Window cleaning help

[Deleted]

I've always been bad at cleaning glass. I've tried everything. Windex, vinegar and water, alcohol and water, newspaper, lint free clothes, paper towels, squeegies. And all of my windows still look cloudy and/or streaky and always seem to have flecks of lint on them afterwards, even with the news print. The only thing that works even a little for me is to clean it down with a cleaner of some sort (any liquid cleaner), then wait for it to dry, then come back and buff them to a shine with a soft cloth. But even when I do that sometimes it doesn't work, especially when there seems to be a film on the window, and that is a LOT of work, especially when I'm working on a ladder. I'm sick of cloudy/streaky windows. Same problem with my mirrors around the house.

I was reading online today that soapy water (dish detergent) would work, but that seems like it would be super messy on my windows.

Maybe my materials are right and my method is just wrong. Any tips for perfect windows/mirrors/glass? I need someone to explain it to me like I'm 5, step by step.

[Deleted]

:-( Windex just doesn't seem to work like that for me. I cleaned my three freshly made storm windows with Windex and a cloth yesterday (maybe I should try PT) and they're all filmy/streaky. Also, how do you not have a line of lint afterwards? Wherever I make my last pass over the piece of glass and pick up the wiping implement (funny term!), whatever it is, it leaves a little pattern of lint that sticks to the glass like a MF until it dries and I use a clean cloth to buff it off. Maybe I am using too much liquid. Or maybe I'm overthinking this and just looking too closely.

[IIOY]

How much are you spraying? I use a very light spray of Windex because a little goes a long way.

One other cleaner you might want to try is this one. My mother swears by this + newspaper. I've seen her use this and it is definitely good.

m.bedbathandbeyond.com/bedbathbeyond/product/detail.do?itemId=12276621&categoryId=&path=¬inregularhierarchy=false&comeFromSearch=truew

[Deleted]

Terrific. I will pick that up the next time I'm at BB&B and see how it goes. I used to spray the cleaner directly on the glass, but found that wasn't working well because it was too wet, so I started spraying just a little on whatever it was I was using to wipe. Better, but still not perfect, and I've found it still requires the buffing at the end with a different cloth. I'm skeptical of the newspaper bit because I've tried it before and still had a lint problem, but I'll give it another shot.

[IIOY]

FWIW, needing to buff isn't necessarily unusual. I find that for a truly streak-free look, I often need to do just a bit of buffing.