The biggest no-no when it comes to getting your mirrors clean is using paper towels. Paper towels are both single-use and leave teeny tiny bits of residue that can create an even bigger mess. In order to achieve a streak-free shine, use a microfiber cloth.
“Baking soda is an abrasive cleaner, so there is a chance that it will scratch your glass or mirror,” says Marcos Franco, an employee of Mighty Clean Home. If you're looking for an all-natural cleaning substance, he suggests using vinegar on your glass surfaces instead.
The other thing to be careful of with baking soda is combining it with something acidic, like vinegar or lemon juice. As the chemicals combine with that satisfying fizz, they form a gas. If you combine them in a sealed container, like a soda bottle, it could potentially explode and harm you.
If you've only ever used baking soda in home baking as a leavening agent in cookies, cakes and muffins, you might be surprised to know that it's really effective when used around the house to keep everything from mugs and ovens to carpets and curtains fresh and clean.
The best products for the job are baking soda, which is an abrasive, and Dawn dish soap, which cuts grease. For even more cleaning power, let it sit on the dirty glass for 15 minutes before scrubbing and wiping away.
Use soap and water, commercial glass cleaner, or a mixture of one part white vinegar and four parts water (preferably distilled water). Avoid cleaning glass in direct sunlight to avoid streaking. Start from the top of the window and work your way down.
Windex Original Glass Cleaner
Windex is one of the most popular brands of glass cleaners on the market, and it's for good reason. It's incredibly effective at cleaning all sorts of glass surfaces, especially mirrors that immediately show and amplify smudges, fingerprints, and specks of dirt.
Rubbing Alcohol Windex Alternative
(Rubbing alcohol is also a safe cleaning solution for stains and sticky messes.) Mix one cup distilled water, three tablespoons vinegar, and ¼ cup rubbing alcohol in a new spray bottle and label it. Shake up your glass cleaning solution and spray it on your glass.
Your glass cleaner could be behind those pesky mirror streaks! Many commercial glass cleaners have cleaning agents like ammonia and detergent, which can end up streaking your mirror. So this means you cannot clean mirrors with Windex anymore? Not necessarily, but if you want to avoid streaks, less is better.
Plus, soapy cleaners leave behind a residue that may contribute to streaks, so avoid those as well. There's also a different type of mirror cloudiness that occurs when mirrors are exposed to excess moisture or abrasive cleaning products, which is usually referred to as "mirror rust".
You can also use water from a bucket. Then fill a spray bottle with white vinegar and completely saturate the glass. Allow it to soak for at least 10 minutes—longer if there's serious buildup. Next, dip a scrubbing sponge into baking soda and scrub the glass.
Many hotels use ammonia-based cleaning solutions because ammonia readily cuts through dirt and soap scum. Because of the way it dries, ammonia also decreases the possibility of streaks on glass.
For windows that are relatively clean, Mind Body Green recommends combining 2 teaspoons of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of Castile soap, and water (preferably distilled) in a 16-ounce bottle. Mix well and spray onto the surface. Wash from the top down, employing a zig zag motion and then from side to side.
Mix two tablespoons of white vinegar to one cup of water and, either using a spray bottle or a paper towel, apply the solution to the glass. The acid within the vinegar will break down any cloudiness.
Which natural detergent comes out on top? Well, that would depend on its intended use. For instance, vinegar is potent at fighting mold while baking soda is great at fighting wine and coffee stains. The former is a better disinfectant but the latter is a phenomenal deodorizer.
But common pantry essentials that are often used for cleaning — like baking soda and vinegar — shouldn't be mixed either. Unlike the bleach-ammonia mixture, combining soda and vinegar won't hurt anyone — but don't expect the mixture to do a good job cleaning, either.
Cleaning your toilet tank is pretty quick and easy with vinegar and baking soda. You only need to do it once or twice a year, and it can help get rid of bacteria, mold, and mineral deposits to keep you and your family healthy.