2y ago

How do I get rid of the hard particulate matter embedded within my window screen

I moved into a place with one very hazy window screen that is difficult to see through.

I have tried scrubbing it with a brush with soapy water and blasting it with the hose. But I cannot get rid of the hard material buildup. I even tried dipping a brush in CLR and scrubbing the screen.

When I Google how to clean a window screen, I just run across people telling me to do what I already tried. But I think the people touting these methods simply have screens with dirt in them.

This doesn't seem like simple dirt buildup. I enclosed a close up photo of what it looks like.

I bet if I poked all of the holes individually with a toothpick I could clean it, but that would take eons. Any advice? Thanks.

71 comments

First off. This picture is vile and while I appreciate your need for assistance, you have ruined my day and I will be busy puking for the rest of the week.
To answer your actual question: I recommend just replacing it. Extra screen and cord is cheap and easy to install.
- Completely agree. Takes about 5 minutes per screen and often you can re-use the bead around the edges.
- No kidding, I stared at it for a minute going "is this going to set it off?" and when my brain finally decided it couldn't come up with an explanation it launched hard into the skin crawling, scalp itching and nausea. It's like visual kryptonite.
- It's an incredibly large screen that goes to my back porch. I'm not sure that the window frame itself is easily removable. Would that make it tricky to install a new screen with something that large and not movable?
  
  There are a lot of videos on YouTube about how to replace a screen. Most of them that I have seen have a pane that only works once and then when you remove it, you replace it with rubber tubing that they sell from the store. They sell a special tools kit to pry the original pane off and some rollers and clips to get the screen back in nice by pushing the tubing into place without the groove. I recommend cutting a piece of wood to the exact spacing that the screen needs to maintained since making the screen tight can warp its profile and not fit correctly.
  
  The screen should come off from the window frame - it is mounted in its own frame made of lightweight metal.
  It's like $20 in tools and new screen to replace. Best to start on a smaller window for practice, but once you've done one, they go easy.
  
  Just get new screen or
  
  Have you tried warm/hot vinegar in a spray bottle? If you have hard water it could be mineral buildup and some warm vinegar would help dissolve it. If it's not from hard water it may be trickier, but a super soft bristled brush and some simple gree or other cleaner may work as well.

Trypophobia trigger crowd checking in.
- Yup. Checking in here. Crazy how common this malady is.

So I was playing around with some tweezers and it actually seems like I can peel it off with some difficulty, although it comes up in pieces. Considering none of my other screens look like this, I'm wondering if it is actually some sort of purposeful hazy coating that got destroyed over the years??? Is that a thing??? It only seems to be present on the inner surface of the screen, not the outer side. Scrubbing does nothing to it put it can be peeled off it seems. Just gonna take me forever to do.
- This is a weird question, but I don't suppose this is near Baltimore, or a previous owner was from near Baltimore? They have (or had, not sure how popular it is anymore) a thing there, where they paint their screens with various scenes. It reduces visibility, so people can't see in as well, but still lets air in. So I'm wondering if this is a very dirty old painted screen, with maybe the pores clogged up.
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screenpainting
  Painted screen society of Baltimore, with images:
  http://paintedscreens.org/
  
  This is very interesting. No, I do not live near Baltimore and the coating is just diffusely white and semitranslucent, without different colors.
  But I do think a coating must have been put over the screen at some point, be it paint or not for whatever reason.
  These look pretty interesting and if it was a picture I would just keep it lol
  
  Damn, I only lived in Baltimore for a year but I loved it there. I’d forgotten about these!
  
  This is so niche I love it. Thank you for sharing this little fact.
  Edit: and there seems to be different colors on the screen, making me think your theory is quite possible.
- My first guess is a smoker who didn't want to go outside.
  
  Maybe, but there are many screens to my porch. This is the lower most screen. You'd think because smoke rises that the upper screens would be affected. This is the only one that looks like this...and it is diffusely and evenly coated on the inner side of the window.
  In peeling some of it off, it has the consistency and appearance of dried glue actually. Not sure if that's actually what it is or not though.
- That's an interesting thought, is it a screen that faces a sun side? Might have been a coating that helped reduce sun intensity. Could be the outside peeled off and the inside hasn't yet.
  Like others have said, replacement is probably your easiest solution. As long as you can see the screen cord it shouldn't be too difficult to do in place, but would definitely be easier if you can remove. Start at the top corner, work your way across then work your way down. Let gravity help.
  
  Yes, it does seem to be a side facing the sun.
  Interesting to note, but the previous tenants seemed to have a thing for blocking out all sunlight for some reason (which quite frankly was pretty minimal to begin with due to the adjacent forest). Perhaps they were vampires.
  The upper panes had black plastic films glued to them to reduce sunlight, but the panes were not glued to the screens themselves so they were easily removed. There is no such plastic film present on the lower pane, but perhaps there was at some point and this is the leftover glue.
- test a few cells on the inner surface with q tip of rubbing alcohol? might outright melt both the screen and the crud but could maybe help wipe it away

I’m still trying to wrap my head around what it actually is. Never seen anything like this but just replace it. Perhaps update with a wider shot of the full screen panel
- I didn't bother posting a wide shot because you can't tell what it is from so far away. It just looks like it's hazy from dirt. But actually I was able to pick some small hunks off with tweezers and it has an appearance and consistency similar to dried glue. It's slightly white and semitranslucent. It is also only present on the interior surface of the screen.
  But as requested, here is a wider shot comparison of the normal unaffected screens (top) with the affected, coated screens (bottom). https://imgur.com/vurLJvw
  My running theory is that something was glued to the screen at some point, perhaps to deflect sunlight. Or the screen was coated in something, maybe to try to further prevent the intrusion of bugs.
  
  It looks like some sort of padding that weathered into the screen. As many have commented you can easily remove the spline and replace with fresh screen. It’s not expensive and don’t require much too much precision. Following an online guide for measuring will be sufficient. I replace my window screens as needed and a standard house window takes about 15 minutes. The context of the wider shot does help! Thanks.

Sounds like it’s time for a new screen

This may be a bad suggestion, but if the screen itself is made of metal, maybe you could burn off the film
- 😈😈😈🔥🔥🔥

I would try a brush a sparse and tough bristle. Like a whole bunch of toothpicks at once

Any uniqueness to your climate or location? I see a lot of green in one of your photo backgrounds, could this be built up pollen and dust bound by minerals from the rain? Maybe combined with the residue from other cleaning attempts.
I would try a bristled scrubbing brush with dish soap first. If that didn't work, I'd try the brush with a weak vinegar to see if it's a pH issue.

Pressure washer should help. One of those basic electric ones should be enough.

So you can't take it out? Soaking would probably do it. Not knowing what it is, I'd first try soaking in dish soap. If that doesn't work, soak in vinegar which dissolves a lot of stuff (works the same as CLR, but not as strong).
But like the other guy says you can replace it. Might be worth that just to save the labor of cleaning it. You can get large rolls of the stuff, shouldn't be hard to find.
- I can remove the screen, but I can't pop out the frame itself. Idk if that would be tricky to replace it if I can't lay it flat? It's also huge.
  
  I don't understand. The screens I see are in a frame. You can't separate the screen from its frame, basically without tearing it apart.
  If you can remove the screen, then what's the issue?

is it from wildfire smoke?
I've worked in a lot of kitchens and carbon build up is one of the worst things to remove. Might be best off replacing it as others said.
Hot vinegar will remove sugars. Rubbing alcohol or other solvents will remove oils. For burned carbon we used something called carbon off which is very caustic because we're also made of carbon.
- Doesn't seem likely. This is the only pane affected. And the material seems to be coating the inner part of the screen, not the exterior part.

I totally thought this was going to be a bunch of little cans of beans when I zoomed in.
I was going to say replace it but you replied to someone above saying the same thing. I still say just replace it but by buying the material, which can be bought cheaply in rolls, and reuse the frames

Something strong like CLR or Citric acid might get rid of it

Maybe compressed air?

Pressure washer? Might be overkill, but if you get one with enough horsepower it could do the trick.

Seriously just replace it. It's so easy to do. Get a kit like this (check measurements) and forget about it! It comes with everything you need to replace it. Watch a YouTube video and you're golden.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Phifer-36-in-x-84-in-Black-Pet-Screen-Kit-with-Spline-and-Roller-3025886/205001783

Close the window then get a high pressure hose/washer and spray it until it’s clean.

My first vote is same as everyone else’s, but…maybe TSP?

Pack your bags and move away.
- Shall I pack onions as well?

Soap and warm water, along with a brush. You'll need to scrub it a bit, and to keep things soapy. Be careful not to push too hard and stretch out the screen. Spray the screen off with a hose when finished scrubbing. Repeat as necessary.
I use a window fan at home, and the screen gets gunked up. Just takes some soap and a little elbow grease to get it clean.

71 comments