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Window cleaners are wonderful chemical inventions. They keep your home looking pristine. However, not all homemakers are willing to shed off too much money on cleaning aids, particularly in window cleaners. There are, after all, more aspects of housekeeping which seem to demand more attention (not to mention more money). This is why a lot of home makers have now resorted to making their own homemade window cleaner.
Three key ingredients
There are actually only three key ingredients to making a homemade window cleaner. All you need are water, rubbing alcohol, and some vinegar. In a mixture, the proportions should be like this:
- One cup rubbing alcohol
- One cup water
- One tablespoon white vinegar
You will also need a new, empty spray container. Avoid reusing a spray container which has held another cleaner. You wouldn’t want your mixture contaminated by other chemicals from the previous cleaner. This can not only damage the glass you’re cleaning, but could also be detrimental to your health should the combined solutions touch your skin. Once all the contents are in the container, screw in the sprayer, shake the solution well, and start using it.
Homemade vs. Commercial cleaners
The most obvious advantage of a window cleaner is the price difference. Compared to popular brands, your solution costs close to nothing because all the ingredients are already found in your household. You use vinegar for cooking, and no household is complete without rubbing alcohol. Water is an abundant ingredient. All you really need to invest on is the container which must be empty and brand new.
This cleaner can compete, too, with popular brands because essentially, this is what the glass cleaners really contain. They just happen to be in fancier packaging, have some sort of coloring and fragrance added to them, and they were advertised. Like the glass cleaners of popular brands, your window cleaner can also clean tiles, chrome, and other surfaces. Just be careful about putting too much vinegar. You don’t want your cleaner to leave behind an acrid odor.
Disadvantages
Compared to other homemade cleaning solutions for your house, making a homemade window cleaner is very inexpensive. The process is also very easy. Even your child in junior high school can make this mix for you at his/her free time. The chemicals (rubbing alcohol and vinegar) are mild enough on the skin so there is no danger of burns or damages caused by spillage. Don’t make too many containers of this cleaner, though, because it will just evaporate. Most of the ingredients are already handy in your home, anyway, so there’s really no need for your to rush preparing them. Unlike detergents, window cleaner ingredients are also not sensitive to light or extreme temperatures. They don’t have to be kept in dry, cold place while they are not in use yet.
Effectiveness
A homemade window cleaner is just as effective as a commercial one because it has all the necessary elements in it. It’s a disinfectant, and the vinegar in the solution also removed odors and stains on the glass. You won’t be disappointed with this mix.