Do you remove sliding door screens for screen washing? I had a job yesterday with two of them, could not get them off to clean, so I cleaned them on the tracks. I know with my own screen door, if I lift the rollers at the bottom, it pops right off, but on this job, I couldn’t get to the rollers. Any suggestions or what is it that you all do?
Thanks,
Joie ~ N. CA
If they come off easy, yes. If it’s not easy to remove them they get cleaned in place. If they only need a quick wipe I always clean them on the track. JMO
I try not to take them off as much as possible. You never know what condition the rollers are in and they may fall right out. If it comes off really eaisy I might clean it. In most cases I just leave them on.
I never take them off the track. I can’t get them back on! Take a hose and spray them down, do whatever is necessary, but don’t lift them out! Also, do the sliding door first, close the screen, and do the other one. Sometimes the weather stripping from the screen will ruin your clean glass.
Thanks Everyone! I did spray them good with a hose and gave them a good scrub and rinsed well. I cleaned all of the screens first, including the screens on the sliding doors, then I went around and cleaned the windows, allowing the screens a chance to dry out a bit. There were a few water drops still on the sliding door screens, had my mini shop vac available, tried blowing the water and it worked great! I also wiped them down to make sure they were dry. All the screens looked great, and I did try the tide with bleach.
I am so glad you all advised, not to remove them!!! Whew!
Joie ~ N. CA
I utilize a pair of flexible 1.5" putty knives to remove screens, including doors. If the rollers cannot compress enough to safely clear the tracks, I clean them in place.
Hey Joie,
I should have said I almost never take them off the tracks!
I usually take them off unless they are damaged or old. I never had a problem putting them back on. I just use a screwdriver to lift up one wheel and pull it out then tip it in direction of the wheel i just pulled out and the screen comes out in common case.
Hey Joie,
I almost always clean them in place. As a precaution I always test door functionality before hand and address customer if there is any problem with operation before before I start messing with it.
One time I cleaned a screen door and everything was fine then I got a call the next day that the door was off the track and one of the wheels came off. I knew it couldn’t have been from anything I did but I checked it out anyway. After arriving at the job I noticed a whole bunch of empty wine bottles, full ashtrays and a broken wine glass close to the door. “You had a party here last night didn’t you?” I asked. "I knew then how the door got broke. yes I fixed it and yes I charged for it.
If you need to remove the door, use a thin putty knife (as Larry suggested). It’s easiest to place the putty knife on the track just ahead of the wheels then slide the door and run the wheel over the putty knife and pull that side out (be gentle). Do the other side and the door is off. You can even reverse the steps to replace.
I clean them in place wet them up with my app take my towel and hit the screen a few timesthen just wipe down the screen with a towel .
I always leave the screen on, I wash the screen where it is with my washing wand and then knock it out with a wet rung out rag. Thats how I clean all my screens with the washing wand and a rung out rag. Not sure if its the fastest method? thats just what I was taught.
Lately I have been considering doing only a dry rag wipe down if the screens look pretty clean as that is much faster.
I prefer cleaner to faster, as do my customers.
