We’ve finally acquiesced to the colder weather, and the central heating is running a couple of times a day. And obviously we want to keep the house as insulated as possible to keep in as much of that heat as we can.
Like a lot of people our 1980’s radiator system has the radiators themselves located right underneath the windows – meaning if we’re not careful all that lovely heat goes whisking up on the cold glass and rapidly dissipates – usually leaving a window covered in condensation in its wake. We do tuck our thick heavy curtains behind the radiators to minimise this effect, but that still creates a weird pocket of air temperature between the back of the curtain and the cold window – and I do find that condensation becomes an issue every year., particularly in the kids rooms and the bathroom. If I don’t keep an eye on it, they will end up black-spotted with mildew; really unpleasant, not at all healthy, and the clean up job always takes some bleaching spray and some scrubbing.
So we were really interested to try the new Windowmatic from Vileda. I thought it was just a handy window-cleaning thingy… but no! I mean it is… but it’s much more. Because the Windowmatic has a small motor which actually sucks up the excess moisture for you; brilliant to stop the dribbles hotting the carpet or window sill when you’re washing the insides, of course, but also perfect for sorting out the condensation!
I’ve become a bit obsessed, to be honest. A quick house tour with the windowmatic in hand means the condensation issue simply hasn’t built up this year at all (and bonus points for the fact my windows are all permanently shiny clean now – a quick swoosh over the damp window with the soft rubber of the squeegee is all they need!). Of course, you could always just use a plain old squeegy – but what happens when you do that? You get a pool of dribbly old water at the bottom, puddling on the window sill and causing yet more clean up job. Or you could give them a wipe with an absorbent cloth, of course… but apart form that fact that it’s never totally effective and youre always going back to clear the streaks, it’s… y’know… effort!
Just as an aside (and a humble nod to my own brilliance) I also used my lateral thinkings, and stored it in the bathroom cupboard. Hey presto – no more battle of the limescale on the shower doors – a quick whizz over with the windowmatic after my shower (yeah, I don’t expect anyone else to do it, but once a day is enough) and I’ve had the cleanest shower doors I’ve ever enjoyed. Anyone in a hard water area will know what I mean, with that fusty grey cloudy splattering all over them where the water has dried.
And the essential thing is that it’s so easy to use. As long as you remember to keep it charged, the tank is easily emptied when it’s filled (be sure to rinse it too, you wouldn’t believe how mucky the water can be coming off a window that hasn’t been cleaned in a while… *blushes*). And it’ll give you 20 minutes of cleaning – more than enough for me to whisk around 5 bedrooms once Im done with the shower cubicle of a morning.
Vileda’s Windowmatic is available in most high street electrical outlets – RRP is £50, and if you get it direct from Vileda this weekend it’s 40% off for their Black Friday event, bringing it down to just £29.99.
