Your First Open-Window Clean of the Year

Sometime in May, you get that first weekend where it is warm enough to throw the windows open. The breeze comes in and you realize how stale your house has been since November. You also notice things you have been walking past all winter. The grime in the window tracks. The grey film on the screens. The dust shelf behind every radiator.

Here is what to clean on that first open-window weekend. It takes a few hours and makes the whole house feel different.

Window tracks

This is the worst one. Five months of condensation, dust, and whatever else has settled into those aluminum tracks leaves a sticky, dark line of grime. You cannot get it with a regular cloth.

What works: Sprinkle baking soda along the track. Pour a little white vinegar over it and let it fizz for five minutes. Use an old toothbrush to scrub the loosened grime out of the corners. Wipe it all out with a damp cloth or paper towel. For really caked-on buildup, use a butter knife wrapped in a thin cloth to dig into the grooves.

Do every window you plan to open this summer. It takes about five minutes per window once you get a rhythm going.

Window screens

Pull the screens out and look at them in the sunlight. They will have a grey film of dust, cobwebs, and early pollen on them. Every breeze through a dirty screen pushes that stuff into your house. If anyone in your home has allergies, clean screens are even more important during spring pollen season.

Lean the screens against the house outside. Spray them down with the garden hose. If they are really dirty, mix a little dish soap in a bucket and gently scrub them with a soft brush. Rinse and let them dry completely before putting them back in.

Window sills

Wipe every sill with a damp cloth. Check for mould, especially on north-facing windows and any windows in the bathroom or kitchen. Condensation builds up on cold glass all winter and drips down onto the sill. Black spots along the edges are mould.

For light mould, a mix of one part white vinegar to one part water works well. Spray it on, let it sit for ten minutes, and wipe it off. For anything serious, you may need something stronger or a professional to look at it.

Behind the radiators

If your home has baseboard heaters or old cast-iron radiators, pull them away from the wall if you can, or reach behind them with a long duster or vacuum crevice tool. Five months of circulating warm air creates a thick dust shelf behind every heat source in the house. That dust has been gently cooking all winter, which is part of why the house smells stale.

This is one of those jobs that people never think to do. Once you see what comes out, you will understand why it matters.

The glass itself

Clean the glass inside and out. Inside first, because you have been looking through winter grime so long you have stopped noticing it.

Inside: Spray glass cleaner or a vinegar and water mix. Wipe with a microfibre cloth or newspaper. Wipe in one direction on the inside and the other direction on the outside. That way you can tell which side a streak is on.

Outside: If you can reach them, spray and wipe. For upper floors, a squeegee on an extension pole does the job. Or just do the ones you can reach safely. No window is worth a fall from a ladder.

Ceiling fan blades

If you have ceiling fans, flip them to summer mode (counter-clockwise, pushing air down) and wipe the blades first. They have collected a winter's worth of dust. Turn the fan on without cleaning the blades and you will send dust flying across the room.

A damp cloth works. An old pillowcase slipped over each blade and pulled off slowly catches the dust inside the case instead of dropping it on your floor. Old trick, but it works.

The payoff

This whole list takes a Saturday morning. When you are done, that first real breeze of the year comes through clean windows, over clean sills, through clean screens. The house smells like outside air for the first time in months.

It is one of the best feelings of spring.

If you would rather spend that Saturday doing something else, we can handle the open-window clean for you. Give us a call.