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

What’s all this mumbo-jumbo about the water to use for washing windows?

Have you ever heard someone say, “I sure get a charge out of washing windows?” Probably not. It’s more likely you’ve heard someone say, “… but I don’t do windows.”

Frankly, window washing is a pain. You can try to do everything right and still you have streaks, you miss spots and you leave lint on the glass. In a word, it’s ‘frustrating.’

This is one of the big reasons that many prefer hiring a professional to wash their windows. There’s no hassle; they come out and, in a relatively short amount of time, the windows are clean and they’re leaving. Of course, that assumes a true professional window-washing company was hired, not just someone with a bucket and a squeegee.

You find yourself wondering, how could they do such a good job in such a short amount of time? Well, they’re professionals. They’ve cleaned windows before. They know how to do the job and how to do it right. One reason they don’t struggle is they use the proper implements for cleaning windows.

One of their tricks, which you’ll like to know if you’re determined to wash your own windows, is the type of water they use. The water they use is de-ionized water.

De-ionized water has undergone a chemical process that replaces minerals that have partially dissolved in the water with hydrogen and hydroxide ions. Those ions combine and produce, well, water.

Why Is The Water So Important?

Water that isn’t de-ionized is apt to contain a number of elements – elements you’ve liable to find stuck to the windows when the water dries. This condition is most common with hard water.

Water hardness is determined by measuring the level of positively charged multivalent cations in the water. Yeah, that’s a bit technical. Suffice it to say that hard water can contain dissolved minerals, such as calcite and gypsum. It can also contain dolomite, a magnesium mineral that includes calcium.

There is more than one type of water hardness. One type is what the ambiguous ‘they’ call temporary hardness. This occurs when the water contains dissolved bicarbonate minerals – calcium bicarbonate and magnesium bicarbonate. Boiling water with temporary hardness can reduce the minerals in the water. Lime (calcium hydroxide) can also reduce temporary hardness.

Boling won’t help with water that ‘they’ say has ‘permanent hardness.’ I this case, the water usually contains calcium sulfates and/or magnesium sulfates.

What’s the lowdown on all this mumbo-jumbo?

What all this mumbo-jumbo means is that, if you wash your windows without the right water, it’s not surprising if you find the experience frustrating. With the wrong water, you’d have a better chance of getting your windows clean if you washed them with dirty engine oil.

Of course, you don’t have to worry about water hardness, calcium, magnesium, or whether you’ll need a sodium bicarbonate to relieve that pain washing the windows yourself; just call a professional and find something more relaxing to do while they make your windows shine.