How To Clean Your Windows

Can I use Sugar Soap to clean my windows?

No — Selleys does not recommend using Sugar Soap to clean windows. If the residue from Selleys Original Sugar Soap is not thoroughly removed from glass, it can become very difficult to get off the surface.

Use a standard glass cleaner for this job. Selleys recommends Selleys Complete Clean Glass & Mirror Spray, which removes dirt, spots and fingerprints and leaves a brilliant streak-free shine.

Why glass is the surface Sugar Soap struggles with

Sugar Soap is a salts-based alkaline cleaner. It is very good at what it was made for — cutting grease and grime off walls and ceilings before painting — and the residue it leaves behind on a porous painted surface is inconsequential, because it goes under the next coat.

Glass gives it nowhere to go. It is hard and non-absorbent, so when the solution dries on it the water evaporates and the cleaning salts stay on the surface as a hard deposit. That deposit is the difficult part: ordinary detergent and methylated spirits do not shift it, which is why streaking on windows after using Sugar Soap is one of the questions Selleys is asked most often.

You will notice that Sugar Soap's own data sheet does list glass and mirrors among its bathroom uses — with the condition attached directly to the entry: rinse well before product dries. That is the whole difference. In a bathroom, with a tap and a cloth to hand, you can rinse a mirror immediately. On a house full of windows, in sun or wind, with solution running down the pane while you work along the wall, that condition is very hard to meet — which is why the recommendation for windows is a glass cleaner instead.

Use a glass cleaner instead

Selleys Complete Clean Glass & Mirror Cleaner is a ready-to-use spray, supplied in a 750 mL plastic spray bottle. It is suitable for glass, mirrors, stainless steel, ceramic and porcelain, and its published figures are a blue colour, a mild solvent odour, a density of approximately 1.0 g/mL and a pH of around 11.

Figures are indicative data only and are not intended for the preparation of specifications.

How to use it

1. Do not mix it with detergents or other chemicals.
2. Test suitability in a small inconspicuous area first.
3. Rotate the nozzle to the ON position.
4. Spray directly onto the surface, then wipe.
5. Tip the bottle to fill the neck before applying if the spray weakens.
6. Rotate the nozzle to OFF when not in use.

Where it should not be used

Not suitable for tinted windows, acrylic surfaces, fibreglass, or painted, lacquered or varnished surfaces.

The tinted-window exclusion is the one to check before you start. Window film is not always obvious, particularly on older installations, and it is common on west-facing glass. If in doubt, test in a corner.

If you are washing the house before painting

This is the situation that produces most of the trouble. Sugar Soap is exactly right for the walls and completely wrong for the glass, and the two are next to each other.

• Use the recommended dilution — half a cup into 5 litres of water. A stronger mix carries more cleaning salts and leaves a heavier deposit wherever it dries.
• Rinse glass promptly if solution reaches it, before the product dries.
• Wipe Sugar Soap off aluminium and brass immediately. Window frames and flyscreen surrounds sit directly under the glass.
• Work from the highest point down to avoid runs, and in sections you can rinse before they dry.
• Clean the glass last, with a glass cleaner, once the wall washing is finished.

Safety: the eye hazard lives in the concentrate

Selleys Original Sugar Soap is classified as hazardous under Safe Work Australia GHS 7 with the signal word Danger, in one class only: serious eye damage, Category 1 — H318, causes serious eye damage. That is the whole of its classification, and it is the most serious rung on that particular ladder.

H318 is not a sting that passes. Category 1 is damage that may not settle, and the product's own first aid notes that it can cause corneal burns. The response is to irrigate with copious water for 15 minutes with the eyelids held open and seek urgent medical assistance — not a rinse at the tap and carry on.

The classification belongs to the concentrate, not to the bucket. Half a cup into 5 litres of water, which is the dilution this page recommends, is a much weaker solution than what is in the bottle. So the moments that matter are the two where you touch the neat product: measuring and pouring it, and the neat application with a non-scratch sponge that the directions allow for stubborn in-ground marks. Wear eye protection for both.

The second high-exposure moment is the one this page's method creates. Washing a house from the highest point down means a wet cloth above head height, solution running back down your arm, and an upturned face — which is the geometry that delivers cleaner to an eye. That is worth eye protection even at bucket strength, and it applies just as much to ceilings as to the tops of walls.

For the glass itself, the alternative this page already recommends is also a rung lower. Complete Clean Glass & Mirror Spray is classified with the signal word Warning and one statement, H319, causes serious eye irritation — irritation rather than damage. It is the right product for windows on performance grounds, and it is a lower-hazard choice as well. Note that the spray is a ready-to-use product with a pH of around 11, so it still deserves eye protection when you are spraying above your head.

Gloves for both, and do not eat, drink or smoke while you work. Poisons Information Centre — 131 126 in Australia, 0800 764 766 in New Zealand.

Common questions

Can I use Sugar Soap on windows?

Selleys does not recommend it. Residue that is not thoroughly removed from glass can become very difficult to get off.

What should I use instead?

A standard glass cleaner. Selleys recommends Complete Clean Glass & Mirror Spray for removing dirt, spots and fingerprints with a streak-free finish.

But the data sheet lists glass and mirrors as a use — which is right?

Both, in their contexts. The data sheet's entry carries the condition "rinse well before product dries", which is practical on a bathroom mirror and difficult across a houseful of windows. For windows, the recommendation is a glass cleaner.

What happens if Sugar Soap dries on glass?

It leaves a hard salts deposit. Detergent and methylated spirits will not remove it — see removing white Sugar Soap marks from glass.

Is Glass & Mirror Spray safe on every window?

No. It is not suitable for tinted windows, acrylic surfaces, fibreglass, or painted, lacquered or varnished surfaces. Test a small inconspicuous area first.

Can I use it on mirrors and shower screens?

Yes — glass and mirrors are listed uses, along with stainless steel, ceramic and porcelain.

Can I mix it with a bit of detergent for extra cleaning power?

No. Its directions say not to mix it with detergents and other chemicals.

What about outdoor windows?

The Selleys range includes an outdoor window and glass cleaner; check its own pack for the surfaces it covers and how it is applied.

What is Sugar Soap best used for?

Cleaning walls and ceilings before painting and wallpapering, and general grease and grime. See preparing ceilings for painting and top 5 Sugar Soap hacks.