Window cleaning can almost be an art form, but if you invest in the right equipment, you'll be well on your way. With professional gear you can, for example, flip worn rubber and switch to a wider blade when you need to clean larger window sections.

You will need:

Water from a rain barrel or, alternatively, cold tap water mixed with vinegar

Window cleaning soap

Window washer or sponge

High-quality squeegee

Microfiber cloth and tea towel

The right mixture

An important factor is the mix of your wash water. By using a professional window cleaning soap like ours and combining it with water from a rain barrel or condensate from a condenser dryer, you give yourself the best chance of getting streak-free, shiny windows. Ordinary tap water often contains a high amount of limescale, which leaves spots or streaks on your glass. If you have to use tap water, you can add household vinegar to your mixture. The vinegar binds the limescale in the water.

The right technique

Another aspect is technique. If you're washing windows indoors, you should of course wring out some of the water from your washer, while outside you should keep the washer very wet. There is always more dirt and grime on the outside of your windows.

During the actual window cleaning, keep the washer against the glass and, starting from one of the window's corners, move in a reverse S-shape down the entire pane. Let the washer collect the water as you go. As the squeegee moves further down the window, move the washer down accordingly.

It's important to overlap your previous strokes to avoid streaks/marks, and you should not lift the squeegee from the window during cleaning, as this leaves marks. It's usually in the corners and in the middle of the pane that people tend to lift the squeegee to a new area.

Keep your old tea towels

Finally, there's any final polishing and drying. The best tool for polishing is a professional glass microfiber cloth such as Green Tex Glass Superior.

For drying the edges you can use a tea towel. So don't throw away your stained or worn tea towels—use them for window cleaning instead. Old tea towels have been washed many times, which means the fabric's finish has already absorbed so much liquid and dirt that their absorbency is now much better—making them ideal.

Use the tea towel at the very end—and only to dry the window edges. Start with the top edge, then the sides, and finally the bottom. Change to a fresh section of the tea towel each time you do an edge to remove as much water as possible, and avoid using the tea towel to polish the pane if you see any remaining dirt. That will only worsen the result.