The windows of your home are very important features both in terms of usefulness and how they affect the appearance of your house from both the inside and the outside.
The process of producing glass is quite intensive though and has a large carbon footprint on the Earth.
Let’s face it, none of us are going to recycle a broken window and therefore it is important to stretch the lifespan of our windows for as long as possible with these window care tips we’ve put together for you.
Here are our tips on how to care for your windows at home to keep them looking as good as new to compliment both your interior and exterior décor:
- Windows and mirrors can be given extra shine by wiping them down with a cloth that has been dipped in a 50/50 mixture or borax and denatured alcohol.
- Clean blackboard erasers can be used to polish windows after they have been washed and dried.
- Extra dirty windows should be washed with a strong acid based detergent. Vinegar works well and is not harmful to the environment like ammonia based cleaners. Use three table spoons per litre of water and do not combine the vinegar with ammonia as they will neutralize each other.
- Cloths made out of 100% cotton work best for drying windows and leaving no streaks, but be sure to keep the cloth as dry as possible at all time.
If you want to keep frost off your windows in winter you can add some antifreeze to your water. About a cup full per 3 litres of water should do the trick.- If you have painted your window frames and some of the paint has splattered on your windows, it is best to remove it with a razor blade in the hard to reach areas. Paint thinners can also be used if you are sure that it won’t drip and spoil the rest of the paint work.
- You can vacuum windows on the inside regularly instead of washing them all the time because in truth windows on the inside of a house only come in contact with dust.
- If you are on a bit of a tight budget and a window with a small crack or chip in it needs to be fixed, it can temporarily be repaired with nail polish. Clear nail polish is recommended but any other type will also work.
Any window made out of fibreglass can be repaired through using an extra piece of fibreglass and taking a hot iron to melt it over the broken parts. Iron around the edges of the patch to seal it properly and you are done!
