There are basic things in the home you cannot afford to ignore. One of such is cleaning. Cleaning makes a lot of sense if you know how to do it properly, and you know when to do it.
As a homeowner or renter, you can’t afford to leave your mirror or windows without cleaning. There are also many ways to clean your mirror or window. Some would prefer to use glass cleaners. Unfortunately, not everyone loves to use a glass cleaner
Even if you do, you might not always have it around your home. Sometimes, you quickly need to clean your mirror or windows, but you find out there are no more glass cleaners. What do you do in those circumstances? Do you ignore it and leave your house dirty? Do you rush to the local store to get a new one? All these are stressful if you ask us.
The good news is that you don’t have to go through all this stress before cleaning your windows. There are many other ways to make your windows clean if you don’t have your glass cleaners around.
9 Easy Ways to Clean a Mirror or Window Without Glass Cleaner
So, are you wondering what your options are? In this article, we will show you 9 easy ways to clean a mirror or window without glass cleaner. Ready? Dive in!
1. Use Water
Let’s start by explaining how you can use your home’s commonest resources to clean your mirror and windows. Yes, we understand that you are surprised; we are too. But, you should know that we are here to talk about easy ways to do things. So, relax. Let’s explain how water can do magic.
You should know that water may not be as effective as you may want it to be. Of course, you can’t compare the cleaning effectiveness with that of a regular window cleaner. But, if you are a homeowner who doesn’t let the window and mirror get filthy before cleaning, water should work. If your window and mirror are not too dirty, water is everything you need to get them back to shine.
All you need to do is get a clean rag and use the abundance of water you have. Dip the rag into clean water and wipe the surface of the windows or mirrors. Ensure you apply some force while wiping the surface thoroughly. This is to help you remove some stubborn stains or particles.
Once you have wiped the surface thoroughly, you will need another rag to clean the surface. Make sure the rag is clean and dry so that you can remove excess water from the mirror or window surface. Using another towel to dry the surface will produce a sparkling window or mirror for you. And that’s it! You now have a clean mirror or window in your home.
However, it would be best to understand that water would not help you disinfect your windows and mirrors. That is the obvious issue with using water to clean windows or mirrors. Asides from that, you can be sure that water would almost certainly do the job.
One last thing is that you should never forget to change the water. This is important if you are cleaning many windows or mirrors in your home. The reason is that windows and mirrors are reflective. If the water is not very clean, it will reflect on the surface when it becomes dry.
So, to avoid doing double works, you should always change the water after each window you clean. If your window is not too dirty, you can use it to clean more than one window or mirror.
So, there you have it. Water is another easy way to clean your windows and mirrors.
2. Use Disinfecting Wipes
What you couldn’t get to achieve while using water, you can get it with disinfecting wipes. It looks very easy to use disinfecting wipes to clean windows and get good results. Many manufacturers of these disinfecting wipes recommend that you use it to clean your windows and mirrors. It works pretty well and helps you disinfect your windows and mirrors.
So how do you use it to clean your windows and mirrors?
- First, if your windows or mirrors are very filthy, you should relax. It would help if you didn’t use disinfecting wipes on filthy windows and mirrors. The effectiveness would be very low.
- What you need to do is get a towel or rag and clean the surface slightly. This is to remove the filth that might be lurking on the surface of the window or mirror.
- After this, you can now begin to use your disinfecting wipes to clean the mirror and windows’ surface. This way, you can be sure that the disinfecting wipes will help remove the remaining dirt and disinfect your windows properly.
So, relax, if using water is not very cool for you, you can use a disinfecting wipe. It will do the proper cleaning. However, a disinfecting wipe may be a little bit toxic to use. But it is still right for your home if you don’t have pets at home.
3. Use Baby Wipes
If you are a nursing parent, then baby wipes should not be found wanting in your home. In situations you would run out of glass cleaners, you can use some of those baby wipes. Baby wipes are also great at cleaning glass surfaces. And the good thing is that they are not toxic. They are a good substitute for your disinfecting wipes.
What you need to do when using a baby wipe is first cleaning the surface of the window or mirror with a towel. After this, you can then use your baby wipes to clean thoroughly.
However, the sad thing is that if you have many windows or mirrors to clean, baby wipes may not work for you. The reason is that you can’t go far with cleaning before one baby wipe loses its effectiveness. So, if you are cleaning many windows or mirrors, you will also need many baby wipes. This can be costly for you.
What works best is if you have a stain on your mirror or window, you can use baby wipes to remove it quickly.
4. Use Dish Soap
Yes, another thing that works well is liquid dish soap. You can use liquid dish soap to get your windows and mirrors sparkling again. This is pretty cheap and easy to use. You probably already have liquid dish soap in your kitchen, so no question about spending to buy it.
You need to get some water and let in some drops of the liquid dish soap into it. After this, you should get a towel. The recommended one to use is a microfiber towel or a coffee filter. These two items would help you in cleaning the surface without leaving behind any lint.
5. Use Dryer Sheets
We all know that dryer sheets are often not hard again after we remove them from the dryers. But, you don’t have to throw them away. You can always use them to clean your glass surfaces.
Dryer sheets are materials people already use to clean their windows and mirrors. We have also tried it here, and it turned out quite alright. If you have not started using it, it is okay to start trying it out now.
6. Use Vinegar
You may not have been thinking about this, but another good way to clean your windows or mirrors is with vinegar. Vinegar is famous for removing tough stains on surfaces. So, if you have a filthy window or mirror, vinegar is what you need. It works perfectly well without issues.
In using vinegar, you will need to get a towel or dryer sheets, or coffee filters. This is so you can easily scrub or wipe the glass surfaces. What you need to do is get a mixture of vinegar and water. Let the quantity of both liquids be the same. Or, if you must cut down the quantity, let the water be more than the vinegar.
Once you have a mixture, you can begin to clean the glass surfaces. Ensure you scrubby thoroughly to remove all stubborn stains.
7. Use Rubbing Alcohol
If you don’t know what to do with rubbing alcohol, one of the things you can do is use it to clean your glass surfaces. Just like the way vinegar works for your cleaning mirrors and glasses, you can use rubbing alcohol.
All you need to do is mix the rubbing alcohol with some water in almost the same quantity. Once you do this, you can begin to clean with a towel. Please ensure that the towel you would use is a microfiber towel. If you don’t have one, you can use your coffee filter. This works well for you.
8. Use Methylated Spirit
Another good thing to use to clean your window or mirror is methylated spirit. You can use it in almost all circumstances, and it would work well. All you need to do is spray the methylated spirit in the glass surface. Then you can use a towel to scrub thoroughly.
To avoid leaving lint on the glass surfaces, you can use a microfiber towel or a coffee filter. The methylated spirit will work perfectly well to clean your surfaces.
However, you might not be able to use it for many windows or mirrors. We all know that methylated spirits don’t come in large quantities and may cost us some money. So, using it for many glass surfaces would take a lot from us. The best way is to use it to wipe off dirt on the glass surfaces.
9. Use Soft Sponge
One last way to get your windows and mirrors sparkling is to use a soft sponge to clean the surfaces. For this, you would need a mixture of water and liquid soap. All you need to do is scrub the glass surfaces thoroughly and clean them with a dry towel. This way, you would have cleaned your glass perfectly.
Conclusion
Now you have seen the pretty easy ways you can substitute your glass cleaners with other materials. This should mean that you don’t have to worry when you run out of glass cleaners. Or you do not want to use glass cleaners. You must, however, be careful when using any of these other alternatives.
You should always keep your children and pets away from it. And always ensure you wear gloves while cleaning the window or mirror surfaces. This would save you from any reaction that might want to occur on your hands.
In all, you can now relax knowing full well that you have got many other alternatives to glass cleaners. What’s good? These other alternatives are cheap and easy to use always.