When should I get them done?

Most of my customers are what I call "event-driven". They are waiting for an occasion to get their windows cleaned: a wedding reception, a graduation party, a bar/bat mitzvah, selling the house, moving into the house, or a visit from a mother-in-law. (I am not kidding). Between the events, some of them just close the blinds. When they do finally call, it is often when I cannot fit them in on a week's notice.

This is why I think you should get them done on some regular frequency. If you do that, your windows will never make your house look like an abandoned warehouse just before that important client comes over for dinner. That means you have one less thing to worry about while you are dashing into Publix on the way home to pick up those pre-fabricated chicken cordon bleu.

How often should I get them done?

Before you decide this, you need to just get them done and then gage the time it takes for them to get dirty again. Now, I'm not talking about letting them get as dirty as they were when you first called! you need to decide how dirty you are willing to let them get.

You might be surprised to find out that a good job lasts a long time. When done well, the windows have no dirt left on them for other new dirt to "drift" up on. Whatever is left behind and is barely visible will become more visible as time goes by and other dirt collects on top of it. Because I soap down the windows and squeegee the dirty water off, I leave nothing visible behind. That's because soaping down the whole window creates a suspension, a liquid film made up of the dirt and soapy water together. Then, I scrape off the whole thing with a crisp rubber squeegee blade.

People who clean their windows with Windex and paper towels, or something like that, simply create a paste and polish the windows with it. With this method, you can only be sure of picking up some of the dirt. Almost immediately, new dust and pollen find old dirt to bond with as it blows by. These jobs are hard work and don't last as long as jobs cleaned with a good squeegee. When I've called customers back after 3 months, they usually tell me, "They still look great! Call me next season!"

Since a good job lasts so long, it really doesn't matter when you get it done. A day's rain is not going to replace what took 6 months to accumulate. Get done now, and then decide your own standard of window cleanliness. Don't use the calendar, use your own eyes!

Do you also clean the screens?

I dust off cobwebs at no extra charge. Taking them off and washing them is a lot of extra work and will be charged accordingly.

This site is sponsored by SqueegeesByMail.com. We carry Unger professional equipment for the residential window cleaner.