Spring Cleaning Chronicles: Window Cleaning

Every year I have an argument with myself over when I should start my spring cleaning. Why? Because… Michigan… that’s why. However, I don’t know why, but I always get the urge to deep clean my house before I go on vacation. Something about leaving a clean home and coming back to a clean home makes me very happy. So I decided to start my spring cleaning a little earlier this year—despite it feeling like early October outside-- because I’m going on vacation very soon! And I usually start with the place they say allows you to see inside someone’s soul…and in this literal case, house. The windows!

            I don’t know about you, but I have so many windows in my house. Though this is great for that morning-cup-of-coffee type feeling, it kind of sucks to clean and maintain. But, I think one of the most important parts of cleaning the window isn’t only the glass. It’s the inner part between the screen and window itself. To me, I feel like it’s so important to keep that part clean, because anytime you want to open your window a little bit of that dirt and dust is going to creep its way into your home, onto your floors and you just don’t want that.

            So, I first begin by taking a Kirkland disinfecting wipe, or a damp paper towel and just wipe away whatever obvious dirt is visible. You can use Clorox wipes, or Lysol wipes, too. I just use Costco’s Kirkland brand because I feel like it does the same job. Often times, there forms a pile of dirt up in a corner that you just want to yell at, like this:

 It’s almost as irritating as trying to wear mascara and having some end up on your nose. Anyway, that dirt build up can be lessened by this easy trick-- and a lot of you hijabi sisters have plenty of these laying around – a straight pin!

If you just take a straight pin, and kind of polk at the dirt enough to break it down, you will see a bigger difference, like so:

You can use that straight pin trick in a lot of other instances around your home, whether it’s a corner in a kitchen cabinet or in a small crease of a coffee table.

So, after I finish breaking down the annoying dirt pile, I continue wiping away any excess dirt from the inner part of the window, and then proceed to clean the glass with a glass cleaner and ledges around the window with a damp paper towel or disinfecting wipe.

 In order to not kill myself in this process, I tend to do one room at a time so that way I can spread out my work  load, and not have my neighbors think I’m crazy.

Stay tuned for more of my spring cleaning chronicles…and please feel free to share some of the ways you clean your windows!!

-M