Window
Three surfaces in one opening — glass, frame and hardware — and the manufacturer gives each of them a different answer, including one that must not meet water at all.
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
- Test on an inconspicuous area first
In detail
A window is the clearest small example of an object whose parts disagree. The profile manufacturer's own guide splits it into three and treats them separately, and the third is the one nobody expects. The GLASS takes a good quality glass cleaner on a soft cloth or chamois that is free of dirt and grit — the grit being the actual hazard, as the glass association's guidance says at more length. Coated glass, self-cleaning glass among it, goes back to its own manufacturer. The FRAME, where it is uPVC, is soapy water, with a non-abrasive cream cleaner permitted sparingly for stains that will not shift, and solvent-based cleaners prohibited outright. Woodgrain-foiled frames are excluded from the cream-cleaner permission. The HARDWARE is the surprise. Handles, hinges, key cylinders, catches and restrictors carry coatings and polished surfaces; they are cleaned with a DRY SOFT DUSTER, and water is not to be used on them.
Related
Hacks and claims involving this
- Cream cleaners ruin uPVC Disputed
Sources for this page
Sources
PVC-U Window & Door Systems: Handling, Installation, Maintenance and Care Guide
The VEKA UK Group (VEKA and Halo profile systems), 2014 · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That glass, PVC-U frames and hardware are given separate cleaning instructions, that hardware is cleaned with a dry soft duster and water is not to be used on it, that solvent-based cleaners and multi-purpose lubricants must not be used, and that gaskets and drainage paths are part of routine cleaning. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — Section 7.4 Cleaning (7.4.1 PVC-U Frames, 7.4.2 Glass, 7.4.3 Hardware), section 7.6 Maintenance, and section 5.0 Protection. Supports a wider statement — our claim was widened. The demand batch recorded a consumer claim that cream cleaners ruin uPVC over time. The manufacturer's position is narrower and more useful: a NON-ABRASIVE cream cleaner is permitted for stains soapy water will not shift, sparingly, because excess affects the gloss — and is not permitted at all on woodgrain foils. The catalogue models the permission with its conditions rather than either the folk prohibition or a blanket clearance. Hardware being a dry-duster-and-no-water surface was not anticipated at all.
Last reviewed by a person on .