Fenêtre ADF

Quick Facts

Brand at a Glance

Product Range

Why This System

Step 1 of 2: Manufacturer Recommendations

Official Care Guidance

Glass

• ✓Lukewarm water with mild dish soap or a purpose-made glass cleaner. No ammonia on tinted glass.
• ✓Microfibre T-bar applicator to wash, professional squeegee to pull. Fresh rubber on every job.
• ✓Check for low-emissivity or solar-control coatings before using any hard tool on the glass surface.
• ✓On outward-opening casements, secure the sash in the open position before cleaning the outer face from a ladder.

Frames

• ✓PVC frames: damp cloth with pH-neutral cleaner. No bleach, no solvent, no abrasive pad.
• ✓Aluminium frames: pH-neutral cleaner on a soft cloth. No alkaline or acidic products - both attack powder coat over time.
• ✓Timber frames: damp cloth only on sound paintwork. Do not wet cracked or flaking paint. Report paint failure before cleaning.
• ✓Clear all drainage slots at the bottom of the fixed frame after every clean.

Hardware

• ✓Wipe all hardware with a damp cloth and dry immediately - French window hardware is often steel and rusts if left wet.
• ✓Lubricate espagnolette rods and cremone bolt guides annually with light machine oil or purpose-made hardware lubricant.
• ✓Check friction stays on casement sashes hold the sash open at the correct position - worn stays that drop the sash during cleaning are a safety issue.

Step 2 of 2: The Orloffs Protocol

The Orloffs Protocol

Pro Tools

My daily tool list. This is what I carry to every job.

Follow these steps in order. Each one builds on the last. This is the same sequence I use on every Fenêtre ADF installation.

1. 1

   Preparation

   Identify window material before mixing cleaning product - PVC, aluminium, and timber each need a slightly different dilution approach and the timber ones need a condition check first.

   On outward-opening casements, open the sash to its maximum position and confirm the friction stay holds it safely before positioning any ladder.

   Brush down all glass and frame surfaces to remove loose debris. On timber frames, look for paint condition at this stage.

2. 2

   Glass wash

   Apply soap solution with the T-bar in full overlapping passes. Allow 30 to 60 seconds dwell on heavy soiling.

   On outward-opening casements, clean the outer face while the sash is open - work top to bottom and keep the squeegee stroke direction consistent.

   Rinse the T-bar cover after every two or three windows to avoid depositing grit from one window onto the next.

3. 3

   Edge detail before squeegeeing

   Run a damp cloth along the rebate groove at the edge of the glass. Solution left in the rebate deposits as a line at the frame edge after the squeegee pass.

   On timber frames, keep the edge cloth relatively dry - you want to remove solution from the glass edge, not wet the timber rebate.

   Wipe the top frame face dry before squeegeeing to prevent drips landing on cleaned glass below.

4. 4

   Squeegee

   Cut in at the top corner, angle the rubber slightly away from the rebate. Side-to-side passes on standard residential panels.

   Wipe the squeegee rubber dry on a clean cloth after every pass. Residue from the rubber streaks powder-coated aluminium frames.

   Finish with a single pass along the bottom edge, tilting the squeegee so water falls away from the frame drainage slots rather than into them.

5. 5

   Frame wipe-down

   Work top to bottom on frames. PVC: pH-neutral cleaner on damp cloth, rinse with clean water, dry. Aluminium: same protocol. Timber: damp cloth on sound paint only.

   Pay close attention to the welded or jointed corners where frame members meet - grime collects here and is often missed.

   Clear fixed-frame drainage slots with a soft brush after the frame wash. Check each slot is open by looking through it against the light.

6. 6

   Hardware check and lubrication

   Run each window through full operation - open, tilt if applicable, close, and lock. Every locking point should engage with no resistance.

   Apply light oil to espagnolette rods and cremone bolt guides at the annual service visit. On day-to-day cleans, wipe hardware dry and note any stiff points.

   Check friction stay pivot screws on casement sashes. A loose pivot screw means the stay cannot hold the sash - tighten immediately or flag for repair.

Pro Tips

• ★ On outward-opening casements, clean the top of the outer sash face first before the sash swings back - solution dripping from the top rail onto a cleaned lower section is the most common rework cause.
• ★ French timber windows on south-facing elevations often show paint breakdown at the bottom rail first - this is the highest moisture-accumulation point and needs the most careful condition check.
• ★ Cremone bolt guides run the full height of the sash in a narrow channel. A thin bead of light oil applied at the top guide entry point works its way down by gravity over a few operations.
• ★ On powder-coated aluminium, a white chalky bloom after cleaning means the cleaner was too alkaline. Switch to a lower-pH product and the bloom does not return.
• ★ Check the sealant bead between the fixed frame and the wall surround on older Fenetre ADF installations - French residential buildings often use a polymer mastic that shrinks and cracks over 10 to 15 years.
• ★ If a casement sash rattles when closed and locked, the issue is usually the keep (strike plate) position rather than the espagnolette rod. Do not force the handle - flag for adjustment.
• ★ On multi-light windows with a central mullion, the mullion face accumulates more grime than the outer frame because rain does not wash it. Give mullion faces extra attention on every clean.

What NOT To Do

Bundle Kits and Tool Recommendations

Cleaning Frequency

Glass: 2x per year minimum (Spring and autumn. Coastal and urban locations: quarterly.). Frames: 2x per year (Same visit as glass. Timber frames may need more frequent checks in high-rainfall areas.). Drainage slots: Every clean (Fixed-frame drainage slots on casement systems are easy to miss - build them into the checklist.). Hardware lubrication: Once per year (Cremone bolts and espagnolette rods on French systems dry out faster than tilt-and-turn hardware.)

Frequently Asked Questions

Field Notes

“French casement windows require a mental shift from tilt-and-turn work - the outer face is accessed while the sash is open and the safe working position at the ladder changes accordingly. Cremone bolt hardware on tall French windows is the most commonly neglected lubrication point in any maintenance schedule. A seized cremone bolt on a 2.4 metre sash is a significant repair. Timber windows in this range sit at the higher-maintenance end of the product line. Build condition checking into every visit - catching paint failure early prevents expensive timber remediation.”

Justin Orloff