Does Windex Work?

Glass cleaners promise the world, but can they really clean the glass? In this post, we look at how to best use these cleaners, when you need to.

You might be asking; a window cleaning company talking about Windex?  While few would expect professional results from a two dollar bottle of cleaning solution, everybody has some of it around the house, and everyone uses it from time to time. So we at Squeegee Pro thought we would give everyone some tips for how to best use it if you are going to.

What is in Windex?

Windex®, Formula 409®, "the blue stuff" are sold as being a quick and effective way of cleaning your glass and hard surfaces. Windex® Original, according to the manufacture's MSDS is composed primarily of water, rubbing alcohol, and  Ethylene glycol Monohexyl ether.  So basically water, alcohol, and a solevent.  Each manufacturer has their own formula, but they seem to be all about the same. Sometimes Ammonia is added as a degreaser.

Disadvantages

The disadvantage with these types of products is that when people use them, often they make things worse.  We’ve  all seen a window that has been "cleaned" only to notice the dirt on the windows has been replaced with smudges and wipe marks on the glass. Often Squeegee Pro get’s called in to clean windows after the home owner or janitorial service has already tried to clean the windows with spray.

It can often make our job more difficult when people have attempted to clean their windows with these chemicals, sometimes making the stains harder to remove (we have found this to be especially true on tinting film).

The Secret To Using Windex

In a nutshell it comes down to putting in sweat equity and elbow grease. These cleaning chemicals cannot make all the stuff that was on the glass magically go away.  So your job, if you choose to accept it, is to manually removal everything that is on the glass by rubbing off. What cleaners like Windex can do to help is help make the soiling lift off the glass, break down oils, and so forth.  But, if you fail to fully remove it from the surface, all you are doing is moving it around on the glass.  If there was one take away from this post it would be this: keep using fresh clean paper towels, you can't keep rubbing with a dirty towel, if you do, you'll begin transferring the dirt back onto the glass.

Tips For Cleaning Glass:

1. Clean the glass when it is cool, mornings are best.
2. Get  plenty of lint-free paper towels (more than you think you need).
3. Liberally spray on cleaning solution (more than you think you need).
4. Wipe up the excess, then quickly use another set of paper towel and really put the elbow grease into it.
5. Repeat as necessary.

So basically our opinion is that for a small problem, Windex will get the job done; if you are willing to put in the time and elbow grease. That being said, this window cleaner has never seen a spray bottle match the results obtained by a professional.  Even if it could, the amount of time it would take to effectively clean a large number of windows with these kinds of products is why professional window cleaners do not use them.

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