uPVC
The commonest window frame in the UK and the material with the most confident wrong advice attached to it. The manufacturer permits a cream cleaner — sparingly, and not on woodgrain.
What not to do
Isopropyl alcohol is unsafe on uPVC
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Standing in for the solvent class the manufacturer prohibits. The guide names no individual solvent; it prohibits solvent-based cleaners twice, in capitals.
Why we say this
Supported
The manufacturer prohibits the class rather than the chemical, and CleaningHQ records it against the solvent a domestic reader is most likely to have. The catalogue holds no white spirit or acetone record to attach it to.
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 on no account should solvent based cleaners be used on PVC-U frames, stated again for the hardware alongside a prohibition on multi-purpose lubricants. (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 .
In detail
uPVC — unplasticised polyvinyl chloride, written PVC-U in the trade — is what most British window and door frames are made of, and consumer advice about it is unusually certain in both directions: never use a cream cleaner, or use a cream cleaner for everything. The profile manufacturer's own trade guide is narrower than either. Routine care is soapy water. Stains soapy water will not shift MAY be removable with a domestic NON-ABRASIVE cream cleaner — but not to excess, because that affects the gloss finish. The absolute prohibition is different and is printed in capitals twice: on no account should solvent-based cleaners be used. Two carve-outs matter and are missing from almost every consumer page. Decorative finishes — woodgrain foils in particular — are excluded from the cream-cleaner permission and referred back to the supplier. And the HARDWARE is a different surface entirely: handles, hinges, cylinders and restrictors carry coatings and polished finishes, are cleaned with a dry soft duster, and water is not to be used on them at all. The material itself is tougher than it is given credit for.
Properties
Sensitivity
- Acids
- Not recorded by the sources consulted
- Alkalis
- Not recorded by the sources consulted
- Heat
- Not recorded by the sources consulted
- Abrasion
- Recorded
- Porous
- Not applicable
“Not known” means CleaningHQ has not established this, not that the material is unaffected.
What works
Mild cream cleanser is safe on, in specific conditions, uPVC
Safe only in specific conditions
This is only appropriate within specific limits. Outside those limits, CleaningHQ makes no claim.
The single most contradicted instruction in consumer uPVC advice, and the manufacturer's own position is narrower than either camp.
Only within these limits:
- a domestic NON-ABRASIVE cream cleaner only
- for stains soapy water has already failed to remove — not as the routine method
- sparingly: excess affects the gloss finish
- not on decorative finishes such as woodgrain foils, which are referred to the supplier
The manufacturer permits this; it does not recommend it. Soapy water is the routine instruction and this is the escalation from it.
Precautions
- Test on an inconspicuous area first
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Why we say this
Supported
A profile manufacturer permitting a specific product class with three conditions attached. Conditional rather than established because every one of the conditions is doing work.
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 stains not removable with soapy water may be removable using a domestic non-abrasive cream cleaner, that these should not be used to excess as they can affect the gloss finish, and that for decorative finishes such as woodgrain foils the supplier's advice should be sought. (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 .
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 routine cleaning is soapy water, that stains it will not remove may be removable with a domestic non-abrasive cream cleaner used sparingly because excess affects the gloss finish, that solvent-based cleaners must on no account be used, that woodgrain foils are referred to the supplier, and that tar and bitumen may stain white PVC-U. (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 .