The bit of your windows that never gets cleaned

Most window cleaning rounds have a routine: soap the glass, squeegee it off, move to the next pane. It takes a few minutes a window and it makes a real difference - the glass looks brilliant. The frames around it usually look exactly the same as they did before the cleaner arrived.

That's not a criticism of window cleaners. Glass is the job they're set up to do quickly and repeatedly. Frames are a different job entirely, and most rounds simply aren't built to include it.

Why frames get skipped

A standard window clean is fast because it only deals with one surface - the glass - using a squeegee and a bit of soapy water. Frames need something different: a proper scrub to shift algae and traffic film that's bonded to the PVCu, not just rinsed off it. That takes longer, needs different tools, and doesn't fit easily into a round built around speed.

The result is something a lot of homeowners don't notice until it's pointed out: sparkling glass sitting inside a frame that's visibly grey, streaked or greening at the corners.

It's not really about looks

Dirty frames aren't just a cosmetic issue, though they are that too - a clean pane in a grimy frame still reads as a neglected window from the street. The bigger issue is what's actually collecting on the PVCu: algae, traffic film and black streaking that ordinary rain never fully removes on its own. Left long enough, that build-up becomes genuinely difficult to shift and can leave permanent staining in the surface of the plastic.

Around Blackburn, the Ribble Valley and Lancashire more broadly, damp weather means that build-up happens faster than in drier parts of the country. Frames that would take years to visibly discolour somewhere drier can look tired within a couple of seasons here.

What we actually do differently

When we clean window frames, the frame is the job, not an afterthought. We use soft-bristled water-fed brushes to properly scrub the external frames, sills and surrounding PVCu - lifting algae, dirt and staining rather than just rinsing over it - and we finish with a wipe-down of the glass while we're there.

That last part matters more than it sounds. It means you're not choosing between clean glass and clean frames. You get both, from a job that was actually built to deal with the part most cleaning rounds miss.

It's the same story on doors

Front and rear doors take the same weather beating as windows, and the PVCu frame and trim around them collects the same grime - usually with even less attention, since most people only ever think about cleaning the door itself. We give the door, frame and surrounding trim a proper clean, with a wipe-down of any glazed panel included, so the whole entrance gets the same treatment as the rest of the house rather than being the one bit that gets missed.

Is this the same as a normal window clean?

No, and it's worth being clear about that. It's not a replacement for a regular glass clean - it's the deeper job that deals with what a quick squeegee round never reaches. Most people find it makes sense to have it done periodically alongside their usual window cleaning, rather than instead of it.

The bottom line

Clean glass gets noticed. Clean frames rarely do, right up until they're the only dirty-looking thing left on an otherwise tidy house. If you can't remember the last time anything other than the glass itself was actually cleaned, the frames are probably telling their own story by now.