Windex is an American brand of glass and hard-surface cleaners —originally in glass containers, later in plastic ones.
52-485: The name "Windex" (from " window " + "-ex") is a registered trademark . Drackett sold the Windex brand to Bristol-Meyers in 1965. S. C. Johnson acquired it in 1993 and has been manufacturing it since. The original Windex was yellow. Today, it is commonly blue. Varieties are marketed in several colors (ocean fresh blue, sunshine lemon and citrus orange) and fragrances (spring bouquet, ocean mist, lavender and tea tree), with
104-805: A latch or similar mechanism to lock the window shut or to hold it open by various amounts. Types include the eyebrow window, fixed windows, hexagonal windows , single-hung, and double-hung sash windows, horizontal sliding sash windows , casement windows , awning windows, hopper windows, tilt, and slide windows (often door-sized), tilt and turn windows, transom windows, sidelight windows, jalousie or louvered windows, clerestory windows, lancet windows , skylights , roof windows , roof lanterns , bay windows , oriel windows , thermal, or Diocletian , windows, picture windows, rose windows , emergency exit windows, stained glass windows, French windows, panel windows, double/triple-paned windows, and witch windows . The English language-word window originates from
156-657: A mullion separating them, that open outward with opposing hinges to a terrace or porch, are referred to as a French window . Sometimes these are set in pairs or multiples thereof along the exterior wall of a very large room, but often, one French window is placed centrally in a typically sized room, perhaps among other fixed windows flanking the feature. French windows are known as porte-fenêtre in France and portafinestra in Italy, and frequently are used in modern houses. Double-paned windows have two parallel panes (slabs of glass) with
208-450: A wall , door , roof , or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air . Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material , a sash set in a frame in the opening; the sash and frame are also referred to as a window. Many glazed windows may be opened, to allow ventilation , or closed to exclude inclement weather . Windows may have
260-410: A double-hung, or in-line. The inline versions can be made to fold inward or outward. The inward swinging foldup windows can have fixed screens, while the outward swinging ones require movable screens. The windows are typically used for screen rooms, kitchen pass-throughs, or egress. A horizontal sliding sash window has two or more sashes that overlap slightly but slide horizontally within the frame. In
312-831: A dye solution and 0.01% perfume. This formula was not only inexpensive to manufacture but allowed the product to be packaged in glass bottles and dispensed with a plastic sprayer . In 1989, Windex was a 5% ammonia solution. The product was reformulated in 2006. In 2009, S.C. Johnson started publishing ingredients for all of its products, including Windex. The S.C. Johnson website lists Windex's ingredients as water, 2-hexoxyethanol , isopropanolamine , sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate , lauramine oxide , ammonium hydroxide , fragrance and Liquitint sky blue dye. An alternative variant also for household use cites water, hexoxyethanol, isopropanolamine, ammonium hydroxide , sodium C10-C16 alkylbenzenesulfonate, lauramine oxide , sodium xylene sulfonate, colorants and fragrances. Windex's main competitor in
364-453: A friction device to hold the window open against its weight and may have restriction and reversed locking built-in. In the UK, where this type of window is most common, they were extensively installed in high-rise social housing. A tilt and slide window is a window (more usually a door-sized window) where the sash tilts inwards at the top similar to a hopper window and then slides horizontally behind
416-492: A long-standing motif of pointed or rounded window-shapes in ecclesiastical buildings, still seen in many churches today. Peter Smith discusses overall trends in early-modern rural Welsh window architecture: Up to about 1680 windows tended to be horizontal in proportion, a shape suitable for lighting the low-ceilinged rooms that had resulted from the insertion of the upper floor into the hall-house. After that date vertically proportioned windows came into fashion, partly at least as
468-519: A millennium before window glass became transparent enough to see through clearly, as we expect now. In 1154, Al-Idrisi described glass windows as a feature of the palace belonging to the king of the Ghana Empire . Over the centuries techniques were developed to shear through one side of a blown glass cylinder and produce thinner rectangular window panes from the same amount of glass material. This gave rise to tall narrow windows, usually separated by
520-449: A number of additives such as vinegar, lemon, lime or orange juice. On August 26, 1969, Melvin E. Stonebraker and Samuel P. Wise received U.S. patent #3,463,735 for a glass cleaning composition, listing example formulae, one of which is 4.0% isopropyl alcohol , 1% ethylene glycol monobutyl ether , 0.1% sodium lauryl sulfate (a surfactant), calcium (Ca) 0.01%, tetrasodium pyrophosphate (a water softener), 0.05% of 28% ammonia , 1% of
572-537: A response to the Renaissance taste for the high ceiling. Since 1914 the wheel has come full circle and a horizontally proportioned window is again favoured. The spread of plate-glass technology made possible the introduction of picture windows (in Levittown, Pennsylvania , founded 1951–1952 ). Many modern day windows may have a window screen or mesh, often made of aluminum or fibreglass , to keep bugs out when
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#1732884349502624-438: A separation of typically about 1 cm; this space is permanently sealed and filled at the time of manufacture with dry air or other dry nonreactive gas. Such windows provide a marked improvement in thermal insulation (and usually in acoustic insulation as well) and are resistant to fogging and frosting caused by temperature differential. They are widely used for residential and commercial construction in intemperate climates. In
676-639: A separator ( mullion ). Typically, the cellular window is used for an attic or as a decorative feature, but it can also be a major architectural element to provide the natural lighting inside buildings. A guillotine window is a window that opens vertically. Guillotine windows have more than one sliding frame, and open from bottom to top or top to bottom. EN 12519 is the European standard that describes windows terms officially used in EU Member States. The main terms are: The United States NFRC Window Label lists
728-474: A vertical support called a mullion . Mullioned glass windows were the windows of choice among the European well-to-do, whereas paper windows were economical and widely used in ancient China, Korea, and Japan. In England, glass became common in the windows of ordinary homes only in the early-17th century, whereas windows made up of panes of flattened animal horn were used as early as the 14th century. Modern-style floor-to-ceiling windows became possible only after
780-429: A wall, typically without glazing bars , or glazed with only perfunctory glazing bars ( muntins ) near the edge of the window. Picture windows provide an unimpeded view, as if framing a picture. A multi-lite window is a window glazed with small panes of glass separated by wooden or lead glazing bars , or muntins , arranged in a decorative glazing pattern often dictated by the building's architectural style. Due to
832-493: Is a door with a jalousie window. A clerestory window is a window set in a roof structure or high in a wall, used for daylighting . A skylight is a window built into a roof structure. This type of window allows for natural daylight and moonlight. A roof window is a sloped window used for daylighting , built into a roof structure. It is one of the few windows that could be used as an exit. Larger roof windows meet building codes for emergency evacuation. A roof lantern
884-402: Is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or run over one or multiple storeys . In plan, the most frequently used shapes are isosceles trapezoid (which may be referred to as a canted bay window ) and rectangle . But other polygonal shapes with more than two corners are also common, as are curved shapes. If a bay window
936-500: Is a multi-paned glass structure, resembling a small building, built on a roof for day or moon light. Sometimes includes an additional clerestory . May also be called a cupola . A bay window is a multi-panel window, with at least three panels set at different angles to create a protrusion from the wall line. An oriel window is a form of bay window. This form most often appears in Tudor-style houses and monasteries. It projects from
988-478: Is curved it may alternatively be called bow window . Bay windows in a triangular shape with just one corner exist, but are relatively rare. A bay window supported by a corbel , bracket or similar is called an oriel window . " Rawashin " is a traditional and distinctive style of corbelled bay window in Jeddah , Saudi Arabia (e.g., as on the frontage of Nasseef House ). Most medieval bay windows and up to
1040-464: Is known as a fanlight, especially in the British Isles. Windows beside a door or window are called side-, wing-, margen-lights, and flanking windows. Also known as a louvered window, the jalousie window consists of parallel slats of glass or acrylic that open and close like a Venetian blind , usually using a crank or a lever. They are used extensively in tropical architecture. A jalousie door
1092-408: Is used in situations where light or vision alone is needed as no ventilation is possible in such windows without the use of trickle vents or overglass vents. A single-hung sash window is a window that has one sash that is movable (usually the bottom one) and the other fixed. This is the earlier form of sliding sash window and is also cheaper. A sash window is the traditional style of window in
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#17328843495021144-582: Is used in two ways: a curved top window in a wall or an eyebrow dormer ; and a row of small windows usually under the front eaves such as the James-Lorah House in Pennsylvania. A fixed window is a window that cannot be opened, whose function is limited to allowing light to enter (unlike an unfixed window, which can open and close). Clerestory windows in church architecture are often fixed. Transom windows may be fixed or operable. This type of window
1196-572: The Baroque era are oriel windows. They frequently appear as a highly ornamented addition to the building rather than an organic part of it. Particularly during the Gothic period they often serve as small house chapels , with the oriel window containing an altar and resembling an apse of a church. Especially in Nuremberg these are even called Chörlein ( lit. ' little apse/ choir ' ), with
1248-628: The Danish language vindue and Norwegian Bokmål vindu , the direct link to eye is lost, just as for window . The Danish (but not the Bokmål ) word is pronounced fairly similarly to window . Window is first recorded in the early 13th century, and originally referred to an unglazed hole in a roof. Window replaced the Old English eagþyrl , which literally means 'eye-hole', and eagduru 'eye-door'. Many Germanic languages, however, adopted
1300-566: The Old Norse vindauga , from vindr 'wind' and auga 'eye'. In Norwegian , Nynorsk , and Icelandic , the Old Norse form has survived to this day (in Icelandic only as a less used word for a type of small open "window", not strictly a synonym for gluggi , the Icelandic word for 'window' ). In Swedish , the word vindöga remains as a term for a hole through the roof of a hut, and in
1352-560: The 13th century BC, the earliest windows were unglazed openings in a roof to admit light during the day. Later, windows were covered with animal hide, cloth, or wood. Shutters that could be opened and closed came next. Over time, windows were built that both protected the inhabitants from the elements and transmitted light, using multiple small pieces of translucent material, such as flattened pieces of translucent animal horn, paper sheets, thin slices of marble (such as fengite ), or pieces of glass, set in frameworks of wood, iron or lead. In
1404-631: The Far East, paper was used to fill windows. The Romans were the first known users of glass for windows, exploiting a technology likely first developed in Roman Egypt . Specifically, in Alexandria c. 100 CE, cast-glass windows, albeit with poor optical properties, began to appear, but these were small thick productions, little more than blown-glass jars (cylindrical shapes) flattened out into sheets with circular striation patterns throughout. It would be over
1456-613: The Latin word fenestra to describe a window with glass, such as standard Swedish fönster , or German Fenster . The use of window in English is probably because of the Scandinavian influence on the English language by means of loanwords during the Viking Age . In English, the word fenester was used as a parallel until the mid-18th century. Fenestration is still used to describe
1508-435: The UK and many other parts of Europe. An awning window is a casement window that is hung horizontally, hinged on top, so that it swings outward like an awning . In addition to being used independently, they can be stacked, several in one opening, or combined with fixed glass. They are particularly useful for ventilation. A hopper window is a bottom-pivoting casement window that opens by tilting vertically, typically to
1560-529: The UK, double-paned and triple-paned are referred to as double- glazing and triple-glazing. Triple-paned windows are now a common type of glazing in central to northern Europe. Quadruple glazing is now being introduced in Scandinavia. A hexagonal window is a hexagon -shaped window, resembling a bee cell or crystal lattice of graphite. The window can be vertically or horizontally oriented, openable or dead. It can also be regular or elongately-shaped and can have
1612-407: The UK, these are sometimes called Yorkshire sash windows, presumably because of their traditional use in that county. A casement window is a window with a hinged sash that swings in or out like a door comprising either a side-hung, top-hung (also called "awning window"; see below), or occasionally bottom-hung sash or a combination of these types, sometimes with fixed panels on one or more sides of
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1664-502: The United Kingdom, and many other places that were formerly colonized by the UK, with two parts (sashes) that overlap slightly and slide up and down inside the frame. The two parts are not necessarily the same size; where the upper sash is smaller (shorter) it is termed a cottage window . Currently, most new double-hung sash windows use spring balances to support the sashes, but traditionally, counterweights held in boxes on either side of
1716-481: The arrangement of windows within a façade , as well as defenestration , meaning 'to throw out of a window'. The Romans were the first known to use glass for windows, a technology likely first produced in Roman Egypt , in Alexandria c. 100 AD . Presentations of windows can be seen in ancient Egyptian wall art and sculptures from Assyria. Paper windows were economical and widely used in ancient China, Korea, and Japan. In England, glass became common in
1768-696: The entrance of emergency rescuers. Vehicles, such as buses, aircraft, and trains frequently have emergency exit windows as well. A stained glass window is a window composed of pieces of colored glass, transparent, translucent or opaque , frequently portraying persons or scenes. Typically the glass in these windows is separated by lead glazing bars. Stained glass windows were popular in Victorian houses and some Wrightian houses, and are especially common in churches . A French door has two rows of upright rectangular glass panes (lights) extending its full length; and two of these doors on an exterior wall and without
1820-451: The fixed pane. A tilt and turn window can both tilt inwards at the top or open inwards from hinges at the side. This is the most common type of window in Germany, its country of origin. It is also widespread in many other European countries. In Europe, it is usual for these to be of the "turn first" type. i.e. when the handle is turned to 90 degrees the window opens in the side hung mode. With
1872-497: The following terms: The European harmonised standard hEN 14351–1, which deals with doors and windows, defines 23 characteristics (divided into essential and non essential ). Two other, preliminary European Norms that are under development deal with internal pedestrian doors (prEN 14351–2), smoke and fire resisting doors, and openable windows (prEN 16034). Windows can be a significant source of heat transfer. Therefore, insulated glazing units consist of two or more panes to reduce
1924-545: The handle turned to 180 degrees the window opens in bottom hung mode. Most usually in the UK the windows will be "tilt first" i.e. bottom hung at 90 degrees for ventilation and side hung at 180 degrees for cleaning the outer face of the glass from inside the building. A transom window is a window above a door. In an exterior door the transom window is often fixed, in an interior door, it can open either by hinges at top or bottom, or rotate on hinges. It provided ventilation before forced air heating and cooling. A fan-shaped transom
1976-521: The historic unavailability of large panes of glass, the multi-lit (or lattice window ) was the most common window style until the beginning of the 20th century, and is still used in traditional architecture. An emergency exit window is a window big enough and low enough so that occupants can escape through the opening in an emergency, such as a fire. In many countries, exact specifications for emergency windows in bedrooms are given in many building codes . Specifications for such windows may also allow for
2028-436: The industrial plate glass-making processes were perfected in the late 19th century Modern windows are usually filled using glass, although transparent plastic is also used. The introduction of lancet windows into Western European church architecture from the 12th century CE built on a tradition of arched windows inserted between columns, and led not only to tracery and elaborate stained-glass windows but also to
2080-462: The inside, resembling a hopper chute. A pivot window is a window hung on one hinge on each of two opposite sides which allows the window to revolve when opened. The hinges may be mounted top and bottom (Vertically Pivoted) or at each jamb (Horizontally Pivoted). The window will usually open initially to a restricted position for ventilation and, once released, fully reverse and lock again for safe cleaning from inside. Modern pivot hinges incorporate
2132-480: The most famous example being the one from the parsonage of St. Sebaldus Church . In Islamic architecture , oriel windows such as the Arabic mashrabiya are frequently made of wood and allow viewing out while restricting visibility from the outside. Especially in warmer climates, a bay window may be identical to a balcony with a privacy shield or screen. Bay windows can make a room appear larger, and provide views of
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2184-434: The myriad criteria for the design of windows, several pivotal criteria have emerged in daylight standards: location, time, weather, nature, and people. Of these criteria, windows that are designed to provide views of nature are considered to be the most important by people. A cross-window is a rectangular window usually divided into four lights by a mullion and transom that form a Latin cross . The term eyebrow window
2236-628: The outside which would be unavailable with an ordinary flat window. They are found in terraced houses , semis , and detached houses as well as in blocks of flats . Based on British models, their use spread to other English-speaking countries like Ireland, the US, Canada, and Australia. Following the pioneering model of pre-modern commercial architecture at the Oriel Chambers in Liverpool , they feature on early Chicago School skyscrapers, where they often run
2288-439: The room, and provides additional space within the room. Bay windows are often designed to extend beyond the exterior wall, forming a small nook or seating area inside, which can be used for various purposes such as reading, display, or simply enjoying the view. They are commonly found in residential buildings, particularly in living rooms, dining areas, or bedrooms, but can also be seen in commercial or public structures. Bay window
2340-423: The sash. In the US, these are usually opened using a crank , but in parts of Europe, they tend to use projection friction stays and espagnolette locking. Formerly, plain hinges were used with a casement stay . Handing applies to casement windows to determine direction of swing; a casement window may be left-handed, right-handed, or double. The casement window is the dominant type now found in modern buildings in
2392-409: The transfer of heat. Bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. It typically consists of a central windowpane, called a fixed sash, flanked by two or more smaller windows, known as casement or double-hung windows. The arrangement creates a panoramic view of the outside, allows more natural light to enter
2444-416: The wall and does not extend to the ground. Originally a form of porch, they are often supported by brackets or corbels. Thermal, or Diocletian , windows are large semicircular windows (or niches) which are usually divided into three lights (window compartments) by two mullions. The central compartment is often wider than the two side lights on either side of it. A picture window is a large fixed window in
2496-426: The window be locked into hinges on one side, while the rope on the other side is detached—so the window can be opened for fire escape or cleaning. A foldup has two equal sashes similar to a standard double-hung but folds upward allowing air to pass through nearly the full-frame opening. The window is balanced using either springs or counterbalances, similar to a double-hung. The sashes can be either offset to simulate
2548-524: The window cleaning market is Glass Plus , a glass cleaning product produced by Reckitt Benckiser , which Windex's current owner S. C. Johnson & Son was required to divest to gain the approval of the Federal Trade Commission to acquire Dow Chemical Company 's DowBrands consumer products division (the original owner of the Glass Plus brand). Window A window is an opening in
2600-433: The window is opened. Windows are primarily designed to facilitate a vital connection with the outdoors, offering those within the confines of the building visual access to the everchanging events occurring outside. The provision of this connection serves as an integral safeguard for the health and well-being of those inhabiting buildings, lest they experience the detrimental effects of enclosed buildings devoid of windows. Among
2652-404: The window were used. These were and are attached to the sashes using pulleys of either braided cord or, later, purpose-made chain. Three types of spring balances are called a tape or clock spring balance; channel or block-and-tackle balance, and a spiral or tube balance. Double-hung sash windows were traditionally often fitted with shutters . Sash windows can be fitted with simplex hinges that let
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#17328843495022704-399: The windows of ordinary homes only in the early 17th century whereas windows made up of panes of flattened animal horn were used as early as the 14th century. In the 19th century American west, greased paper windows came to be used by pioneering settlers. Modern-style floor-to-ceiling windows became possible only after the industrial plate glass making processes were fully perfected. In
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