Quickie Cleaning for Tall Outside Windows

This is a picture of the dirty tall windows and our landscaping project when it was at the half-way point!


As I've watched the commercials and seen the ads lately for the new outside window cleaning kit, I've been interested in the concept. I like to do a thorough cleaning with the traditional bucket and ladder at least once a year; twice a year if I get to it! I looked at the kit while I was shopping one day last week and thought it resembled something that I already own-a Swiffer Mop! It's just one more plastic thing with a long handle to store in my broom closet, and on top of that, the special window-cleaning pads that you have to keep buying for it are pricey.

This grocery store investigation led me to an idea that maybe for a "quick clean" I could use my Swiffer Mop for my tall, arched outside windows. Here's what I did this morning:

I used my Swiffer Dry Mop and a Swiffer wet cleaning pad. You might say that these are pricey, as well. I feel there's some truth to this statement, but I buy them in bulk at Sam's Club and once in a while, I'm lucky enough to find them at Big Lots (sometimes you can find coupons for them to use at your favorite store.)

On each window I worked going from the top of the window to the bottom with the mop, using long downward strokes. I then went back over the window with a Dry Swiffer Dust Cloth dipped in vinegar and warm water to rinse it (also using downward strokes and getting off excess water). In both cleanings, with the wet cloth and the cloth for the rinse, I got about three big windows (maybe four) out of one cloth; I did two and then turned the cloth over and reused for a couple more windows.

I have to say that for the ease of cleaning and the small time investment, my windows turned out well, except for a few streaks. I loved not dragging the ladder around the house to each window! I think next time, I'm going to use the same method,except I might hose the window down first, and then use Sparkle (my favorite glass cleaner) on a dry cloth in place of the Swiffer Wet Cleaning Cloth; Swiffer Wet Cloths are actually made for mopping floors so there may be some cleaning agent in there that's causing the streaks, even though I rinsed with vinegar water. I'll let you know how it turns out when I use Sparkle Window Cleaner for my experiment on the front windows of my house. It's like most of my cleaning short-cut ideas...lots of trial and error here!

I will be participating at WeareThatfamily today! Look there for other money-saving and time-saving ideas.