The Best Window Cleaner ever.
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I’m happy to be sharing The Best Homemade Window Cleaner with you. It has won us over. After years of filmy residue, we can see clearly now. The film is gone.
For years and years, we battled trying to get the exterior of our windows clean. They just never looked crystal clear. A filmy residue and often chalky streaks would remain once the windows dried. We tried a variety of window cleaners from homemade to store bought concoctions, as well as using newspaper instead of paper towels with not much success.
That all changed when we learned about the best exterior window cleaner ever.
We had been working on updating a bathroom and ordered some new mirrors. While the glass guys were here installing the mirror, my husband, Randy, got to chatting with them, as he usually does, about how their business was going. During their conversation he happened to ask them what they use for cleaning glass. Did they have any professional tips or tricks? Yes, they did!
They shared a simple recipe for what they have found to work. They swore by it. We had already tried just using a simple combination of vinegar and water, but they learned a trick from a commercial window cleaner: add a little dish detergent to the vinegar/water mixture. Really? That simple? It was new to us, and it sounded much too easy.
So we tried it (or should I say Randy tried it) right away. Randy set out just to test a few windows and the next thing I knew he had worked all the way around the house, and was already working on some of the upstairs windows as well. There was an immediate difference, and so much easier than what we had tried in the past.
It was so bright inside we had to wear shades. I crack myself up.
The mixture below, is super simple and used with a soft bristle brush and hose. That’s it. No more piles of used paper towels, no ladders, just clarity. I’m planning on trying the same mixture on all kinds of things outside that need de-grungifying.
Keeping the shades on. The future is definitely gonna be brighter around here, y’all. Happy cleaning!
How to Make The Best Window Cleaner
The Best Window Cleaner
This simple mixture will help wash exterior windows to a sparkly clean.
Materials
- 2 cups water
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon dish detergent
Tools
- bucket
- scrub brush
- optional extension pole
- water hose
- optional sprayer attachment
Instructions
- Combine water, white vinegar and dish detergent in a bucket. Increase amounts as needed.
- Using a soft bristle scrub brush on an extension pole handle thingy, dip the brush in a bucket of the solution, and scrub it on the window.
- Before it has a chance to dry, spray/rinse it off with clean water. Be sure to rinse thoroughly. A hose fitted with a sprayer attachment is helpful.
Notes
The solution could be made and used in a spray bottle, but we found working on lots of windows, the bucket and scrub brush worked great.
To avoid the need for a ladder (because ladders are the most dangerous tool in the box) Randy used an all-purpose extension pole with a threaded end that enables you to attach different brushes, rollers, etcetera. (Similar to this one.)
Use a soft bristle scrub brush. A sponge mop may also work.
This definitely works for outside windows, where you can safely rinse with water. I have yet to try it indoors, but if you do, make sure you can rinse with plenty of water. Perhaps one spray bottle of solution, and a separate spray bottle of clean water?
Again, be sure to rinse thoroughly, and before the solution has a chance to dry on window. It’s helpful to avoid windows directly in the sun, so they are not hot and don’t as quickly.
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Amy, you didn’t mention if you just left the water on or if you used a squeegee. I noticed that some people who left comments used one and some people did not. What do you recommend?
We do not use a squeegee.
As soon as I read this, I had to try it. We are on a hill with nothing to block the elements. Being in South Texas we get rain year-round. May/June and September are our wettest months. Windows don’t stay clean foe long.
The results are fantastic! You do need to be sure to rinse until you no longer see any rainbow effect from the dish soap. Has anyone had mineral buildup? I could easily hook up my hose to the water heater which has softened water.
I have found that the best way to clean glass and mirrors/mirrored items is to get a cotton rag (old men’s t-shirt or flour sack dishtowel or an old tea towel that is linen) and wet it. Then squeeze most of the water out and pour some rubbing alcohol on it. I carry it in one hand and a dry COTTON rag/cloth in the other hand. I go over the item with the damp water/alcohol cloth and then follow up with the dry cotton cloth. It works like a charm and I have no streaks. DO NOT use paper towels to clean/dry glass or mirrors. I have found I get streaks that take more time to get rid of than using cotton cloth. I throw my cloths in the wash and they’re ready for use again…no waste.
I have already tried this cleaning recipe and I must say that this is the best window cleaner I have ever used! It is natural and make my windows so clean! Thank you for this interesting post!
I have been washing our windows for fifty years of our married life. My choice through! I tried all kinds of window cleaners,most of the times had streaks. Not this time . York solution worked Great!!! Thank you. Hopefully I will be using your solution my next fifty years. Thanks again. FFMISTERP
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Heres to 50 more happy and sparkling window washing years! 🙂
If you add a few drops of Jet Dry, normally for dishwashers, you just have to rinse & no squeeze or other drying means needed! I hope this helps.
Thank you very much for sharing this cleaning “recipe”. It cleans better than any other product that I’ve ever purchased, and at a fraction of the cost. Another key point imo, is to use crumbled up newspaper to wipe off the windows. Spray solution on (relatively lightly), clean around the edges, then back and forth, up and down, from top to bottom, repeat, and you’ll have an absolutely clear, streak free window. Simply the best!
This works so well that I’ll never use anything else to clean my windows.
Thanks for the cleaning tip. We do it very similar but use hot water – a little bit of vinegar ( this helps to clear away the water marks) – a little bit of washing up liquid ( this helps to get the grime and muck off but not too much as it gets dirty again if soap is left on the window) and then clean it off with a window wiper/squeegee thingy, finishing the edges only if required with an e-cloth. This way you don’t need lots of water to rinse and you can do the same inside as well as outside.
Used this solution a few weeks ago and it looked great, and now I see a film and the sweeping pattern from my wiping as the sun shines through. The great results lasted for a short while. Is that expected?
Hmmmm … not really an expected result. Two things: 1) I would make sure that you don’t clean the windows when they are in the direct sunlight, and 2) make sure to rinse thoroughly. Other than that I’m not sure what may be causing the film.
Tried this yesterday with great success!! Kept waiting to see water spots, or streaks, but windows dried crystal clear! It’s magical! Thank you Amy so much for sharing this awesome window cleaner!!
Yay, Kathy! Our windows are past due. We’ll be cleaning them this weekend if weather permits. I can’t wait to see clearly!
I prefer the so called “Three Towel Method” using vinegar for cleaning windows. Is very fast and easy and leaves no streaks. See video for how to do it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvjB8xw7TK0
I just tried this and the windows look clean but streaked with lines and water spots. The sun is not directly on the windows and it is only 61 today. Guess I will have to use water & vinegar with paper towels like before – I think leaving them to dry on their own doesn’t work
I’m sorry to hear that you had trouble. I know when we don’t rinse them well they can leave streaks.
I wonder if the people having trouble with a film are using a dish soap with some kind of lotion or hand softener in it?
Also, it only takes the tiniest bit of soap to break the surface tension of the water, (to get into micro-small nooks & crannies) but it is the soap that would be the culprit of streaks and film. I made a quadruple batch but still 1/4 tsp of soap and still had a little sudsing but no streaks or film and my 17 yo son washed the windows!
That’s a possibility. Thanks for mentioning it, PlainJane.
Can you use Castile soap?
Oh my goodness!!! We live at the beach and my windows were COVERED with sandy dust and dirt from Hurricane Joaquin. I used this ONCE just like you wrote and my windows totally sparkle right now. I even used it to scrub down the paint and the entire front of my house looks like new. THANK YOU!
So happy to hear it, Laura! Nothing like sparkly windows!
I’ve never tried cleaning my windows with a little bit of dawn dish soap! I will definitely have to try it! I try to stay away from anything vinegar as I can’t stand the smell. I also love cleaning windows with a spray bottle of warm water and rubbing alcohol! It leaves them crystal clear! Thanks for sharing!
This is great for windows but would the same recipe apply for mirrors? I am so frustrated by all the glass cleaners….and of course paper towels, dust free rags (not) etc. They all leave streaks and to come out of a shower and see streaks on the mirrors makes me crazy…..Any suggestions?
Thanks. This window washing solution works nicely. I have a large house with picture windows everywhere, so I mix 2 gallons of this solution every time I wash windows. Here is the conversion of your formula for 1 gallon of solution- 1 gallon of water, 2 cups of vinegar, 4 teaspoons of Dawn dish detergent.
I use an extension pole with a combo terrycloth washer and squeegee attachment. I also have a second bucket of tap water to clean the dirt off of the terry cloth washer after cleaning each large window, so the bucket of wash solution stays clean. You can also use distilled water in your wash solution instead of tap water, so any wet spots you miss with the squeegee will dry clear. I would suggest that you should not spray your windows with the hose to rinse them after cleaning, as it is unnecessary (if you have already squeegeed your window), and will leave mineral spots.
I tried this today on our west facing bow window. The sun always highlights the streaks…and there were none! I used it on my interior windows as well, and sprayed them down with distilled water after washing. No streaks. Thank you!
Make sure the newspaper you use is old. I find that fresh newspaper print smears, but if I use old, dried-out newspapers they don’t smear.
Pat
Interesting point. I have not used old print, but will save them and try that next time. Thanks for the tip.