A Two-sided Question

• Somehow, whatever side of the window you clean, it's a sure thing the dirt is on the other side! How do windows get that dirty? Understanding how it happened doesn't always keep your windows cleaner but will make sure your cleaning efforts are more effective.
  
  Tips for washing windows are almost as old as windows themselves. Old cookbooks, which usually contained recipes for housecleaning supplies as well, tout the virtues of brown paper and vinegar. New products in the supermarket promise ever-more-thorough results. Whatever products you choose, the object is the same: get the dirt off.
  
  

The Outside Story

• Especially in cities, the outsides of windows are exposed to many kinds of grime. Most vexing for windows are the chimney smoke of buildings heated by older, less efficient oil furnaces, and car exhaust. Even in buildings of many stories, the effects of these pollutants are visible. While older residents may recall when worse grime accumulated from coal-burning, that is cold comfort to anyone in an upper floor apartment waiting for the landlord to get the window washers to come. New windows, or casement windows, permit cleaning the outside glass from inside. Older, double-hung windows must wait, for the sake of your safety. If you are a homeowner, you may wish to investigate the increasing array of supplies available for outside window washing.
  
  

An Inside job

• It does not come as wonderful news that the cause of dirt on the insides of windows is--us. Cooking grease and the cosmetic-laced steam of repeated showers are among the worst offenders among human window-streakers. Oddly enough, other cleaners also contribute to dirtying our windows: spray wax and furniture polish, rug shampoos, and other oil, wax and plastic-based cleaners all play a part. Frequent fireplace fires, lots of stove top frying and broiling, and tobacco-smoking also find their way to our windows.
  
  Here, at least, the job is more under our control. Apply your chosen cleaner, wipe off, then buff to remove all missed traces of cleaner and grime. Experienced washers advice you to start at the top, so that any drips do not spoil previous work. Remember also with mullioned windows, the woodwork between panes of glass needs cleaning, too.
  Adding a regular window washing cycle to spring and fall cleaning will help you keep pace with your windows.
  
  

Keeping Windows Cleaner

• You can take several daily steps to make windows stay clean longer. First, examine your kitchen routine: covering cooking pots, using your vent fan every time you cook and more frequent oven cleaning will improve the quality of indoor air. Replacing spray cans with pump dispensers for cooking spray, furniture polish, and other oil-based cleaners will cut down on airborne droplets that may reach your windows.
  
  Regular cleaning of chimneys and furnace or air conditioning ducts lower dust in the air. Glass doors may be a good replacement for your current screen if family fires in the fireplace are a real favorite.
  
  If you love fresh air, vacuum window screens frequently. The same applies to screen doors.
  
  Insist that all family members vent the bathroom after a bath or shower. Open the window, open the door, use the vent fan. Family members may not enjoy following the rules, but they won't enjoy washing the windows more often either.
  
  Whatever strategies you choose, your windows will stay cleaner for a longer time--and that is good news.