Retractable Screen Doors Maintenance
Complying with our retractable screen door’s maintenance suggestions will guarantee stress-free service from your retractable screen door. Proper care, cleaning, and usage of your retractable screen door are essential to its longevity. A little cleaning once a month will prevent a major cleaning project.
Watch Your Screen’s Operation
Watch your retractable screen door’s operation while in motion to make sure it is functioning properly. Always make sure that the screen mesh is not operating outside of the track to prevent the mesh from bending, ripping, tearing, fraying, and/or snagging when rolling back into the housing.
In severe wind conditions, keep the screen retracted into the housing unit to prevent wind damage. Close observation of your screen’s retraction as well as common sense during heavy winds are suggested. After the wind storm, clean the tracks before using the retractable screen again.
Do not leave your retractable screen door in use while the physical door that the retractable screen is installed on is closed. Retractable screen doors are not swinging screens and should never be in use unless your physical door is open.
How to Clean Screen Doors
1. Track Cleaning
Dirt and debris will keep your screen from functioning properly. Dirt can clog the spring mechanism that retracts the screen back to its dormant condition. To protect against this, clean the bottom and top tracks every month. Remove all loose dirt and debris from your retractable screen door tracks with canned air and a vacuum with a soft brush attachment.
After removing dirt from the tracks, simply use a soft, damp cloth and a non-abrasive cleaning substance to wipe them down. Do not spray the cleaning substance directly onto the tracks. Spray the cleaning substance into the soft, damp cloth and then wipe the tracks down. Wipe away from the vertical housing canister. Do not wipe dirt directly into the vertical housing canister.
After cleaning the tracks, let them dry completely. Next, apply an even coat of StowAway ™ retractable screen door silicon spray to the inside and outside of the top and bottom tracks. Gently remove the excess spray with a soft cloth. Open and close the screen several times to lubricate each track and pull bar end cap entirely.
Do not abrasively scrub the tracks as this will instantly damage the powder coated or anodized surface.
Do not use oil, grease, petroleum, or oil-base sprays as these will attract dirt or impair the proper operation of your screen.
2. Screen Door Mesh Cleaning
The screen mesh on your retractable screen door should be cleaned first with a vacuum by using a soft upholstery brush attachment. Carefully vacuum both sides of the mesh, taking caution not to snag or cut the screen mesh itself.
Next, carefully wipe down both sides of the screen mesh with a retractable screen mesh wet wipe to remove dust. Using any other cloth or towel will leave behind lint on the screen mesh.
After cleaning the mesh, allow it to completely dry before retracting it back into the housing. Cleaning the unit first thing in the morning on a nice, hot, and sunny day is ideal.
3. Aluminum Cleaning
The housing, pull bar, tracks, sill, mold, and handles are manufactured from extruded aluminum and are either powder coated or anodized for a brilliant finish.
Wipe down all aluminum parts with a soft, damp cloth and a non-abrasive cleaning substance.
Do not abrasively scrub the aluminum finish as this will instantly damage the surface.
Do not spray the cleaning substance directly onto the aluminum finish. First, spray the cleaning substance into the soft, damp cloth and then softly wipe down the aluminum finish.
4. Yearly Cleaning Service
Your retractable screen door, just like a car, needs a tune-up to operate properly day in and day out every year. The yearly service tune-up includes removing the housing entirely from the opening and disassembling the retractable screen door to get to the internal components. In addition to lubricating the spring and close device, we also wipe down the mesh and clean the retractable screen door aluminum housing, pull bar, tracks, sill, mold, and handles.
We highly recommend purchasing a retractable screen door cleaning kit to properly maintain and operate your StowAway ™ retractable screens.
Please refer to our features section for further details.