3rd floor windows show water spots

April 21, 2007 12:41 PM

How do I clean the outside of windows on my third-floor apartment?

I have nice big floor-to ceiling windows, but I live in a South-facing 3rd floor apt; the direct sun really shows off the filthy rain 'hard water' (read: Washington DC air) stains.

Ladder is out of the question, but I do have a balcony outside some of the windows. The others are ~ 6 feet away and only open ~1/2 a foot.

If I had a hose, this question would be moot, but I don't. I have an extension pole for a squeegee, but that's only half the solution.

Surely there's an easy way to clean hard-to-reach windows?

Google says I should clean my registry

posted by CaptApollo to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

We're on the 3rd floor w/floor to ceiling windows facing in all four directions. We tried the extension squeegee thing once: it worked (kindof), but the water ran down the pole and into the flat, so it was a complete mess. The experience was also rather terrifying (you have to lean way out the window to get to the top). Probably the best thing to do would be to see if your downstairs neighbors have an outside water source and hose you could borrow. I'm not that motivated so now I try to consider the filthy outside windows "character."
posted by sfkiddo at 1:00 PM on April 21, 2007

Is there a way to pull the window out of the frame and back into the house?
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:04 PM on April 21, 2007

The easy way that I washed my unreachable windows was to open the phone book & call someone else to come over & do it. Oh, and then getting the landord to pay for it since the alternative was me suing him after breaking my neck from a fall sustained while trying to wash unreachable windows.
posted by miss lynnster at 1:05 PM on April 21, 2007

Best answer: You need a magnetic window washer! won't do a thing for your registry however
posted by hortense at 4:12 PM on April 21, 2007

Couldn't you use some chemical (hopefully env friendly) like those spray-and-ignore bathroom/shower cleaning ones? Combine that with a rented high pressure hose and you should be able to do a decent job from the ground. Just make sure the folks downstairs have their windows closed. ;)
posted by tiamat at 7:37 PM on April 21, 2007