How to Clean Window Screens
It’s that time of year again when you’re contemplating how to clean your screens. Or at least I am, anyway.
It’s a good idea to wash your window screens before you put them away OR before you put them on for the summer. Or both.
I’ve always wondered how to clean window screens effectively; even when I wash them down, they still seem dirty. And full of fluffy stuff like cottonwood, aspen and willow cotton.
Taking Down the Screens OR Putting Them Up
Taking down the screens has to happen at precisely the time between bug season and snow. Too early and your house will be full of late summer flies. Too late and you’re stuck prying them out in the cold weather of the first snow. But you’ll know the best time to take out your screens.
Time it correctly and they’re out, cleaned and tucked away for next spring before the snow flies and after the bugs die.
Likewise, when you’re putting them up you’ve got to know when the first bugs will be out and get those screens up just before they come out. Timing is everything.
This year when I was pondering my screens before washing them I came up with a pretty great idea to PRE-CLEAN the screens. I used a lint roller to remove as much of the the lint and dust as possible. My screens have never looked so clean and fluff free.
We live at the confluence of TWO glacial rivers, and the silt/dust we collect in our house is embarrassing. So washing it out of the screens is an absolute must for us or they become so full of silt they look terrible.
Here’s the Trick!
Before you EVER wet your screens, use your lint roller to remove excess dust, hair, dirt and so on!
Roll it across the screens, top to bottom. Repeat going side to side.
Flip the screen over and repeat that whole process on the other side. Tear away the sheet when it gets too covered with fuzz.
After I used the lint roller, it was so easy to spray them off with hot water in the shower to get all the silt out of them. The whole process was so quick and straightforward; I’m hooked!
I know when I put them up next year I won’t be finding missed bits of fireweed fuzz stuck to the screens. When that happens I usually end up picking it out with tweezers. Uh, no thanks!
How to Clean Window Screens
Ingredients
- dirty screens dirty screens
- lint roller lint roller
- preferred cleaning solution we use dish soap
- sponge to gently wash the screens
- hot water we use the detachable shower sprayer
Instructions
- before washing or wetting the screens use the lint roller to remove all the dirt, grime, dust, and plant parts
- roll the lint roller from top to bottom and then side to side
- then flip the screens and do the opposite sides of the screen
- remove the paper on the lint roller as needed to keep it collecting hair and dirt and whatever else is on the screens
- once the screens are pre-cleaned spray each screen with hot water
- wash each screen with hot soapy water and the sponge
- allow the soap to soak in for a couple minutes
- then use the hot water to spray the screens clean
- gently shake off the extra water on each screen
- set the screens outside in the sun to dry, or inside on towels to dry
- once dry the screens are ready to install or store depending on what time of year it is
