It has been a while since I cleaned Pella storms and the job today was particularly trying. Some were basic storms and some with venecian blinds between the glass. The home owner said that the guy that sold him the windows, said they should not be cleaned using any cleaning solution - just water - on the two inside panes where the Low E film is.
I first tried using pure water from my cart on a microfiber, and attempted drying with another microfiber (mf). It took 2 mf towels to dry and it was more of a smear it around process until the combination of evaporation and slow absorption dried it down.
My next attempt was using clean huck towels to dry - but it seemed that there was a touch of residue on the huck towels (a micro-trace of laundry detergent?) that was magnified by the low E film.
I attempted to squeegee the water applied by the mf but very difficult dragging w/ no slip and I didn’t care for the water that ran into the seal.
I finally gave up on pure water and just used tap water on a mf towel and drying with huck towels.
BUT, when the the inside pane of outer-most glass panel fogged a bit with condensation, I COULD SEE ALL OF MY TOWEL MARKS (OR SQUEEGEE MARKS AS THE CASE MAY BE). Although these became invisible again when the condensation dissipated, the whole thing was incredibly tedious, time-consuming and left me with questions of whether I was attaining top-tier professional cleaning for these windows.
[B]What works well for you in getting a flawless, timely clean on Pella storm windows? [/B]
you can use your basic solution. whatever soap you use and water. don’t bother fanning. it’s too sticky. straight-pull the low-e side (inner surface) of the storm. don’t bother trying to remove glue, oily fingerprints etc. just one gentle application of solution, and a couple of gentle straight-pulls, that’s all they get. that’s the penalty for buying the world’s dumbest product.
you can flip the blinds over the back so they are out of the way, just be careful. as for the fogging, dry the edges thoroughly, even getting in behind the rubber gasket. let them sit for 10-15 minutes before you put them back together. if they fog after that, it will be minor and will dissipate after a couple of hours.
don’t ever listen to a pella dealer. they are ignorant employees of an ignorant company.
I take all the pella storms off, clean both sides of the storm. Do the inside of the windows (using a stripwasher and joy dish soap for solution) squeegee them clean, detail the edges.
Once all insides are cleaned I start putting the storms back on starting from the first one I cleaned the inside of (that way it leaves time for inside to dry so they don’t fog up)
You don’t need to use straight water. I use Glass Gleam 3 on them and have never had a problem.
Take them apart and clean the #2 & #3 surfaces (in between the panes). Leave the windows disassembled as you work through the home. You can even leave them apart while you do the exterior if they are slow to dry. Then, as your last step, put the insert back in place and then clean the innermost surface when it’s back in place. By waiting to clean the inside surface when it’s in place, you can touch the glass if you need to while installing it. Finally, reinsert the screens and get a check from a happy customer.
Homeowners are usually intimidated by the Pellas, so they will be happy to see you get them done for them. But they aren’t hard. Just establish a system and knock them out. They’re popular in my area and I estimate that I’ve disassembled and cleaned 10,000+ of them over the years. I would rather clean a house with Pellas than one with double-hung windows with storms.
