Finding this idea on Pinterest could NOT have come at a better time! Just this past week the weather has been nice enough to start working outside AND after a long winter…the windows on the outside of the house are looking pretty grimy!
See what I mean???
It really makes it hard to enjoy the beauty of Spring unfurling all around us when you’re looking at it all through THAT! But never fear….Homemade Streak-Free Window Cleaner is here….thanks to Jill (what a great name!) at creativity, musings and more.
Jill shared a “recipe” for a homemade window washing concoction that she got at a church function…and get this….no squeegeeing or drying required! Just spray, wash, spray again and sit back and let Mother Nature take care of the rest!
Wanna know the “recipe”??? Of course you do!
Homemade Streak-Free Window Cleaner
1/2 bottle of “Jet Dry” (the bottle I bought was just under 7 ounces so I measured out 3.5 ounces)
4 Tablespoons Alcohol (I used rubbing alcohol….70% I believe)
1/4 Cup Ammonia
1 handful of powdered dish-washer soap (which depending on the size of your hand could probably vary quite a bit! lol. I used a “handful” which looked to me to be about 1/4 cup. Give or take.)
2 Gallons of Hot Water
Squirt windows with powerful spray nozzle.
Use long handled brush (we used one of those car washing microfiber thingies) to dip in solution……
……and scrub windows thoroughly. The hubster putting some muscle into it!
Then spray windows thoroughly to rinse.
Just LOOK at that sheeting action!!
{{{insert Jeopardy theme music here}}}
A little while later….the windows will dry to an even shine with no wiping or squeegeeing!
{{{insert loud whistle here}}} Looking GOOD!
A SHINY, STREAK-FREE WINDOW! Just as “advertised”! :-)
SO shiny I captured Son No. 2 practicing his 3 point shots in the reflection!
The experiment on the bay window was such a resounding success….the hubster promptly started making his way around the house.
Oh happy day! I think I’ll keep him around. ;-)
Wow, now that is graphic! What an easy way to clean windows. Ours really need it, and we will try this for sure. Thanks for the help you always give us.
Can you use this on cleaning car windows?
this worked amazing!!!! thank you!!! :)
wonder if my homemade (Jillee formula) dishwasher soap would work?
Deb…..since I posted this: http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/03/homemade-dishwasher-soap-not-detergent.html
I don’t have dishwasher soap “pre-made” sitting around. I happened to have a box of cheap dishwasher detergent from another blog post I was working on about whitening whites….so I used that.
that being said….if you have a homemade version of dishwasher detergent…I would use that! :-)
All I can say is, “WOW”. I love clean windows. I hate washing windows. “wow” I will be trying this!!
Thank you!
Mary Malone
that is beautiful! wish i could wash my inside windows the same way :)
Me too Krysten. If you figure out how, let me know! :-)
I live by a busy road and my windows are DISGUSTING! Can’t wait for a warm day to try this! Thanks for sharing.
Can your husband come over and vlean mine? There is no way mine will clean windows.
Georgeann…you have to offer the right “incentives”. ;-)
C’mon Now! I thought I couldn’t love you anymore…until NOW! Please run for President, you could solve all our problems! I love you!
Love you too Marce! ;-)
you’ll be having all the birds flying into your windows they’re so clean…if you hear a big thump, you’ll know what it is :)
hahaha….I DID think about that. Maybe I need to put up some cat decals. :-)
Oh, happy day! Bless you for posting this.
What pray tell, for the benefit of your ‘over the pond’ friends, is Jet Dry? As I don’t have a dishwasher, perhaps I’ve just led a sheltered life….
You put it in the dishwasher. It is a rinsing agent. At the store, it is usually on one of the upper shelves, just above the dishwasher soap.
thank you. i was going to ask that question. i’m in australia too.
Do you have a homemade version for inside windows and mirros?
I have made this and cleaned the outside windows…perfectly!!!! Then I’ve poured a small amount in a spray bottle and diluted it with water to do the inside of the windows…then I just took a wet/dampened cloth and polished the window then dried with a soft cloth…perfect again!!!!!
I was wondering what you could substitute for the dishwasher soap as I don’t have a dishwasher.
Can’t wait to try this out. Wonder if I can get my son to help?
Tellina I don’t have a dishwasher either. I just went to our local $1 store and got a cheap box of the powdered dishwashing soap. Worked perfectly for me…GOOD LUCK
Penny, “Jet Dry” is dishwasher rinse aid. You’ll find it with the rest of the dishwasher products.
Considering many of us are now using Vinegar In our dishwashers instead of the jet dry…could we do the same here?????
Now if you could just come up with a formula for a “handy hubby,” I’d be all set! Thanks for all of the great, economical hints!!
Wow, that really is a good thing! Can’t wait to give it a try!
gotta love a man that cleans!
You have no idea how MUCH I love your posts, English is not my native language, but I am always waiting to read what’s next from You. Thankssssssss for all the tips! ( I made my laundry detergent, And I am loving it.)
Love the idea of streak-free windows. You are the greatest….
I’m wondering how this affects the flowerbeds directly beneath the windows. Are the products used (in the runoff) harmful to flowers and plants?
Ammonia is a natural bi-product of the decomposition of protein – it won’t hurt your garden
Vinegar is made from decomposition of fruit – it won’t hurt your garden
Dish Soap – can have phosphates and other similar chemicals.
Try not to use so much that you have a great deal of “run off” down the house until you rinse. The worse any of these should do is mildly change the PH in the area directly below the application. Should not harm or poison any ground or plant.
Jet-Dri – that is an unknown
“JET-DRY® products are a special combination of nonionic surfactants, a chelating agent, dye, and fragrance* (*for our fragranced products). On a more detailed note, they are kosher and don’t contain phosphate.
How it works: Rinse agents help your dishwasher rinse away residue that causes spots and film on dishes and glasses. Rinse agents for automatic dishwashers, such as JET-DRY® Rinse Agent, are designed to lower the surface tension of the water, causing it to sheet off the dishes during the final rinse. This prevents the formation of droplets of water that can remain on the surface of the dishes and are ‘set’ by the heat of the drying cycle, forming spots and film. Rinse agents are also helpful in obtaining dry dishware when dishwasher energy savings switches are activated, or when dishes are left to air dry.* *Source: The Soap and Detergent Association (SDA), visit: http://www.cleaning101.com. (http://www.jetdry.com/whatis.shtml)”
Thank you Cheryl! That is such useful information! :-)
Thanks so much, Jillee! This looks great and I can’t wait to try it. I have been following you for a few weeks and LOVE your posts! Keep up the great work <3 your tips…
Not sure if this will help but, I always wash the inside of my windows with about a quart of hot water in a bucket with a splash of ammonia and a few drops of dish soap. I use a rag for scrubbing and then dry with microfiber rags or paper towels.
What I like about this is that I can clean the frames and ledges at the same time.
I was wondering if the windows will still self dry and be shiny if we are using hard well water (we have a water softner for the inside water). I drive a school bus and asked my hubby to clean the buggy mess off my windshield. Well…… he cleaned it ok, but rinsed it with the hose water and did NOT squeegy it. Good intentions but it was worse than before with white water spots all over. LOL If this works, not only will my house windows sparkle, but I will have the shiniest bus in the lot. LOL
I’m going to say no. We don’t have a well but we do have extremely hard water and this recipe/method does NOT dry streak-free here. I’ve tried it 3 times, same result each time. Major bummer!
Thanks for the recipe – I did try it today but had some really fine water spots. I quick wipe with some window cleaning took it right off and the windows are sparkling! I did use water that went through the water softener so I can’t blame it on hard water. Maybe I needed more jet dry?
ok this is just a question mainly, isn’t water softened with salt, could the spots be residue from that?? I do not have a water softener but my boss used to bring us in water to drink (anyway long story) and it always tasted salty to me
I just found this post through Jillee’s ‘good thing’ for July 20th regarding windows. Windows seem to be my nemesis. Always glad to have new ideas (thanks for doing the legwork, Jillee! You’re awesome) Nicole, we have naturally soft well water and it is just at the upper limit of acceptable sodium content. Yes, soft water is softened with salt, whether naturally or manually. I am challenged when it comes to washing windows because of the salt in our water. I was just pondering how I could use this formula and have it work despite rinsing with our softened water. Will take some experimentation. Maybe one of those fertilizer distribution thingies that you attach to your garden hose with a little rinse aid added to the canister.
Wonder if I can improve on an already good thing? I have an amazing hose attachment that has a wand with a brush at the end and a reservoir for car wash soap. What’s your opinion on using all the ingredients minus the water and using it on the outside of my windows?
Love this idea. I’m wondering if anyone has figured out how to do this indoors. Perhaps soak a rag in the solution, wipe on and then wipe off with a wet (water only) rag?
I used this today and it worked pretty well. I did have water spots after the windows dried. It took a little Windex and they were gone. Overall, I think it worked pretty well!
I read in an article on the internet that Jet Dry is really only acids. Ammonia is an alkali. Alkali react with acid to form a salt and water. So using both in this recipe is pointless. I think the salt that results can produce white spots on the glass. I am going to try some vinegar (acid) and skip the ammonia.
I didn’t have amonnia, so I used vinegar instead, still big “salty looking” streaks. :(
I found your post on Pinterest and tried it out this afternoon. It worked so well! Thanks for sharing this great idea =)
I would mix this outside and DoN’t breath the fumes: dishwasher soap has chlorine bleach in it and remember what happens when you mix ammonia and chlorox? Very TOXIC chlorine gas which will damage your lungs. Be careful!!
DeAnne,
The dishwashing powder is only Sodium carbonate and silicate. This is just detergent, no bleach :-) Thankfully Jillee specified!
Jillee,
This worked MARVELOUSLY! Not even any “muscle power” needed (I did it myself!) but then again, maybe my windows weren’t as dirty as I thought ;-)
Regardless, I am looking through crystal clean windows, and I’d like to thank you! You’re the best!
Maybe where Jet-dry is not available …. the product for car windows called “Rain-X” might work.
did you ever try the rainx? I would think that would work as well. Be interested to know your results.
Jilee,
Do you think I could use my homemade dishwasher (powdered) soap for this?
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Part of the reason I’m trying homemade cleaners is to go green for myself and the environment. This recipe has too many chemicals for me. I’d love to know the best non-ammonia, non-toxic window cleaner. There are so many variations out there and I wonder which one I should try. Suggestions welcome!
I used this today!! I was so inspired I even washed my garage door too!! Thanks Jillee another thing off my to do list!!
I wonder if you could use this to wash your vehicle? Shine with no drying?
Just have to tell you….THIS IS ANOTHER WINNER!!
Used this tonight…after work…and my windows, doors, shutters loof FAB! Have about 40+ family coming for Mother’s Day and this certainly sped up outdoor prep for the event! Love your blog, your ‘Good Things’ and your witness! Keep it Up!
Thanks for all you do!!!
Just tried this. We live in Arizona where the windows are very dirty from blowing dust and dirt and the water is very hard. The water did not all sheet off, so I just gave the windows a quick wipe with a microfiber cloth and they are great looking. Not perfect, but then I don’t require perfect. Must easier that other methods I have tried.
Thanks so much for this recipe – my windows look amazing!
Excellent! Glad you liked. :-)
Hi Jillee!
I just read aloud and “showed” my husband this post. We’re impressed and going to try this concoction this weekend. WhoooHooo! Whoever would have believed we’d be excited about cleaning windows!
I have a question though. Can I pour this same solution into spray bottles and use on my interior windows, as well? If so, I was thinking I could use a squeegee to clean them.
I am sooo addicted to your blog! I have made your homemade laundry detergent, homemade fabric softener and this weekend will try this window cleaner…… oh and the (no-rotisserie) rotisserie chicken, too!
Happy weekend to you and your family!
Tried this and loved it! Shared with the extended family (in time for spring “after the storms” cleaning)… now if I could just an easy way to get red clay dirt stains out of things ….
Jillee , I tryed the window cleaning tonight and my HARD water caused spots !!! help what can be done ??
Ammonia isn’t really something some of us try having in our homes; especially with children around. (Cause let’s face it… you could padlock rooms and they’d still figure things out lol) We just use warm water and vinegar for our windows and it works fine.
Wow! I can’t wait to try this. I have almost forty windows and it’s a two story house (three on the back), so I guess I can wait. But your post looks inspiring. I found you on Pinterest.
I tried this myself today and cleaned all the outside windows of my house including some high bay windows. I am extremely happy with the result and my windows are sparkling. Way to go on this recipe! I have to admit that my neighbor just cleaned his windows two weeks ago and it took him two whole days. I did it in approx 3 hours. Thanks for the advice!
Can not tell you how thrilled I am with your recipe for clean/sparkling windows. Yesterday I broke down, mixed it up and got down to business.
We have 3 large windows in our tiny home. Living room, kitchen and dining area…oh and a small one in the bathroom. I decided if that stuff cleans the outside so well I’d used it on the inside as well. I protected the sills with rags, sprayed on water, sprayed on you magic formula, scrubbed, sprayed on water and wiped dry with my $.99 store coffee filters….SUCCESS!!!!
This morning, over coffee, we saw 3 birds fly into the living room window (thankfully only dazed), now that is a sign of crystal clear windows.
CHEERS, CC
Coffee filters hey? Is that what I’m missing out on to get a final streak free shine? I’ll try that CC.
I forgot to add…as I’m always writing ‘recipes’ down, using them and then losing them I decided I wanted to keep this one safe. I wrote it down, put in it a zip lock bag and taped it to the gallon jug I’ve stored this magic formula in. A safe place I’d say.
CHEERS, CC
We have wall to wall, floor to ceiling windows on two floors of our ranch walk-out. I am only 5’1″, so scrubbing these windows is normally quite the chore! I made this recipe today, but didn’t have powdered detergent . All I did was replace the commercial dish det with a homemade recipe I found: 2T Borax + 2T baking soda. It worked like a charm! We had so much fun cleaning, the kids actually took over! A million thanks! This one’s a keeper!