This plant sits in front of the picture window in my bedroom. I have no idea what it is. It was a gift from the owners of
the stray dog who showed up here last February. Amazingly, I've kept it alive for four months, which may be an all-time record. It's not that I don't water my plants; it's that the water here is so darned hard that they choke to death. Which brings me to the point of this post. Sort of.
Let's turn our attention to the window behind the plant. We had about 30 seconds of rain last week during a dust storm, and all of my windows became opaque. Lovely, eh? This window looks particularly stunning with Smooch's snout slobber on the inside.
Anyway, about the same time, I happened to come across this post on
The Magic Way to Clean Your Windows. Could three ingredients (dish detergent, Jet Dry, and water) and a simple, no-squeegee-needed process really deliver streak-free windows?
Of course not! Not when the last step in the process is to rinse the windows with the hose...when the water coming out of the hose is hard enough to choke the life out of plants and the color out of clothes. I so wanted to believe this magic formula would work for me, but it didn't. Other folks who have tried it swear by it. They must have city water.
I ended up washing all the windows my usual way, scrubbing them with an ammonia/water solution, then using a squeegee to dry them off and make streaks, then going back over the streaks with Windex and a rag. Takes forever but at least I can see out of them
until the next dust storm for a few days.
Your plant is a cyclamen :-)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Cyclamen. I can't keep them alive unless I plant them outside. Easier to do here in western North Carolina.
ReplyDeleteI don't do windows...period
Emily in NC
Well.
ReplyDeleteYou live where it gets hot. Think of the minerals on your windows as a screen to keep the excess heat out...
I have water so hard you can actually hear it crunch coming out of the faucet. I can't use ammonia because of the fume allergies here, so I use a spray bottle with half vinegar, half water and a microfiber rag after squeegee. The glass dude said that there are pores in the glass--even though it seems that there aren't. When the spots stay on, the minerals actually build up and stay IN the glass. Spots is spots.
ReplyDeleteThe plant is a cyclamen. Woodland plant in some places, potted in others.
That sounds like NO fun at all! And you with so many wonderful windows.
ReplyDelete(The plant is a cyclamen (sp?).
I wish I could have shared some of our rain from last night with you ... over 3" in an hour and with the mountains acting like funnels, its quite a mess in some areas this morning.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of that concoction for window washing. I'll keep it in mind.
Have you tried just Windex and newspaper? My Grandma used that and she lived in ABQ's South Valley with well water.
ReplyDeleteCyclamen.
ReplyDeleteI'd say your camera is just too good. But, i agree, clean windows are nice if you can get them.
ReplyDeleteMy Cyclamen is Pink and, also next to my dirty window.
Vinegar and news paper if you can deal with the sound and feel of the news paper on glass. To me it is like nails on a chalk board.
ReplyDeleteI have 3 big labs who leave slobber and nose prints on everything. Especially my sliding glass door. I gave up.
If company comes over and frowns at my door, I hand them the glass cleaner and a paper towel and tell them to have at it.
One person took me up on it once. And then laughed her butt off ten minutes later when it looked just like it did before she started.
We have very hard water too, and so we invested in a water softener! Have it hooked up to the well before all the water comes into the house. YEP! BEST INVESTMENT EVER! For the money, it will save you labor and make your clothes brighter, and......you will MELT IN THE SHOWER! Awwwwhhhh! LOL
ReplyDeleteGive a Norwex microfiber and window cloth a try. We've used them on the greasiest of windshields and they've worked like a charm, no streaks and it only uses water. Sold my husband which is a hard sell for sure.
ReplyDeleteVinegar and newspaper - the kind with the black and white printing all over it. It does a great job. Just be prepared to crave some good ol' English-style fish-and-chips when you are finished - the kind you doused in malt vinegar and they wrapped in newspapers for the ride home from the take-away place!
ReplyDeleteBut the out of focus window gives a lovely background for the cyclamen--that kind that puts the plant in stark relief.
ReplyDeleteI use ammonia water and newspapers.
I hate cleaning windows.
Thank heavens I live in the North East and can escape with only a spring and fall bath.
We have a softener in our garage for the well. Also, have a filter on our kitchen sink. I then filter that water into another filter. Use bottled water too.
ReplyDeleteOnly, I'm sure that still wouldn't help you and your hard water.
I just use an organic .. at least it says it is ... spray for the windows.
Your cyclamen doesn't look like it's suffering. Good job on that!
ReplyDeleteI've always used Windex and paper towels until the streaks are gone.
Happy to have city water here.
Vinegar works great. I dilute it a little.
ReplyDeleteYEs vinegar and newspaper too. I don buy anymore cleaning products for windows. save moeny. and the exercice is excellent for my health, dissolve my grease and shape my arm muscles wonderfully. your last pix is quite artistic
ReplyDeleteOh, I love the rich candy apple red of that flower! Gorgeous!! I've been looking at our windows lately, thinking that it's time I wiped Willow's nose prints off them again.
ReplyDeleteLong ago, when I was a child, I remember my Uncle Revel cackling about sand storms and how often he had to replace his windshield. He lived in California not too far from Palm Springs, worked at a resort. That man loved driving cross country to visit the family in Kentucky. At least until his sinuses reminded him of why he lived where he did :)
ReplyDeleteI tried to grow cyclamen for years, buying them from time to time, only to have them die. Turns out, they weren't dead. They're considered ephemerals, and they die back and go dormant. Put your pot in a safe place where you can check on it from time to time. It should start to sprout in a few months.
ReplyDelete