Window Cleaning
How to Clean Window Screens Without Tearing Them
By Solpath Window Detailing · Published · Updated
To clean window screens, take each one out and mark which opening it came from, lay it flat, scrub both sides gently with a soft brush and mild soapy water, rinse with a garden hose at low pressure, and let it dry fully before refitting. Never use a pressure washer: it stretches the mesh and pops the spline out of the frame.
Why screens matter more than they look
A screen sits between the glass and everything the wind carries. It traps dust, pollen and salt, and every breeze and every rain shakes some of it back onto the window behind it. Clean glass behind a dirty screen does not stay clean for long.
It also changes the view. A gray screen dulls a clean window more than most people expect, and it is often what makes a house look tired from the street.
Step by step
- Take each screen out and mark which opening it came from; screens that look identical often are not
- Lay it flat on a clean drop cloth or a smooth patch of lawn, never on concrete that can scratch the frame
- Brush off loose dust dry, before anything gets wet
- Scrub both sides gently with a soft brush and mild soapy water
- Rinse with a garden hose, from a distance, at low pressure
- Stand it on edge to drain and let it dry fully before it goes back in
What not to do
- Put a pressure washer on the mesh
- Scrub hard with a stiff brush, which stretches and tears older screen
- Lean on the mesh while you work
- Refit a wet screen, which traps water in the track
When a screen needs replacing, not cleaning
Mesh that has gone brittle in the sun, has holes, or has pulled away from the spline will not come back with washing. Cleaning it can finish it off. We point those out before we start rather than after.
How often
Every time the windows are cleaned. Washing the glass and leaving the screens is the most common reason a window cleaning seems not to last.
