recommended that you start cleaning from the top down instead of vice versa.  This ensures you do not create an additional residue that will drip down the windows upon finishing up the whole cleaning process.

 

Be generous when spraying the solution

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We visualised how panicky one gets when the cleaning solution drips too quickly, and you scramble to wipe it off at lightning speed. The truth is, be generous when spritzing your solution as it’s meant to absorb all the dirt anyways.

But, of course, an alternative would be to spray onto each window panel as you go along instead of spraying all panels at one go.

The cleaning tools

Squeegee

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We personally just know its name, but it’s no doubt a must-have when cleaning windows as well as mirrors. It’s also handy to have in the bathrooms to wipe down shower doors and any surfaces with lingering watermarks.

 

Newspapers

Image: Anton Heussen/Getty Images

Some folks swear upon this trick — cleaning windows using crumpled-up newspapers. Whilst that seems like an excellent way to recycle resources, it can get messy and ineffective.

Nonetheless, it isn’t a significant objection if you still use it, but perhaps using a microfibre cloth would be a better alternative.

 

Microfibre cloth

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We suggest using a microfibre cloth to clean and zap streaks once you are done cleaning, or even as a cleaning tool to wipe down the watermarks.

Do note that the fabric should be damp to avoid any leftover dust and stains.

 

Cleaning solution(s)

There are countless cleaning solutions to choose from on the shelves of a supermarket. Some of them are relatively pricey and irk us more if they don’t effectively do the job. Thus, we listed down a few natural cleaning solutions so that it saves a little bit of your money.

 

White vinegar + Liquid Castile soap

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Place all ingredients in a clean spray bottle with 500ml of water and shake well. After that, spray the mixture onto your windows and scrub down with a squeegee and a microfibre cloth.

Note: If Castile soap is a little pricey and hard to find, switching it to regular dishwashing soap works fine too.

Lemon + white vinegar + corn flour

Image: Crema Joe/Unsplash

This combination indeed feels like a cookbook recipe; use 2 juiced lemons followed by one to two tablespoons of vinegar and a handful of cornflour. Then, whisk it all in a bowl before diluting it with water to form a solution.

To clean: Grab a few pieces of crumpled newspaper or microfibre cloth and dip them into the solution. After that, wipe the windows in a circular motion.

Mr Muscle Window Cleaner

Image: Shopee Singapore

If all else fails, you could fall back on products by Mr Muscle. We have tried them ourselves, and they have never left us in disappointment, but of course, it’s all about trial and error.

Above all, always ensure you pick up spray solutions that foam up as they cling to vertical surfaces like windows more efficiently. The ultimate goal is to grab a solution that dissolves more dirt in a shorter period.

Note: If you are not able to find the window cleaner version off the shelves, the glass cleaner (example above) would be an excellent alternative.

 

Feature image taken from @sapphirewindowsg