For those who just have no time for household chores, self-cleaning windows sound like a godsend. But you shouldn’t get too excited yet; there are quite a few caveats.
Sunco Window Cleaning, your go-to company for your roof cleaning needs, elaborates more on what the term “self-cleaning” actually means below.
How Self-Cleaning Windows Work
Just to be clear, lab tests have proven that self-cleaning windows work. These windows have an ultra-thin titanium dioxide coating that prevents dirt from sticking to the glass surface. But how does it do that?
The two things you need to know about titanium dioxide, in this case, is that it’s photocatalytic or reacts to light, specifically UV rays, and is hydrophilic or loves water. Without getting too much into the chemistry, once UV rays hit the titanium dioxide, a chemical reaction produces radicals that attack and chip away at organic substances, like dirt.
Normally, glass is hydrophobic or hates water, which means when water slides down a glass surface, droplets are left behind. But the radicals from earlier changes that and turns glass into a hydrophilic or water-loving substance. This means that water spreads evenly across the glass surface, ensuring that all of the dirt is washed away.
Real-World Testing
In a realistic setting, however, dirt isn’t the only thing you need to worry about. There are droppings, smoke, smog and a host of other factors that can stain self-cleaning windows. As such, even in you install a self-cleaning window, you would still need to clean all these other stains.
If you want to make the job of cleaning your windows a bit easier, you can install a self-cleaning window. At the very least, you won’t have to worry about dirt anymore. But if you want to get better value for your money, consider hiring a window cleaning company.
Just make sure to do your research on the cleaning company you’ll hire. We suggest reading through the customer reviews on websites like HomeAdvisor.
Sunco Window Cleaning, a top-rated cleaning company on HomeAdvisor and the winner of the website’s Elite Service Award, offers window cleaning and power washing services. To get a free quote, call us at (253) 257-1969 or fill out this form. We serve homeowners in Milton, WA.
