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Sliding glass doors can bring the beauty of the outdoors inside while also letting plenty of sunshine stream into your home. You don’t want all of this beauty to be upstaged by smudges on the glass or dirt in the tracks! Cleaning sliding glass doors is not as tough as you might assume, but it is a task you need to keep up with. Here are four easy tips for cleaning the sliding glass doors on your Michigan home.
Your first thought may be to reach for the bottle of blue window cleaner. However, it can be tough to get a streak-free shine with such a cleaner. A more effective way to get the perfect clean is to fill a bucket with warm, sudsy water. You can either use dish soap or a dedicated foaming window soap. Wash the windows with this solution, and then use a squeegee to remove it.
Start squeegeeing your patio doors at the top. Drag the squeegee from left to right, and then lift it when you get to the far right side. Go across the window again in the same right-to-left manner, overlapping this stroke with the previous one. Wipe the squeegee off with a clean towel between strokes.
A bright sunny day might seem like the perfect time for cleaning sliding glass doors, but the sunshine tends to dry the glass windows too quickly. You’re better off waiting to clean your doors until there is a day that’s warm, yet cloudy. Clean the inside of the door first, since it is likely cleaner than the outside, and then move to the outside of the door. Change your bucket of water and rinse the squeegee between outside and inside.
The easiest way to keep your doors sliding freely is to vacuum the tracks regularly. Make this a regular part of your routine whenever you vacuum your Michigan home. Use your vacuum’s wand attachment to make sure you get into the crevices and remove all dust and debris. If you see any caked-on dust or grime in the tracks, dip a cottonswab in some soapy water, and use the swab to reach into the tracks and wipe away the grime. You can also use a cottonswab to clean the crevice between the glass and the door frame.
It’s best to clean the sashes, frames, and grilles before you clean the glass components of the doors. This way, if you get cleaning products on the glass, they’ll be cleared away when you scrub and squeegee the glass.
To clean the frames, sashes, and grilles, spray some gentle cleaning solution on a rag, and then carefully wipe down these components. Do not scrub too hard as you do not want to loosen the glass within the frame – especially if the door is older. If you have wooden frames, you can apply a little wood polish to a rag and very carefully apply it to the wood, being careful not to get it on the glass.
Are your sliding patio doors looking a bit worse for wear? If even a good cleaning won’t spruce them up, contact Renewal by Andersen to learn about our many patio door replacement options for your Michigan home.