Cleaning windows

[joette]

It's funny how little things can spark so many memories.The sun is shining at last great but it did show how dirty the windows were.
I set to with my cloth & Windowlene.Soon with lots of elbow grease they are shining!
It took me back to my Granny's house & one of my earliest memories of her before she married my Grandpa & still lived in her tenement.She had a wee hole in the wall bed & I can remember waking up in it & being googled eyed because Granny was hanging out the window! Obstensively to clean it but as I know how she loved to gas I am sure she was chatting to her neighbours.Unusal for me to be there as Granny didn't do babysitting & I must have been four or under.
I could feel the cosiness of the blankets & the oddness of not being with my Mum & I can see the wee clock which ticked by the bed & Granny had glued something on top of it.She was aye fond of accessorising &changing things long before the House Doctor &Changing Rooms.
I remember my Mum used to clean her windows with either vinegar & newspaper or just newspaper & elbow grease.It was a matter of pride to have your windows clean for the weekend & off course New Year.
The curtains would be newly washed & ironed & blowing in the breeze or gale depending on the time of year! Mum would have us "help" doing the bits that little arms could reach & we would be singing or listening to stories or being told off depending on what was happening then.That seemed to coincide with the teen years & we were expected to do them by ourselves-no fun!
I know when I went to USA for the first time how shocked I was that the windows were rarely washed.They didn't seem to need it though maybe the higher altitude in the Rockies!
Remember when you just knew that some grown-up was spying on you from some window ready to report your every misdeed?
Looking out the window to see if Granny&Grandpa were getting of the bus or if Daddy was coming home from work.?
That's the windows done only problem is now the paintwork's looking grubby! That can wait the decorator's coming next month so there's not much point & I'd rather be chasing my lang deid ones anyway!

[Anne H]

Ahh, Joette,

I love your memories...I hope you're making a book and keeping them safe for future generations.

I remember when I first came to the USA. I lived in New Jersey in a second floor apartment and was hanging out the window, and yes, cleaning them with vinegar and newspaper, just like our mothers did, but I guess the neighbours weren't familiar with people hanging out the window...someone called the police...they must have thought I was going to jump I made sure the police realized that I was in fact cleaning windows and finished quickly and went inside...only then, did the police leave

Regards,
Anne H

[joette]

I'm just seeing it all in my minds eye!
Maybe a good idea for Christmas-then folk could chip in with their own memories & correct any mistakes! I remember telling my niece about something that happened to me in childhood & I could visualise it & remember it well when my big sister piped"That was me not you" We had a great wee discussion about it & then brought in the big guns(our Mum) & she settled it all with.For years I had thought it had happened to me but it was in fact my big sister's experience & I hadn't even witnessed it!

[Rab]

Great stuff. My uncle still uses old newspaper and vinegar to clean the windows- swears by it. I noticed a couple of years ago some window cleaning products proudly claiming to include vinegar in their mix when in fact vinegar on it's own does the job.

[HeatherH]

Have to agree with you there Rab. My favorite by far and smells better than the amonia based cleaners. Not to mention better for people with alergies too.
HH

[Waverley]

I'm just catching up with some of the stories and just cleaned my windows yesterday all ground floor level which was safer than when I lived in a Glasgow tenement 3 floors up, you would slide up the bottom half window sit outside facing in pull the window back down so that it held you there, then pulled the top half down clean it push it back up and clean the bottom half.
I now have a brigther outlook for the New Year

[joette]

Been attempting to do my Christmas /New Year cleaning but don't have much energy but have a great tip for cleaning windows/mirrors.
Yon rinse aid for the dishwasher on a cloth-rub it off-no smears & no drips.

[Waverley]

Hi Joette
Thanks for that tip and I will have to try it this morning as the morning sun has come up you would not think I had done them yesterday, smears every where. Still should I complain about the rising sun and its going to be 27 degrees today

[Wee Ann]

I read your posts about cleaning windows and it jogged my memory of a trip to the supermarket a few weeks ago. Two ladies were discussing the merits of two different window cleaning product, and seemed unable to choose between them. I approached and asked one of the ladies if she had any vinegar at home. She assured me that she did, and I told her it would do exactly the same job as the products she was looking at. She seemed quite surprised as she had never heard of using vinegar for that purpose. They returned the bottles to the shelf, nodded to each other and thanked me before continuing with their shopping.
Wee Ann

[paddyscar]

... should I complain about the rising sun and its going to be 27 degrees today

Hi Waverly:

Only if you want the snow witch to transport you to my place ... -25 with 2+ feet of snow

Merry Christmas,
Frances