Original Post : August 1999

Last Updated : March 2000
It is certainly not our intent with this article to cause undue alarm, but if we were personally spending thousands of dollars to have our home re-painted, we would definitely want be made aware of any painting "issues".

It is important to be reminded that we are window washers, not painters, and that we have no special knowledge about painting in particular. It also should be noted however, that we service between 120-150 homes each week and that our experience in servicing homes after they have been re-painted is therefore quite substantial.

You may recall that several years ago there was a media blitz about the dangers of Lead in paint. Quite frankly, Lead was a major ingredient in giving paint the durability we had come to expect. Here at Window Works we vividly remember that time as the original "Lead Free" paints were about as durable as the finger paints a child would use. Back then, there were many houses we were unable to service because the paint simply wiped off onto your hand!

The "Lead Free" paints used today however, are as durable and in most cases even better than the original Leaded Paints. The catch however, is that they take FOREVER to thoroughly cure and dry.

Over the last 3-4 years we have become increasingly cautious about freshly painted homes. Years ago, servicing a home 30 days after painting was a non issue. Today, we simply will not knowingly service a home for at LEAST 2 full months after painting, and in the cases where Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams paints have been used, 4-6 months may NOT be long enough.

It is critical that you understand that there is absolutely nothing wrong with these paints. Structurally they are sound within 10-14 days... however, by design these paints, especially "gloss" paints, produce something called " Surfactant Leaching". In layman terms, a Surfactant is essentially a film, something like a soap film. Surfactants come in numerous and varied forms and are used in everything from car washes to shampoos to baby formulas ( to coat the stomach ). The type used in paints however, maintain color and assist in application. The heavier the gloss, the (often times) more surfactant. During the drying process, the surfactant floats to the surface and "eventually" rinses away from the rain, or hopefully when we wash the window.

Depending on the weather during, and since, the home has been painted, there may be a substantial amount of surfactant film on the surface of fresh paint. Until that film or residue has completely dried, attempting to clean your exterior window…even without soap or any cleaning solution… is an overwhelming proposition. According to the Factory Reps at Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Willliams and others, there is no reason to believe that the paint will not provide a good, durable, long lasting surface, but washing the windows is simply out of the question...unless you can do so without touching or rubbing up against the paint.

When our service people start to clean your exterior windows, the first step is to wet down the window. Especially in cases of homes that we know have used Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams, the fresh water actually "bubbles up" as if there was soap already on the window. The result… even with water only, appears as if someone has thrown a light coat of milk on your window. This is NOT the paint, it is the surfactant!... which is not neccesarily bad.

Unless we are fairly certain of the time that has passed since painting your home, rest assured that we will be using a great deal of caution "if" we choose to clean the windows at all.

As a last note, there are ways to more quickly remove the residue... and although some of the paint manufacturers have mentioned using things like denatured alcohol, they also tell us this may actually cause long term problems for the paint, which immediately places us back at square one.

We welcome your thoughts, comments or additional questions,

Derrick Eads
Window Works