November 21, 2011
Getting ready for company coming over this week for Thanksgiving?
I’ll admit that cleaning the windows, mirros, and glass doors of our house is something that frequently goes by the wayside. When I do remember, I generally use a store bought window cleaner like most other people, but I find I need to wear gloves to use it. The smell just stays on my hands. But what else besides the scent is staying on my hands? Whatever it is, I figure that it can’t be healthy.
Eventually, I ran out of my usual window cleaner and decided to look around for some of the green recipes that I knew were out there somewhere. In my search, I came across Crunchy Betty, a site that I have never heard of before. However, in the archives I found something wonderful: Battle of the Homemade Glass Cleaners! Ms. Crunchy Betty was kind enough to test drive several glass cleaning recipes and report back the results of her tests and therefore the best glass cleaning recipe. The winning recipe contained alcohol, water, vinegar, and cornstarch. Yes, cornstarch! She wasn’t wrong when she assumed that readers would find it an odd addition. I certainly did. But, with a whole morning and a lot of dirty glass before me, I decided to give her “Alvin Corn Homemade Glass Cleaner” a try.
When I first sprayed it and wiped it (best done with a lint free cloth), it seemed like it was going to leave a cloudy film. Nope! After wiping until almost dry, the glass cleared right up and wowee wow wow! This recipe worked even better than the store bought stuff! I quickly went through the house, cleaning mirrors, doors, and windows. Everything was sparkly, even where the dog plants her nose prints and the dreaded mirrored closet doors in the kids’ room.
As a final note, I want to say that I was really worried that the cornstarch would scratch the glass. I didn’t notice any scratches that I’m pretty sure weren’t already there, but if you are worried, test on a small area first before you go all out. Also, I know some people don’t like using rubbing alcohol. If that’s the case, check out Heather’s glass recipe instead.
Happy cleaning!
Sign up to get the latest on sales, new releases and more …
Subscribe to our newsletter and always be the first to hear about what is happening.