To go about cleaning windows after you power wash a residential house what process would you use to clean the windows? After all, if it’s not sunny out chances are the windows will still be wet when you have completed washing the house. Should the frame of each window be wiped with a rag prior to cleaning, alleviating any chance of drips? Or is there a better way?
I wipe the tops and bottoms of frames on 2nd and 3rd floor windows, and the tops of 1st floor just so dripping isn’t an issue. It doesn’t matter if the windows are still wet and in some cases is better because the windows aren’t spotty. On some houses I’ve done when the windows dried the spotting was really bad and needed serious scraping because of the minerals coming off the house and from the water out of the pwer.
Got home 10 mins ago from doing a house that was PW’ed last week … talk about mineral deposits 
It wasn’t too bad, but I’ve had less complicated days.
It’s important to always rinse well after washing to insure that all the chemical has been rinsed off the house. Most guys use a bleach (sodium hypoclorite) solution to clean, which is great. The problem is when bleach drys, the residue left behind is sodium, or salt. This will appear kinda like hard water stains on glass.
I am trying to get a RO system that is safe for the pressure washer pump. does anybody know of one?
I am a one man show so all the windows have spots on them when i finish pressure washing, talk about a pane in my butt…
There are water conditioners you can buy to help, such as this kind, http://sunbrite.stores.yahoo.net/sosowaco.html
Micah, any experience with these. Do they really work to help reduce spotting?
I didn’t PW the house, actually the PW’er gave me the contact and I landed the gig.
i hook up my pressure washer to the house, do you need a water storage container to use this product?
I’ve never used a water softener, but have always been curious. I assume you either add it to your house wash or use it as a rinse agent. Both ways you’d have to down stream or use an X-Jet I’d bet.
Most times when we clean the windows on a house after we PW it we simply start cleaning the windows on the side of the house we started the PW. The windows and frames are usually dry or near dry depending on the size of the house. If they are wet just use a rag where anything would drip on the glass.
i guess that is out for me then, i just use straight water with a yellow tip…
I’ve used SimpleCherry: Simple Cherry House Wash / Multi Purpose Cleaner 10 lbs - Pressure Tek
Not only will it soften the water, but it will help clean with your bleach mix. It will cover the bleach smell as well. It’s definatly the best way to pressure (or, low pressure) wash a house.
I’m not saying Sunbrite’s SoSoft is no good, I’ve just never used it, or knew of anybody else to use it. I’ve met Sunbrite’s owner though, and I’m sure if it’s on his website it works pretty good.
Starbrite, are you kidding about using only water?
nope, i only use water unless i have rust or oil stains on the driveways
Are you happy with the results and the time it took you to get the results? I could give you a few suggestions that I’m sure would cut your time in half.
in my area where i live we have all stucco houses, so there is only cob webs and brown dirt. that is why i just use straight water, its just like rinsing after you use a chemical.
But i am always up for info on how to cut down time.
btw, when i pressure wash a 3000sf house it will take me about 2 hours that includes all the walls,entry way and facia and eaves.
Has anyone ever power washed with RO or DI water? I know that it probably isn’t great for pump seals etc, just wondered if anyone here does it?
My good friend an former boss has power washed (rinsed) glass before, with a DI tank set-up. Nice results with that. I don’t know if it would be cost effective to power wash a house with the set-up though. I would think it would not be worth the $, but I could be wrong.
Alberto E.
Starbrite, you may be interested in the new thread “How to speed up Pressure Washing”. I bet you could cut your time down to 45 minutes on a 3000sf stucco home that only has cob webs and blown dirt on it.
We did a parking deck once that had staircases that had windows in it. These things were nasty and none of my guys wanted to do them by hand. When I say nasty I mean homeless people use the bathroom and everything in them.
One of my guys had a small pressure washer real small like a car washer 1200 PSI and asked why we couldnt use it with DI water. I said in theory you should be able to. They pressure washed the thing and it came down perfect. All the glass dried down spot free and debris free.
There has to be technology out there concerning the pump situation I mean we have spot free rinse at the car wash.
Yeah this can be done, you could always use an xjet.
