What Actually Causes Windows to Get Dirty So Quickly After Cleaning

Do you find it especially maddening when you clean windows, thinking they’re going to be looking clear and sparkling for some time – only for them to go all smudgy again in no more than 48 hours? Well, you’re not alone! That brief sense of satisfaction, followed abruptly by a return to the dirty status quo, can be infuriating.

The fact of the matter is, windows really do get dirtier faster than most other things in the home. It’s not just your imagination. Several factors come together to make our windows get mucked up by dust, dirt and other forms of gunk almost before we’ve finished admiring their gleaming cleanliness.

Our atmosphere is full of tiny particles like dust, pollen, pollution and smog. Even microscopic traces of exhaust fumes from cars, farm chemicals and chemicals from factory smoke can be floating around, waiting to land on our spotless window panes. Glass, you see, carries a static charge. It has a real magnetic effect when it comes to attracting these types of airborne particles, literally sucking in the floating dirt and debris just as soon as your cloth stops touching the surface of the window. Dust bunnies, meet window smudges! No wonder your windows seem to get grimy a lot sooner than, say, your television set or your picture frames!

Rainwater might sound like something of a blessing to smudged-up windows everywhere, but it actually has a bad habit of making them look even worse. Rainwater picks up any number of minerals, including calcium and magnesium ions, along the way, which leaves streaks and mineral deposit marks when it evaporates off the glass surface. If the soil where you live has a high water table, water that contains those minerals is going to soak into the ground and rise up again as water vapour. This isn’t good news for people living in areas with hard tapwater, either. In these locales, even domestic tap water will leave streaks and mineral deposits behind. For Commercial Window Cleaners Cheltenham, visit https://intocleaning.co.uk/contract-cleaning-services/commercial-window-cleaners/cheltenham/

Your average domestic window cleaning solution contains ‘surfactants’ – soapy additives which help break down stains. These substances are great when it comes to getting rid of stubborn spots, but they don’t evaporate completely. The residues of these agents are often sticky enough to attract far more dirt. Meanwhile, professional window cleaners are usually careful to use nothing other than water that has been carefully purified, so there is nothing left once it dries. Absolutely nothing for dust, dirt and stains to stick to. Just lovely, pure, crystal clear glass.

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