In a typical window cleaning operation, you would hire professionals or you would do the work yourself. You would use some kind of window cleaning spray or detergent, soap up the window, and then wipe it clean. Household cleaners are usually some kind of ammonia-based spray. You spray on the windows and then wipe it off. Professional cleaners use soap and water, then they squeegee it off. These methods are slowly being replaced by pure water window cleaning. Pure water window cleaning is exactly what it sounds like; it is cleaning a window with water only.
How it Works
The water used in the system is first purified. All chemicals and minerals are removed from the glass, so that it’s completely pure. The water is then fed through a pole with a brush on the end. The water is sprayed onto the windows, and the brush is used to scrub away the dirt and oil from the window. It’s just that simple. There are no chemicals or detergents used to clean the window, just pure water and a brush. This process has been around for several decades, but it did not become very popular until recently because purifying water was prohibitively expensive.
It might sound like this method wouldn’t work as well to cut dirt and oil as detergents, but it can actually be more effective. Detergents can leave behind residue on the windows that build up over time. If you can smell the window cleaner after you wash your windows, that means it has left behind residue.
Instead of using chemicals to bond with the dirt and oil and remove them, pure water cleaning uses the water itself. Water that has had its minerals removed is called “deionized” water. Deionized water is desperate to form bonds with minerals again. So, when it’s applied to the windows, it bonds with the dirt and oil on the windows. It’s then scrubbed away.
Advantages
Pure water cleaning has some advantages over detergents. For one, there is no soap residue left on the windows. Soap residue can leave a film or streaks on the windows; it can also attract dirt. Furthermore, it’s completely environmentally friendly.
Lastly, pure water does not have to be carefully squeegeed off the windows or dried the way a traditional cleaning would. Since the runoff is just pure water, you can just allow it to air dry in the sun.
