Friday, May 17, 2013

Easy Recipe To Make Your Own Glass Cleaner!

Ready to get your mind blown? You can make something that is even BETTER than that name brand glass cleaner at a fraction of the price.  And it only takes 4 ingredients mixed in some water. How easy is that!?


DIY Window Cleaner:
  • 2 cups of WARM water
  • 1 tablespoon of corn starch 
  • 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol
  • 1/4 cup of white vinegar
  • Small squirt of Dish Soap (update: recommend Thieves Dish Soap or Eco-Me Fragrance Free Dish Soap
  • Optional: 2-3 drops of Lemon Essential Oil
It's soooo easy! Mix the ingredients together in a spray bottle and tada! Done! Just make sure you always shake it before you use it because the cornstarch may settle a bit.

I got the idea of one of my favorite bloggers, Crunchy Betty, and then just tweaked the recipe. I can't tell you how happy I am that I found a DIY window cleaner that works!

I have gone slightly crazy (I know, it's not shocking) and I have cleaned almost every window and mirror in my home with the three window cleaners that I have:


  • Name Brand Cleaner
  • Earth Friendly Window Cleaner
  • My Fake Windex

Glass cleaner review

I seriously sat back and stared at each one and, at first, I couldn't see the difference between the Windex and the DIY window cleaner that I made. The Earth Friendly Cleaner was obviously the loser. Goodbye!

What I did notice was that the Windex sometimes required scrubbing. The fake windex barely needed anything except a simple wipe, with the exception of really gunky stuff. They both had very mild streaking, but I don't think I'm being biased by saying that the DIY windex had less of a cloudy look after. I'm very happy with the fake windex!

Concerning the DIY Windex, just make sure you don't get the window too wet or it'll streak! Finding the perfect amount does take some getting used to.

Personally I use one of two methods:
  • Use two paper towels to clean the DIY Windex: one to do the initial clean and another to wipe off any excess. 
  • Use one paper towel and spray it directly with the DIY windex and clean with that.
If you are getting streaking it's because there is too much wet cleaner on the window. I promise, just a little bit goes a long way. And remember to shake it before you use it so the cornstarch gets mixed back in!

I really did try to take pictures of everything after my cleaning spree, but none of the pictures I had really showed the difference between the products. I guess that's what I get for only using an iPhone camera to take pictures. In person, there was a definite difference.

It's awesome that it cleans well, but the best thing is the price!!

Water: Free
Corn Starch: $2.50
Rubbing Alcohol: $2
White Vinegar (gallon):  $4
Dawn: $3

Total: $11 for all the supplies, but if you break it down into cost per bottle

Water: Free
Corn Starch: $0.08
Rubbing Alcohol: $0.25
Vinegar: $0.06
Dawn: $0.02

Total per BOTTLE: $0.41

Savings: A lot.

Looking for Other Ways to Reduce Indoor Air Pollution: 
Sherri Griffin
Sherri Griffin

Thanks for checking out my blog. I get serious about a few things in life: animals, chemicals, and food. For the rest I can't promise anything so keep the bar low. For more about me check out my "About Me" page! Happy DIYing!

7 comments:

  1. Hi Sherri! I have used vinegar and newspaper in the past, but I'm now a big fan of Norwex! The Polishing cloth + water is all you need! One time investment for a lifetime of clean, streakfree, windows, mirrors, wineglasses, etc! And NO MORE PAPER TOWEL! (13 billion tons of paper towel are tossed into our landfills every year :( )

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Norwex? I've never heard of it... {googles it} Whhhaaatttt!? Brilliant!! I'm going to try this! {searching amazon.com} I would LOVE to save the world from wasteful use of paper towels (and save myself some money since I buy the expensive recycled paper towels). Do you mind if I write about this on the blog? If more people can save paper towels-- that's just huge! I really love the idea! Thanks for sharing!

      Delete
  2. Hi, defs gonna try this to compare.. but I use half vinegar and half water, with left over newspaper to wipe.. no streaks or fog from hot showers ( or cold windows in the morning, coming from canada)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very awesome products and great list of cleaning products that's are very beneficial for Window..

    ReplyDelete
  4. All "soft" paper products (TP, napkins, paper towels, etc.) have oils in them (which is why dogs love to eat them). No matter how hard you wipe, there will always be streaks on glass. Use cotton (not dried with dryer sheets) or newpaper.

    ReplyDelete

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