Why Saskatoon Windows Streak and Spot
Streaks almost always come from one of four things. The glass dries before you finish, usually because the sun is on it. There's too much soap, which leaves a film. A dirty cloth is pushing old grime around. Or hard water dries on the glass.
The last one is local. The City of Saskatoon's 2023 water report measured our tap water at 177 mg/L hardness, which is hard on every scale Health Canada lists. When tap water evaporates off glass, it leaves those minerals behind as white spots. Our hard water guide explains it in detail. For windows, the fix is simple: don't let tap water air-dry on the glass.
What You Need
- A bucket of warm water with a few drops of dish soap. More is worse.
- A squeegee, and several clean microfibre cloths: one for washing, one or two kept dry for edges.
- For spotty glass, distilled water in a spray bottle for the final wipe. It has no minerals to leave behind.
- For stubborn mineral spots, diluted white vinegar. Keep it off natural stone sills such as marble, which acid etches.
Step by Step
- Dust first. Vacuum the frame, sill and track, and brush off cobwebs. Any loose dust otherwise turns into mud on the glass.
- Pick your moment. Work on the shaded side of the house or on an overcast day, so the glass stays wet until you've squeegeed it.
- Wash. Wet the glass with your soapy cloth or scrubber, covering every corner.
- Squeegee top to bottom, overlapping each stroke slightly, and wipe the blade dry after every stroke. That one habit removes most streaks.
- Detail the edges with a dry microfibre cloth, then wipe any drips off the sill straight away.
- Spots left? Mist with distilled water and buff dry with a clean microfibre cloth.
Screens and Tracks
From spring to fall, screens and tracks collect pollen, dust and cottonwood fluff. Lift the screens out, wash them with mild soapy water and a soft brush, rinse, and let them dry completely before you refit them. For tracks, vacuum first with a crevice tool, then wipe with a damp cloth. An old toothbrush gets into the corners. Our Saskatoon cleaning year covers why the tracks fill up so fast here.
When to Do the Outside Glass Here
Inside glass can be done any time. Outside glass has a season. Water and cleaner freeze on glass below 0°C, so the outside panes need a mild, overcast day before freeze-up. Clean glass going into winter also lets in more of the low winter sun. Spring is the other natural time, once the winter grime and the first pollen have settled on the glass. Our spring cleaning checklist explains why washing windows too early in March means doing them twice.
Don't stretch off a ladder or lean one against the glass. Second-storey outside windows need an extension pole, or a window-cleaning company.
Winter: Fogged Windows and Mouldy Sills
When warm, humid indoor air touches cold glass, the moisture condenses into fog, drips, or frost on the inside. Health Canada's guidance on moisture and mould is practical:
- Keep indoor humidity between 30% and 50%. On very cold days even the low end of that range can fog older windows, so if the glass is wet, lower the humidity. If you run a humidifier, turn it down.
- Keep curtains and blinds open so warm air can reach the glass. Heavy coverings trap cold, moist air against the window.
- Dry window frames and sills every day while there's condensation, before water drips and mould starts. Health Canada notes that mould can begin growing within 48 hours where there's excess moisture.
- Run the bathroom fan and kitchen range hood, and use a dehumidifier if you see condensation on cold surfaces or the humidity is above 50%.
If mould has already started on the sill
Health Canada treats three or fewer patches covering less than 1 square metre as a small area you can clean yourself. Scrub washable surfaces such as window sills with a cloth and an unscented soap solution, then dry them completely and quickly. Wear disposable gloves, safety glasses and an N95 mask. Don't use bleach on mould: Health Canada says not to. Call a professional if a single patch is larger than 3 square metres, if mould comes back after cleaning, or if you suspect it's inside the wall. Mould that keeps returning means the moisture problem hasn't been solved yet.
What We Clean
In our deep cleans, we vacuum and wipe the window sills and tracks and clean the interior glass. In move-out cleans, we do the interior windows as well, because tracks and sills are among the first things a landlord checks. We don't do outside or second-storey glass. That's a job for a window-cleaning company with the right ladders and poles. More winter advice is in our prairie winter cleaning tips.