ArcaMax

I’m willing to wager a two-step hot fudge sundae made with mocha chip ice cream that you struggle to get the glass in and around your home perfectly clean. I’m talking crystal-clear glass that looks invisible. It might be glasses you drink from, the windows in your home, the glass in French doors, mirrors, your automotive glass and so forth.

Visit a grocery store and you’ll see bottles of blue or green liquids that claim to be the best thing to use. Go online and you’ll discover a plethora of other cleaners. I’ve become so cynical in my many trips around the sun that I sometimes wonder if a few of these products actually attract dirt so you have to clean the glass more often.

Did your mother teach you to use vinegar and water? Are you in the camp that was told to wash the windows and dry them with newspaper? You know, the newspaper that was printed with ink that washes off onto your hands?

Years ago, I tried everything to get the glass clean. My efforts never produced glass that was crystal clear. There were smudges, streaks, left-behind lint, etc. The manufacturers of paper towels loved me; I used so many!

Before I share the best way to clean glass, let’s talk about what causes your windows to get dirty and foggy. The windows inside your home, more often than not, get coated with an ultra-fine coating of aerosol grease. Cooking and baking produce water vapor. Grease attaches itself to this vapor. The invisible grease gas floats out of the kitchen. Not only does it coat all of your kitchen cabinets, the underside of your vent hood, walls, and ceiling, but it also settles on your windows, furniture, etc.

You can confirm this by noting the windows closest to your kitchen often are the foggiest, while those windows further away have less of the fog you see when sunlight hits the glass at nearly a 90-degree angle.

The outside surfaces of your window glass, especially if you live in an urban setting, are coated with a mix of diesel exhaust soot, dust, tree sap and other pollutants.

Window glass can get dirty from the plastic inside your home. Direct sunlight can heat up these plastics. They off-gas invisible particles that adhere to glass. This is why the inside of your car's glass gets foggy. The sun heats up all the plastic in your car, causing it to release the micro airborne particles.

Indoor plants, to a very small degree, can contribute to dirty glass. Some can release tiny airborne sugar droplets that end up on your glass.

I decided to do a deep dive into how to best clean glass. I was sitting in my office and wondered, Who is the best person to interview about glass cleaning? Within seconds, I hit the jackpot. Why not call and talk to the presidents of the companies that wash skyscraper windows?

Wielding my nationally syndicated newspaper columnist title, I was able to schedule interviews with these men. I’ll be honest and tell you I wasn’t prepared for what they told me.

The first thing I discovered is that the window washer workers don’t have a magic solution inside the buckets on their scaffolding. The buckets contain water with just a small amount of normal liquid dishwashing soap.

Both executives shared that the squeegees used by the workers are not cleaning the glass. The glass is cleaned when the worker applies the soapy water with a lamb’s wool or microfiber applicator. That scrubbing motion and tool remove all the dirt, grease and grime. The squeegee just removes the leftover water from the glass. There are many videos on YouTube recorded by professional window washers showing you the best way to use a squeegee.

You’ll be stunned by how easy it is to get professional results using this method. A week ago, I purchased two new 12-inch-wide squeegees. Each one was just $7.50 on Amazon. The best brand, in my opinion, is Ettore. I’ve had great success over the years with their squeegees.

It’s key that your squeegee has a supple rubber blade. Over time, the rubber can harden. You can get replacement rubber blades for Ettore squeegees and replace one in seconds.

The soapy water should be changed frequently if you want excellent results. I’ve had great success using a standard grout sponge for windows I can reach while standing. You may need a cleaning wand that attaches to a pole for hard-to-reach glass.

Don’t be fooled by products that say you can squirt them on your glass and magic happens. Mechanical agitation is part of cleaning anything. Your body is cleaned in the shower by rubbing your skin with your hands. You must rub the glass with soapy water to get everything off the glass.

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©2025 Tim Carter. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.