You want to provide your family with a shiny clean home. You want your home to be a safe haven, free from poisons and toxins. Checking out the chemicals used in commercial window cleaners you will find 2-butoxyethanol, an ingredient that comes with precautions to those who work with it. Workers are warned that it can cause fertility products, birth defects and can cause the lose of an unborn baby. It has also been linked to autoimmune diseases. Even when you wear gloves the product can enter your body through inhalation. What can you, the average consumer, do?

It is time to go back to the basics. Your great-grandmothers and grandmothers kept the house spotless without brand name products. Their cleaners were all homemade. Homemade housecleaning products just make good sense today. First, if you make it just before you use it the product is fresh. Second, people who suffer from chemical allergies or have children who do, will know exactly what is in their products. Third, in a time of financial strain, there is no better way to save money on cleaning your home than by creating your own homemade cleaners.

With this in mind, let us look to homemade glass cleaners. Face it, cleaning your windows will never be cheaper than this and it may be better for you and the environment too!

Glass cleaner #1: Add one cup of white vinegar to a gallon of warm water. Add a squirt of dish-washing liquid. Put it in a clean spray bottle. Scrub the windows clean using a clean cloth or sponge. If the window has built-u[ grime that is caked-on, use a soft-bristled brush to scrub it away.

If hard mineral spot are left behind, use vinegar straight from the jar to remove them.

Glass cleaner #2: This simple recipe calls for two ingredients. Take one cup of warm water and add two tablespoons of ammonia. Mix the ingredients well and pour the into a clean spray bottle.

Glass cleaner #3: This recipe also uses only two ingredients mixed in equal proportions. Add one cup of water to one cup of vinegar. Mix and pour into a clean spray bottle. If you would like a citrus smell, soak clean citrus peels in the vinegar for a few weeks (3-4). Strain the mixture and add the water.

Glass cleaner #4: This is the easiest of all the recipes. Pour club soda into your clean spray bottle. It can be flat or fizzy. That's it. You are done!

Glass cleaner #5: To one gallon of water add one cup of vinegar and one-eighth cup of cornstarch. Mix them well.

Glass cleaner #6: This cleaner is great for cleaning glass with smears on it. Use one-third cup of distilled white vinegar mixed with one-fourth cup of rubbing alcohol. Place the ingredients into a 32 ounce bottle. Fill the rest of the bottle with distilled water. If that doesn't do it, try recipe #7.

Glass cleaner#7: Add one-half cup rubbing alcohol and two squirts of a dish-washing liquid that doesn't contain phosphorous to one gallon of warm water.

Scratches in the glass can be cared for by rubbing a little toothpaste into the scratch. Polish the area with a soft cloth.

Clean paint or adhesives off of windows using a razor blade. This will cause less damage than a putty knife.

Because you may be making your own glass cleaner to help the environment or because you are trying to save money, the next homemade step is to use newspapers to wipe the cleaner off of the windows. Newspaper quickly absorbs the cleaner and any dirt in its path and leaves your windows sparkling clean and you are recycling them at the same time. If you already have a subscription, they have no additional cost and if you don't, ask members of freecycle if you can have their old newspapers!

Another means of saving money while using your homemade glass cleaners 1-3 would be to use a squeegee and a cloth lint-free towel. Both tools can be reused over and over again, negating the need to buy more. their use will leave you with sparkling clean windows!

Learn more about this author, Joan Collins.
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