How Often Should You Clean Your Windows in Northeast Georgia?
People ask us how often they should get their windows cleaned, and it mostly comes down to where your house sits and what is around it. A house on a wooded lot in Winder doesn’t get dirty the same way as a house on open pasture in Commerce, or a rental near campus in Athens.
The short answer
For most homes around Athens, Jefferson and the surrounding towns, twice a year works well for the outside, usually once in spring and once in fall. Inside glass can usually go once a year unless you’ve got kids, pets or a lot of windows that get touched.
Treat that as a starting point. The things below can push it either way.
Spring: work around the pollen
Anyone who’s lived in Northeast Georgia knows the yellow week, when pine pollen coats every car, porch and window in town. If you get your windows cleaned right before the heaviest pollen falls, you’ll be looking at a yellow film again a week later.
Our advice is to book your spring cleaning for after the worst of it has dropped. Pollen timing shifts from year to year, so we can’t give you an exact date, but if you call early we can get you on the schedule for when it makes sense. Spring is also our busiest season, so calling a few weeks ahead helps.
Fall: after the leaves, before the holidays
The second cleaning we’d suggest is in the fall. By then, summer storms have splashed dirt and red clay onto the lower panes, and the leaves are coming down. We like to clean after most of the leaves are down and before family comes in for the holidays. Gutters are worth doing around the same time.
What makes windows get dirty faster
Open land and dirt roads
A lot of homes in Commerce, Nicholson, Bogart and the country parts of Jackson and Oconee counties sit on open land, gravel drives or near fields. Dust gets kicked up and sticks to the glass and screens. Those houses often look better on a three- or four-month schedule.
Trees
Wooded lots mean more pollen, sap and leaf debris. Tree-shaded windows also stay damp longer, which can leave spots.
Sprinklers and hard water
If your sprinklers hit the windows, minerals from the water dry on the glass and build up into hard-water spots. Those get harder to remove the longer they sit. If you see white spots on your lower windows, it’s worth adjusting the sprinkler heads and getting the glass cleaned sooner rather than later.
New construction
If you just moved into a new build in Hoschton, Braselton or one of the newer neighborhoods around Jefferson, your windows probably still have sticker residue, paint specks or drywall dust on them. That’s a one-time post-construction cleaning, and then you can go on a normal schedule.
Screened porches
Screened porches catch a lot of pollen, and dirty screens make the clean glass behind them look dull. If you use your porch a lot, cleaning the screens each spring makes a big difference.
Inside windows
Inside glass gets smudged by hands, pets’ noses and cooking grease near the kitchen. Most of our customers do the inside once a year with a deep cleaning, plus spot cleaning on their own in between.
Don’t forget the parts that aren’t glass
Frames, sills and tracks get cleaned on every window job we do. Tracks especially fill up with dirt, dead bugs and pollen, and once they’re packed, windows and sliders start to stick. Cleaning them once or twice a year keeps everything working right.
A schedule that works for most homes
- Spring (after the heavy pollen): outside glass, screens, tracks; inside if it’s been a year.
- Fall (after most leaves): outside glass; gutters if needed.
- As needed: post-construction cleaning, move-out cleaning for rentals, or before a big event at the house.
If you want to get a spring or fall cleaning on the calendar, request a free quote.
If you would rather hand it off, see what our window cleaning service includes.
Signs it’s time, whatever the calendar says
- You can see a yellow or gray film when the sun hits the glass in the afternoon.
- White spots are showing up on the lower panes near the sprinklers.
- Your windows or sliders have started to stick or grind.
- You’re about to list the house, have photos taken, or host a big gathering.
- Cobwebs and bug debris are piling up in the corners of the screens.
Any one of those is reason enough to get things cleaned, even if it has only been a few months.
Every first-time clean is done by hand, nose to glass. We detail the glass, frames, tracks, sills and screens, using a mop, squeegee and scrubber, with a razor only where appropriate for the glass. After that, regular visits go faster and we can use a water-fed pole on much of the outside glass. Every job has our 7-day rain guarantee.
If you’re not sure what your house needs, call us at (706) 870-3769 or send a quote request. We’ll ask a few questions and tell you whether twice a year makes sense or whether once every year or two is plenty.
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