Don’t forget those dirty windows when preparing for a McHenry Christmas

Vivian thought of everything. She had a carpet cleaning company come out and do the floors – hardwood and carpet. She had a cleaning service clean her McHenry house and paid extra so they would do a thorough job. She got busy with her husband and kids to rake and clean the yard outside. She gazed upon the results of her efforts with satisfaction and then her smile turned into as she glanced out the window.

Vivian had forgotten something; she had forgotten the windows. And now, looking out the windows, she realized how filthy they were. Her dirty windows stood out like sore thumbs now that the rest of the house was so clean.

The truth is that windows often go, well, unseen. And they don’t, generally, get dirty overnight. It happens slowly. The dirty window is a progressive feature. And, because it happens slowly, we don’t notice it so much.

If windows went from clean to really dirty in one day, the difference would be immediately apparent. Consider what will happen when Vivian’s guests arrive in McHenry from California on Christmas Day. She’ll see her nieces and nephews for the first time in a year. For Vivian, all the growing those children have done over the past year will be obvious. But, for her nieces and nephews’ parents, the growth came little by little each day; they haven’t noticed the way Vivian will.

In a way, it’s fortunate Vivian had the rest of the house cleaned so thoroughly. It was only because of this contrast the cleaning created that she noticed her dirty windows.

Actually, it’s not surprising that she forgot about the windows. After all, the holidays are so busy who has time to think about dirty windows? But, more than just a matter of what your guests will think about your dirty windows, cleaning the house, which includes the dirty windows, is a way of showing respect for your guests. It’s a way of saying you care enough about them to take the time and effort to make things as nice as possible for their visit.

Of course, another nice thing is that, after they leave, those dirty windows will still be clean. If we don’t have a white Christmas, little doubt, we’ll have some snow not too long afterwards. The view of a pristine carpet of snow in Vivian’s McHenry backyard is something not to be missed. And it’s something you don’t want diminished by looking at it through a dirty window.

Now that Vivian has noticed that her windows are dirty, the next problem is getting them clean. Most people don’t like doing windows. But, beyond that, it’s also rather cold outside. Vivian is wondering how to clean her dirty windows when the water for cleaning the windows wants to freeze. The trick, as Bill Thomas, of Northern Illinois Windows, explained, is to use some window-washing solvent. Another trick is to hire a professional window cleaning company.

With a clean house, Vivian is ready for Christmas and her guests. And she doesn’t have to worry about dirty windows. In fact, she discovered that she can set it up to have a window cleaning come out and clean her windows every month. That way, she won’t have to worry about her windows next year either.

Fabric awnings look great until the elements and birds attack; a professional cleaning service can revive them

Those fabric awnings out above the door and windows of your store really add to the curb-side appeal of your business. And, for the money that they cost, they darn-well ought to.

As is often the case, the awnings in your shopping district are uniform in style and color. Individually, or as a whole, they give a sense that forethought and care went into planning for the area. As a community, they say that city planners were quite intentional about the kind of ambiance that would give the area the best branding.

For an individual store, those fabric awnings show that a storeowner hasn’t approached a business lackadaisically. Shoppers can safely assume that the kind of attention given to the awnings carries through the rest of the business right down to the level of customer service they can expect. But, what if those awnings don’t look so good?

Are those fabric awnings beyond hope?

Inevitably, if left to the elements, and wishful thinking, those fabric awnings will turn on you and your business. They’ll turn from making a positive statement about your business to making quite the opposite kind of statement. How does that happen?

Smog, soot, auto exhaust, sap from trees, insects, and even acid rain: they all take their toll on those once-pristine fabric awnings. The fabric is dirtied. It’s stained. Mold begins to grow. And then you can add the bird droppings.

Often, the birds like to perch on the ledge of the building above the fabric awnings. Those poor fabric awnings become a favorite target.

What all those elements, and the birds, can do to a fabric awning is disgraceful and appalling. And when enough damage is done, there’s no coming back, right? Not so fast.

Yes, you can save those fabric awnings

Actually, there is hope for fabric awnings in even some of the worst instances. As long as the fabric isn’t too threadbare, a professional cleaning service can often revive a fabric awning and bring it back to its prior glory, or very close, anyhow.

Using special water-based and eco-friendly cleaners, a professional can delicately remove some of the worst that nature, man and our feathered friends can throw at an awning. Watching a professional cleaning service bring a fabric awning back to life is amazing. Though it may seem that droppings, mold and dirt cover every inch of fabric, properly done, and in a short time, the awnings come around. You may find yourself commenting, “So that’s what color they used to be.”

Once cleaned, you should also consider sealing the awnings to protect them from further assaults. In the process, you’ll extend the life of the awnings significantly. There are sealants professionals can apply that will even protect the fabric from fading from the sun’s UV rays.

Fabric manufacturers recommend that their materials are maintained in order to extend their useful lives. This applies to fabric awnings, too. A little maintenance can go a long way.

Northern Illinois Windows – cleaning area windows ‘one pane at a time’ for 25 years

They call it the Silver Anniversary. That’s what McHenry based Northern Illinois Windows is celebrating this summer – 25 years of cleaning Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin windows. How many window panes have they cleaned ‘one-at-a-time’ over the course of those years? That’s a number that’s almost too astronomical to consider. Suffice it to say that it’s a lot.

“I started the company with a bucket, a squeegee and a truck,” said owner Bill Thomas. “I would knock on the doors of businesses and ask them if they wanted their windows cleaned.”

Today, Thomas has crews of window washers who do the window washing as he runs the business. He coordinates the routes, schedules window washing, which also includes washing the windows in private residences, and he does continue to do sales. In those early years, he also did the bookkeeping, marketing and all the other chores that are necessary to a successful business.

“I still knock on doors,” he said. “And, I go out and do estimates. I like meeting with prospective clients so that they know who stands behind the quality and service we provide.”

Shortly after starting the business, Thomas was joined in the business by his sons Mike and Bill and his daughter Brigid. Today, Mike Thomas operates a window washing business in Longmont, Colorado. Father and son communicate often sharing ideas and suggestions. But, here in McHenry, Thomas has learned that he can’t, or shouldn’t do it all. He works with others to keep his business on track. This frees up his time to further develop the business.

Actually, window cleaning is only part of what Northern Illinois Windows offers, albeit a big part. They also provide home and office window tinting, gutter cleaning and power washing. They also install and take down Christmas lights during the holidays.

“We have several types of window film we install,” said Thomas. “But, our 3M window film is the industry standard.”

The window film comes with different levels of tinting. One thing that almost uniform about the film is that, whatever level of tint, most block 99.9 percent of ultraviolet rays. Over time, the UV rays can bleach furniture, flooring and stock that businesses keep in the windows. And after installing the window film, Northern Illinois Windows is available to wash the windows when they get dirty again.

PHOTO: Bill Thomas, the owner of Northern Illinois Windows, stands outside the Hidden Pearl Café in McHenry. Hidden Pearl is one of the customers that rely on NIW to keep their windows clean