The kitchen is one of the most utilized spaces in our home since we prepare and store our food in this specific area. Almost every kitchen has a window for ventilation purposes. With constant use of the kitchen, it’s more prone to specks of dirt and stains, requiring regular cleaning and maintenance.
Every now and then, the kitchen window needs proper cleaning. Otherwise, dust and grime will gather, preventing light from entering sufficiently and causing unsanitary environment. Besides, a dirty window can ruin the look of your kitchen area.
To keep your kitchen windows sparkling clean and let the light in correctly, you must follow some tips regularly and maintain them well.
Types of Spots on Kitchen Windows
Kitchen windows can get many spots, whether it’s an exterior-facing window, sliding window, awning window, or the old-school casement window that opens outward. Let’s break down the main types of window stains and spots:
- Water passing through chalk, gypsum, or limestone absorbs high amounts of minerals, creating hard water. It makes spots on kitchen utensils, cookware, windows, and everything else it comes in contact with. For cleaning solutions, there are tips for removing hard water spots from exterior windows that you can try yourself.
- Oil splatters can leave stains on your kitchen windows, no matter where the windows are located. Micro oil droplets can travel through the air and attach on any surface in and around the kitchen, even staining your windows. And if you cook by the windows, the oil is likely to cause stains on your window surfaces.
- Cooking fumes are another culprit of dirty kitchen windows combined with oil. The fumes will make your kitchen windows smokey if not cleaned frequently.
- Spots from glass cleaners and other cleaning solutions are very common across the household, so this requires special attention as well.
Tips for Sparkling Clean Kitchen Windows
There are remedies for every type of dirt and spot on your kitchen window. Routine maintenance will help you keep your kitchen windows sparkling clean. Let’s look closer into these remedies. These tips can help maintain the surfaces well if your kitchen and bathroom are new.
1. Hard Water Spots
Hard water can cover your kitchen windows on both sides if they’re located near the sink and facing the garden. If left unattended for too long, these stains can become permanent.
The following tips can help remove hard water spots and maintain a stainless kitchen window. Take resort of your pantry for inexpensive yet effective removal of hard water spots on your kitchen windows.
DIY Remedies
- Using lemon juice or vinegar will work well if your windows have just started staining from hard water. In a spray bottle, mix either lemon, vinegar, or both with water, shake well, and spray your windows. Let it sit for a few minutes, and wipe it off with a soft cloth.
- Baking soda is abrasive and works well for older hard water stains. Mix a teaspoon of baking soda in sparkling water or bottled mineral water to form a paste. Rub that all over the windows and scrub it off with a clean cloth.
- Using toothpaste on a small damp cloth can work well on small areas with hard water stains.
- Alcohol works well, too, when hard water stains appear on small areas, making it an easy and inexpensive way to maintain your kitchen windows.
Ways to Prevent Hard Water Stains From the Outside
While DIY remedies can help you remove hard water stains from either side of your windows and keep your windows sparkling clean, some additional steps can help you prevent these from the outside. Following is a list of a few things you can add to prevent stains on your kitchen windows:
- You can hire a professional to install a layer of rain repellent. Although the name only mentions rain, this protective layer effectively guards your windows against dust, hard water, and other aggressive elements. Additionally, cleaning will also become more manageable.
- Fix leaky gutters and rain pipes around your house to ensure water doesn’t drip down your kitchen windows.
- Add awnings to your kitchen and other windows as a surface layer of protection.
- If you’re strictly opting for routine cleaning with DIY solutions and not ready to invest in anything extra, you must maintain a routine. This way, your kitchen windows will remain stainless and will last longer.
Remember, these will work for every window in your house, not just those in your kitchen.
2. Oil Splatters
Greasy films are a common problem on kitchen windows due to the microdroplets of oil traveling through the air. You can easily clean them up using things already present in your pantry and laundry room. And if those don’t satisfy you, glass cleaning solutions will do the job perfectly.
DIY Solutions to Remove Grease From Windows
- Mix equal parts water, vinegar, and lemon juice in a spray bottle and shake to mix them well. Spray this solution generously on the greasy window and window and wait for a few minutes. Using a clean cloth, wipe off the grease.
- If the windows have had oil splatters for quite some time now, you’ll have to repeat the previous process until all the grease is removed. As a final wipe, you can dampen a cloth with your prepared solution and wipe off the window and frame.
- Dilute dishwashing liquid soap or degreasing detergent with some water in a spray bottle and spray the solution on the kitchen window and window frame. Scrub with a soft scrubber or an old towel to remove the grease. You may need to repeat this if there’s a build-up of a thick greasy layer.
- You can also create a scrubbing using baking soda and some water. Rub it on the window and scrub it using a damp cloth. It should clear out tough grease on the windows successfully.
3. Cooking Fumes
Cooking fumes are another enemy to kitchen windows and anything else present in the kitchen. If you have a white kitchen, it’ll soon lose its luster due to the cooking smoke. It can also stain outside your kitchen, along with the grease and cooking smell.
Tips to get rid of cooking fume stains, whether just regular cooking fumes or very heavy ones, can help you maintain your kitchen windows and other parts of your kitchen and house. You can even use these to remove cigarette smoke stains in your house.
Cleaning Tips for Cooking Smoke Spots
- Brush or wipe off the excess dust and grime on the windows created from the fumes. You can use a clean and dry microfiber cloth for this, or simply use a coarse cleaning brush. Cover up anything that you don’t want to mess up around that area for this step!
- With a damp cloth, wipe off as much smoke stain from the windows as possible. You can use a wet sponge instead for this step. Removing the initial layer of smoke will help you clean your windows better.
- Wash that sponge thoroughly and dip it in a soapy solution. Squeeze out excess water and clean the smokey window with it. Repeat this process until the windows are almost clean. You can also mix a squeeze of lemon to eliminate the odor accumulating in that smoke layer.
- With a clean, damp cloth, preferably microfiber, give a few final wipes on the window and window frames, and your windows will be clean!
You can repeat these steps for other parts of your home with smoke spots. It’ll even work on cigarette smoke! Be careful with how much water you use, depending on the surface you’re cleaning.
4. Stains From Cleaning Solutions
Yes, even cleaning solutions meant to keep your kitchen windows sparkling clean can stain, especially with dirty clothes or wiping materials for cleaning. Or, if you treat the window spots with hard water, that will leave white, cloudy marks as well.
- Use a clean microfiber cloth to ensure that the cleaning solution doesn’t get leave stains on the surfaces.
- It’s better not to use tap water to prepare the DIY cleaning solutions or scrubs. Instead, use mineral water, filter, or simply boil some water before use to remove water hardness.
- Don’t let cleaning solutions dry on the surface you’re cleaning. Keeping on wiping until the solution dries off.
Additional Tips to Clean Kitchen Windows
To ensure the DIY kitchen solutions and scrubs work well to clean your kitchen windows in and out, it’s essential that you invest in a few things. While microfiber clothes and sponges can scrub off dirt and grime from the surface, the hard-to-reach spots need more intricate tools.
A squeegee is all the rage nowadays. Previously only seen with professional cleaners, this tool is also used at home. You can simply clean and wipe off the water and foamy solutions from the surfaces without leaving a single water droplet in sight.
Clean at least once a week if you want your kitchen to look good as new, even after two decades. This will also allow you to save cleaning time in the future.
Conclusion
With all the cooking, chopping and washing, every part of your kitchen can get stains, especially the windows. Windows don’t only allow proper ventilation but also let the light come in, allowing a brighter environment to work in.
Oil, cooking smoke, hard water, and many other things will stain your kitchen windows. With routine cleaning, you can keep your kitchen windows sparkling clean and avoid cleaning hassles in the future.
