Hard water and streaky windows: why it happens and what actually helps
Market Drayton's mains water is classed hard — here's what that means for your glass, and why pure water cleaning solves it properly.
If your windows look streaky within days of being cleaned, the problem usually isn't the cleaning — it's the water. Market Drayton's mains supply, provided by Severn Trent, is classed as hard water.
What "hard water" actually means
Hard water carries dissolved minerals, mainly calcium and magnesium, picked up as it passes through the ground before reaching your taps. Those minerals don't evaporate along with the water — they stay behind on any surface the water dries on, glass included.
Why this ruins a traditional window clean
Traditional window cleaning — a squeegee, some detergent, and tap water — rinses the glass with exactly the water that's causing the problem. Even a perfectly executed clean will dry to a faint white haze or streak pattern as the hard water evaporates and leaves its mineral content behind.
Why pure water solves it properly
Pure water window cleaning uses water that's been filtered to remove essentially all dissolved minerals before it ever touches your glass. Because there's nothing left in the water to leave a residue, it dries completely clear with no streaking, no matter how hard the water was to begin with.
What this means for you
- If your current window cleaner still uses tap water and a squeegee, hard water like ours in Market Drayton will always limit how good the finish can be.
- Pure water cleaning isn't a premium extra — for a hard water area, it's the baseline for a genuinely streak-free result.
- It also means frames and sills come out cleaner, since there's no mineral film left behind either.
Every DEC clean uses pure water for exactly this reason.
