Exterior window cleaning on Sanibel Island.

Sanibel curves east to west rather than running with the coast, so the Gulf does not sit off to one side of the island — it hits the whole south shore broadside. That single fact is why glass here picks up more airborne salt per day than almost anywhere else we work. It is not only the Gulf-front homes on West Gulf Drive either; the interior streets and the Sanctuary golf frontage take the same fine coat, because the island is narrow enough that nothing is really sheltered from it.

Our exterior window cleaning is built for that load. The brush works the salt out of the frames, sills, and gable trim where it collects heaviest, and the second-story and Gulf-facing panes are reached from the ground with the water-fed pole so nothing leans against the siding of a raised island home. Everything finishes with a rinse of pure deionized water that carries no minerals, so the glass dries clear on its own in the sun with nothing left to spot.

Because nearly every home here has a pool cage or screened lanai combing salt and fine sand out of the air, the glass and the screens really are one job — our screen cleaning handles the mesh so the view behind it stays as clear as the pane. Most island homes hold at every two months, with Gulf-front glass often on monthly. More on the island in Sanibel.