Tips on How to Clean Doors: Wooden, Patio, Garage, & More

Keeping your doors clean is more than a matter of pride – it’s also a matter of practicality! After all, dirty, grimy, gunked-up doors can drag down the look of your whole house and make it hard to open, close, or slide doors around. With that in mind, we’ve collected a handful of key tips to show you how to clean doors of all types. Let’s get started!

Cleaning your entry door

Your home’s entry door has to look good – it’s the first thing your guests will touch (when they knock). To make the most of that initial first impression, you should make sure to keep your front door clean and sparkling, no matter what material it might be made of.

Wooden entry doors

Wooden entry doors look fantastic, but you shouldn’t use overly harsh soap unless it is absolutely necessary. Instead, dust away cobwebs and other easily removable dirt with a cloth or duster, then use a mild dish soap with a microfiber cloth to finish the rest of the job.

Be sure to open your wood door and clean around the edges with a damp cloth! If you encounter any tougher stains, take a fresh microfiber cloth and apply just a few drops of mineral spirits or paint thinner. Go with the grain of the wood as you wipe, and you’ll remove any grime or dirt buildup in no time.

Fiberglass front doors

Fiberglass doors are pretty common thanks to their energy efficiency. They’re also very easy to clean: just mix 1 cup of white vinegar with a gallon of warm water, then soak a washcloth and soft sponge in the solution. Scrub down your fiberglass front door, and voilà! It should look good as new. If you see deeper stains, try doing the same process with a soft-bristled brush.

Lastly, if your fiberglass door is meant to emulate a wooden texture, like Waudena’s Timbergrain Fiberglass Door, use the above wood door cleaning tips instead.

Cleaning painted surfaces properly

Odds are your Port City home has a painted front door, unless it's made of a particularly rare and beautiful type of wood you can't bear to cover up. The best way to clean a front door requires getting rid of dirt without scraping away paint.

Fortunately, it’s easier to do this than you may think. Take a gallon of warm water and add an ounce of mild dish soap, then mix well. Soak a microfiber cloth in the mixture and scrub gently. This cleaning solution should be perfect for cleaning away dirt, grime, and stains without harming the paint layer on your front door.

Washing a patio door

You’ll also want your patio door to look clean, especially if it’s a transparent sliding patio door. If you’re wondering how to clean sliding patio doors, here are a few good tips you can rely on to clean your patio door successfully every time.

Cleaning the door tracks

Your sliding glass patio door’s tracks need to be cleaned from time to time, as they'll accumulate debris and gunk sooner or later. One easy way to clean out the tracks is to use a vacuum cleaner with a narrow hose attachment.

After sucking up all the gunk you see, use an old toothbrush and dish soap to clean away any other stains or remove harder deposits. You can also put a few drops of lubricating grease down in the tracks to make sliding your patio door even easier.

Washing the glass door

When it comes time to wipe down the glass door itself, use mild dish soap or glass cleaner along with paper towels and a microfiber cloth. Don’t be afraid to push down hard to get rid of stains and smears. The glass will be tough enough, particularly if your patio door is a sturdy model, like an Inovo Sliding Patio Door from Simonton. This way, you can get rid of any fingerprints, pawprints, or general buildup that can accumulate and blur the glass surface over time.

Keeping a garage door rolling

Your home’s garage door is probably the largest out of the bunch! Garage door maintenance and cleaning are important, not just for the aesthetic of your property but also to make sure it rolls up and down properly when you hit the garage door button.

The front and back surfaces of your garage door can be cleaned with normal soap and water. Use a microfiber cloth if the garage door is painted – in fact, the same tips for washing a painted front door apply here, too.

You’ll also want to clean your garage door’s other major components. Here are some tips:

• Make sure the garage door tracks are clear by using a shop vac or canned air.
• Always lubricate the garage door tracks and rollers. This keeps component stress down. Try to lubricate your garage door rollers about twice per year.
• Look at the weatherstripping around the garage door. If it’s frayed and old, replace it with new weatherstripping to save energy and keep your garage door from getting too cold or too hot.

As you can see, keeping your home’s doors clean is mostly a matter of choosing the right cleaning equipment and good old-fashioned elbow grease. Sometimes, though, your entry door or patio door just doesn’t look as good as it should, no matter how much you scrub it. In those cases, it might be time to order a replacement.

The experts at Window World of the Port City have you covered. Our showroom can help you find the perfect entry door or patio door for your needs, so contact us today!