Hello and hurray! It's Friday! (Fridays are the one day I don't have to go anywhere these days—except to and from the bus stop, so I LOVE them.) I think it is time for a new Feng Shui Challenge, don't you? Don't worry, this one is highly practical and fairly obvious: Wash your Windows (#18 in the book 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home)
Dirty windows stop your vision from seeing the view beyond. It's not hard to relate this in a figurative sense. Cloudy vision keeps you from looking beyond yourself into the world around you. Likewise, dirty windows keep the sun from shining into your home, thus blocking the energy/chi that flows into your home.
When we built our home in Utah, we moved in next door to a professional window washer. Yes, Dave actually washed windows for a living and he was very good at it. Since he offered to wash our windows in exchange for dinner and a movie out (double date), we took him up on it—multiple times. In fact, I'm pretty sure I never once washed my own windows during the 5 years we lived there. They just didn't get dirty very often in the city.
Now on the farm, dirty windows are hard to ignore.
Between pets' noses, baby's sticky hands, and the dust and grit that is ever present on the farm, my windows do not stay clean for long. And so, I have had to learn to do this job which, I'm afraid, isn't my favorite. I've had to come up with a system that works for me.
These are my tools:
A bucket of hot, soapy water: I use Dawn dish soap. And the hottest water possible. Wash the inside windows first (less dirty) and then the outside. My outside windows are always covered in spider webs in the corners, so my water gets pretty gross by the time I'm finished.
A good scrubber: Mine comes off the handle and I can toss it in the wash.
A good squeegee: Squeegee quality and technique is everything, I'm telling you. Neighbor Dave could work the squeegee like I've never seen—so fast and no streaks. He could do our entire house, inside and out, in about an hour. It takes me about an hour to do just my main living areas. (The bedrooms don't get done very often!)
A long handle: I prefer not to use the handle for better control, but outside there are just places I can't reach without it.
A micro fiber cloth: I use this to wipe the excess water from the sills and clean the window frames if needed.
Rubber gloves: Fold the edges back into a cuff to catch the drips.
Newspaper and Windex: Follow up with this for a streak-free shine. If you care about that. My windows are old and imperfect anyway, so I embrace the streaks and do the best job I can do with the squeegee. They'll get dirty again anyway, right?
Ah, much better. I love having clean windows. Though now you can see all the chipped paint on the deck, the sad railing, the half-done landscaping job, the weeds, and the dry dry grass that hasn't seen a lick of rain lately and hasn't been watered either. And this door leaks like a sieve (despite the extra weather stripping we've added and our pets have proceeded to chew up) and needs replaced badly.
Gotta go. I have too much work to do!