Many of us have done this in the past–we purchase something that is cute and just right for the season. When the season passes, we look at how tired-looking and tacky our windows are. Stickers and other decorative adhesives are fun to work with but they can be a pain to remove once you no longer want them there. There are several window cleaning tips you can follow, though and as a local window cleaning company in Birmingham, we’ve compiled a few here for your review. You don’t always have to hire a window cleaning professional each time this happens though. It will take a little elbow grease but for the most part, removing old stickers and decals from your home windows should be manageable on your own.
Try peeling it off
If you purchased a pricier window decal, there’s a good chance that it was actually made for glass. A good indication is if it is glossy, looks like plastic, and is thick. Those are usually made from a vinyl material that’s okay for use on windows. The adhesive should stick well, but it should also be easy to remove. Make sure you work from the top and that as you peel away, you have a good grasp of the entire top layer of the sticker. Peel away slowly. If the sticker looks matted or paper-y, you may need another method.
Use a wet towel
This method works best for stickers designed for interior use only, since they are mostly made of paper. Soak a towel in hot or warm water. Make sure the towel is big enough to cover the whole sticker. Hold the wet, hot towel over the sticker you wish to remove. If it is made mostly from paper, it should absorb the warm water. The moisture and the temperature should help break down the adhesive of the sticker. Even if you hire a team for window cleaning, they will probably try this method first because it is cheap and it involves zero chemicals. Once the adhesive has been broken down, it should be easier for you to peel off the sticker and to pick out the remaining adhesive or sticker pieces with either a sharp razor, a credit card, or a scraper.
Use a window cleaner
Window cleaners can sometimes be enough to break down stubborn adhesives. If the water technique is not getting your old sticker off, you can spray some window cleaner on it. Sometimes this is enough to remove most of the sticker off.According to curb appeal & hygiene professional Dmitri Kara, dealing with old and stubborn sticker marks would need a professional steam-power window cleaner as last resort.
Cooking oil
Ideally, only take out the cooking oil when the adhesive is very stubborn. Oil does not chemically break down the adhesive. However, you might have noticed that nothing much can cling to any surface which has oil on it. This will probably get all of your sticker off. However, dealing with oily residue is another problem. Do not do this unless you’re prepared to spend extra minutes cleaning off cooking oil from your window.
Alcohol
Alcohol can break down the adhesive from your old stickers but you need to soak the old sticker for it to work. This means you will have to soak a tower with lots of alcohol and this is not the cheapest solution. If a lot of sticker pieces are still stuck on your window, you can call professionals who handle windows cleaning in Birmingham. For windows that are hard to reach, it’s still best to call professionals to get the job done.
Superior Cleaning Services is a local exterior cleaning company in Pelham, Alabama. We serve Birmingham and most of the surrounding areas. Give us a call for a free estimate on your window cleaning project.