Window-cleaning is easy to skip. A survey has found that one in five of us never bothers. So desperate housekeepers may be surprised to learn that in these dark months, window-cleaning can be something of a cheap trick. Make your window panes gleam, and everything inside and out seems brighter and more welcoming.
If you are sensible, you will pay someone else to do the outside. For the insides, remember, the greyer the day, the better the chance to tackle the task — sunshine makes smears hard to see.
The professional window-washers seem to get by with the most basic accoutrements: a bucket of soapy water, a cloth and a squeegee. But there are manufacturers that can make the job even simpler. First, clean the frames, wiping away the cobwebs that multiply in the window opening and getting into the grimy corners. Lakeland (www.lakelandlimited.co.uk) has a track cleaner for £4.95 with stiff, curved bristles specifically for this purpose. But an old toothbrush will do.
For sparkling glass, traditionalists swear by a solution of one part white vinegar to four parts water, but you have to rub this hard with old newspaper to avoid smears. Cleaning materials such as Windolene glide on more easily.
Betterware’s Stay Clean window-cleaner (£4.99, www.betterware.co.uk) contains, as well as a detergent, an invisible protective coating that the makers claim will keep windows clean for six months.
Advertisement
As for the polishing, all that exhausting circular rubbing, help yourself by applying your chosen solution sparingly and use the right sort of lint-free cloth. Avoid chamois leather: a pure linen scrim, boiled first to make it soft, is effective, as is an old T-shirt. But perhaps the best is E-cloth’s window-cleaning pack at £11.95 (www.e-cloth.com) made of millions of tiny fibres that soak up dirt without the need for chemicals.
Slog rating: 3/5
Satisfaction rating: 5/5
Do you have any desperate housekeeping tips? E-mail desperatehousekeeping@thetimes.co.uk or write to Desperate Housekeeping, times2, I Pennington Street, London E98 1TT