The Science
We at Royal Window Cleaning are not your typical window cleaners. We understand what we are cleaning!
What is Glass?
Glass is a material that primarily consists of Silicon and Oxygen atoms in a non-ordered arrangement (amorphous, or non-crystalline structure). Glass can be thought of as a liquid that moves extremely slowly, so slowly that no change could ever be noticed in the history of humans.*
Glass is made by melting silica (sand), lime (limestone) and commonly sodium carbonate (soda ash) together at a temperature of around 1700°C. Additives can be put in this molten mixture to produce different colours and properties. Different properties of the glass can also be achieved by varying the cooling time of the glass, and by applying heat treatments to the glass.
Broadly speaking, glass can be categorised into 3 different categories:
1) Soda-Lime Glass: This is the type of glass most commonly used for windows, consisting of varying proportions of the three main ingredients of glass (silica, lime, sodium carbonate). Heat treatments can be applied to vary the properties of soda-lime glass. Corrosive chemicals, sudden changes in temperature, and high temperatures can result in damage to soda-lime glass.
2) Lead Glass: This type of glass is used in lead-lights and ornamental pieces. It consists of varying proportions of silica, lime and over 20% of lead oxide (making it softer than typical soda-lime glass). Sudden changes in temperature and high temperatures can result in damage to lead glass.
3) Borosilicate Glass: This type of glass is used in industry and in the laboratory. Chemically, it is any type of glass having at least 5% of boric oxide (making it less sensitive to sudden changes in temperature and more resistant to chemical corrosion).
*Although glass can be thought of as a liquid, the assumption that once uniform glass has ‘dripped’ over the decades (as a result of the observation of old windows often appearing thicker at the bottom than the top) is untrue. The panes of glass that appear thicker at the bottom appear that way because that is how they were made. Installers of this type of glass installed the glass with the thicker side at the bottom for reasons of stability. Panes of glass that were mistakenly installed the wrong way exist, where the thicker side of the glass is at the top of the pane of glass, which provides proof that this is simply how the glass was made (and the glass was not once uniform, with the action of gravity causing the glass to ‘drip’ resulting in a thicker bottom than top). Also, very accurate methods of measuring the thickness of glass exist, which use lasers to measure the thickness, and no change in thickness of glass has been measured over time.
Are All Windows Glass?
Almost all windows are made from glass, however it is important to realise that it is not always the glass that a window cleaner cleans. It is becoming increasingly common for windows to be installed with tinting (to minimise the effect of the suns UV rays on furniture, and to improve insulation properties). Tinting is typically installed on the inside of the window. Tinting is basically a darkened clear plastic sticker. Special methods are required to clean this plastic tint so that the appearance of the window is not damaged.
How Does Glass Get Dirty?
Airborne particles (from factories, car exhausts, smoke etc), grease and oils (from cooking, fingerprints, children, pets etc), poor cleaning solutions (from cheaper store-bought cleaning products), faeces (from flies and other insects) and pollen (from flowering plants) all contribute to windows becoming dirty. The speed with which they dirty depends on the quantity of the abovementioned factors that are at play, the amount of wind, and the location of the windows (eg. If windows are at the end of a wind-tunnel, all of the dirt and grime will be blown on the windows).
How Do I Clean Glass?
Our special cleaning mixture is formulated to chemically bond with particles that make your window dirty. This special cleaning mixture is applied to the glass using what is typically termed an applicator. One of our range of squeegees is selected to remove this special cleaning mixture, which has dissolved and loosened all of the surface impurities that make the glass appear dirty. Refer to our Photo Gallery tab for examples.
How Do I Clean Tinted Windows?
Different methods are applied in the cleaning of tinted windows. Special care is required so as not to damage the plastic tinting.
What Damages Glass?
It is important to realise that glass that has been damaged (either by physical impact or chemical means) can result in the window appearing dirty even after it has been cleaned. The following list of causes of damaged glass is intended to help you in preventing damage to your glass windows, so that you can maintain the crystal clear appearance of your windows after they have been cleaned by Royal Window Cleaning.
~ Avoid sudden changes in temperature in windows (This can cause the glass to fracture)
~ Avoid high temperatures near windows (eg. Barbeque, fire)
~ Avoid corrosive chemicals on windows (eg. minerals in bore water from hosing garden near windows, bird droppings)
~ Avoid scratches (Animals, blades)
~ Avoid welding near glass (The off-spray of hot metal will eat into the glass)
~ Ensure regular cleaning (So time is not given for chemicals to chemically degrade the glass)
You can be sure that no matter what type of windows you have, Royal Window Cleaning will leave your windows sparkling with a Royal shine.
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0412 014 389
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