DIY Natural Glass Cleaner

So, it’s my first post. And with my first post comes a disclaimer:

This was my first attempt at making all-natural glass cleaner with these ingredients.

I’m proud to say I’ve tried a few other methods: Straight vinegar and water, Vinegar + rubbing alcohol, vinegar + blue dawn + rubbing alcohol, and I’ve even thrown a bit of baking soda in there. All of these methods removed debris from glass and mirrors with marginal to good results, and they’ll all work as DIY natural glass cleaners if you find yourself in a hurry to wipe up a mess.

However. Every one of these recipes left streaks. The recipes containing baking soda in particular made it seem as if my bathroom was in a fog. Laugh all you want, experienced people. Baking soda appears to be the cleaning kryptonite for the newbies and we just start using it all willy-nilly. Try to remember those days. The blue dawn recipes looked okay at first, but after a hot shower, all the streaks got worse as the mirrors dried. And the vinegar plus water recipes also left smudges and streaks. I was frustrated, but I figured there had to be something that worked. I had to remind myself that I’m determined to cut costs and eliminate chemicals. So I took to the internet to find out which natural glass cleaner works the best. Internets! My hero!

Turns out, it’s all about the corn starch. If you want to wipe up every last speck of grime and be left with streak-free mirrors, use this recipe. I stumbled upon this while looking for ways to tweak the recipes I’d been trying, and this is it, folks.

What you’ll need:

• 1/4 Cup Rubbing Alcohol
• 1/4 Cup White Vinegar
• 1 TBSP Corn Starch
• 2 Cups Warm Water
• 1 nice little spray bottle to store your new concoction in.

There’s really no trick to this. Combine all the ingredients in the bottle. Ensure that the water is indeed warm, and everything mixes much better. Now, onto the process:

Step 1: Rub a bunch of gross things on your mirror so your readers can see how well this homemade glass cleaner works. Or just confront the mirror and take a deep breath. Soon you will vanquish your foes. Pretend with me, readers.

2. Spray. You don’t even need to use much. The rubbing alcohol attacks the crap out of any goo you might have on that mirror. Wipe it up with a clean rag. At this point, there were streaks and smears all over my mirrors. But just wait…

3. After it dries, wipe it again. The corn starch does leave behind some film, but wipe it away after the rest of the liquid dries, and you have perfectly clean mirrors. It was like the clouds parted and angels sang unto me. “You made a bomb-ass glass cleaning recipe. Congrats, you domestic debutante.”

So, do I think that this is worth it? Hell yes. Every ingredient in this glass cleaner is natural. You probably don’t want kids or pets swilling the alcohol, so it’s best to label it accordingly and store it in a safe, cool, and dry place. The smell is a little strong, but thankfully, it doesn’t take much to do the job. You can open your vents or a window to let the smell dissipate, or try adding a bit of lemon juice if you really hate the smell of vinegar.

But another great bonus is that this costs just under a quarter. That batch will also last a long time – for me, I don’t have kids so it’ll probably last awhile, but even if you have little ones, all it takes is a quick spray and wipe, so you should have the batch for at least a month. So save that gumball for another day – for the same price, you can have a DIY natural glass cleaner on hand for a month or more.

Oh, and here’s the breakdown for the number nerds (I rounded down or up, so these are just approximate):

• 1 gallon Kroger white vinegar: $4.99; I used 1/64 of the bottle, so I spent about 8 cents.
• 1 quart Kroger rubbing alcohol: $1.99; I used 1/16 of the bottle, so I spent about 12 cents.
• 1 box Kroger corn starch: $1.99; I used 1/56 of the box, so I spent about 4 cents.
• Water from the tap: Negligible.

Happy chemical-free cleaning! Hope you enjoy this recipe!