Making Your Own Glass & Window Cleaner

Take a trip down the cleaning product aisle in the grocery store and just look at all the different window and glass cleaners there are on the shelves.

If you believe all those commercials on TV, you need a separate cleaning product for just about every surface in your home. One to clean windows, one to clean mirrors, another to clean linoleum, another to clean tile and so on.

For the most part, this is simply not true. If you understand the properties of the surface you are cleaning, you can get by with not more than three unique cleaning products.

And better yet, you can make homemade cleaning products to clean just about every surface with the supplies you most likely have in your home right now.

Save Money, Be Smart, Get Clean

Making your own cleaning products is smart and frugal and many cleaning solution recipes can be used on multiple surfaces. Think about that – one bottle versus three or four. Cha ching!

Making your own cleaning products also means you will know exactly what is in them and natural cleaning products are more environmentally friendly than most commercial cleaning products.

Below are some homemade window and glass cleaning solutions. Now you too can save money, be smart, and get your glass shining.

Rubbing Alcohol and Vinegar

• 1 cup rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol
• 1 cup water
• 6 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1/ 4 teaspoon liquid dish soap

Rubbing alcohol provides the base for an evaporating glass cleaner that stands strong next to any commercial glass cleaning product, it will leave no residue. Mix in a couple other ingredients and you’ve got yourself a great product for using on your windows and glass.

Rubbing Alcohol and Ammonia

This is another simple window and glass cleaning recipe you can use if you need a little extra cleaning power.

• 1 cup rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol
• 8 cups water
• 1/4 cup clear, non-sudsing ammonia

This can be mixed in a bucket then poured in a spray bottle for easy use.

Vinegar and Water

If you don’t have rubbing alcohol, don’t worry, this recipe can be used just as well to get your windows clean.

• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid dishwashing soap

Mix ingredients together in a spray bottle.

Because vinegar is acidic, do not use on marble and other stone surfaces. I can damage the surface and can permanently etch the surface.

Tips for Cleaning Windows

• When cleaning the windows, place a towel along the window sill to protect the surface.
• Start at the top and work your way down.
• Don’t clean windows on a sunny day; you’ll probably end up with a bit of streaking.

Tips for Cleaning Mirrors

• To protect the frames, spray the cleaning cloth first then clean and shine the glass.
• Use a Q-tip to get in and around decorative frames.

Cleaning windows and mirrors is one of those tasks best done on a cloudy day. This way the cleaner doesn’t dry too quickly and leave you with streaks.