Making Smooth Moving Windows & Patio Door!

When we first moved into Lucky Home Today, it had been foreclosed, rehabbed but still in need of love. One of the first projects I did on it was to clean out the windows stills and get them to operate. It had been obviously a while since they were opened and operated because the amount of enchantment (fine dirt that gets everywhere) that was in the grooves. While I had cleaned it up a year ago, I noticed it was building up again. This time, and a bit wiser from my experience, I was going to really tackle this issue. With a a few tools and a dash of elbow grease, I have been able to make smooth moving windows and patio door!

You can see from the "before" track that it's caked with dirt. I had tried a small brush trying to get it out. I was going to switch to a toothbrush when I decided to do something different - a vacuum, microfiber towel, a butter knife, and a super ingredient!

First off - you gotta get the gunk out of the crevices. I used different surfaces of the microfiber towel to loosen the dirt. It came up quickly and I was able to vacuum it up. It was easy to do until I looked closer and realized there was more stuck at the bottom of the track. I've heard of using a combination of baking soda and vinegar before, but I didn't want to mop up mud. I decided to try an upside down dulled butter knife. You have to be careful not to cut yourself, but it helped me to loosen the dirt and get the track clean.

Cleaning the track isn't enough to call it done and completed. Now you will need to making smooth moving windows and patio door! You need to lubricate it. While I've heard of using WD40 and Vasaline, but the truly inexpensive way of doing it, while making it last a long time, is silicon lubricant. A new can will cost under $4 at Home Depot.

I cannot stress this enough - use a super light coating! After you apply it to the top and bottom crevice, move your door/window back and forth a few times to evenly distribute the product. Make sure to tell everyone in the household what you did. Otherwise they might break the window/door trying to open it, not realizing it does not take as much force as it used to.