Imagine a guest comes to your place and instantly gives a look of disgust seeing your untidy residence! You can only imagine how insulting that can be.
A clean house creates a good ambiance. A clean and healthy atmosphere aids in the sound and healthy functioning of the mind. Cleaning your surroundings is also vital to avoid contracting other illnesses. It is also considered a noble virtue.
Windows are a part of our house that needs cleaning thoroughly. It is a small space, but it gets dirty quickly, and cleaning it can also get hectic or difficult. But has this thought ever crossed your mind that you can use vinegar to clean your windows?
Vinegar can clean almost any hard surface, including windows too. Windows are usually made up of glass, wood, steel, or pipes. These are all such kinds of acid friendly surfaces and can tolerate an acidity level of 5% contained in vinegar.
In this following article, I will be talking about a few questions regarding cleaning your windows with vinegar-
Vinegar & Windows: The Mutual Relationship Between Them
You can definitely clean your windows by using vinegar. As we know, most of ours are made of glass, and vinegars’ acidic nature quickly dissolves the type of film that forms on glass objects.
When you clean a window using a vinegar-based solution, the outcomes are virtually always streak-free and brilliantly clean. The glass-based windows cannot have a better cleaning tool than vinegar. As vinegar contains about 5% of acidic components, it is also ideal for wooden or steel parts of the windows.
It is an easy to find at home solution that is cost-efficient as well as harmless. If you have sick people or kids around the house, you might want to switch to cleaning with vinegar instead of using chemical-infused cleaners.
Is It Possible To Mix Detergent With Vinegar To Clean The Windows?
If your stains are hard and adamant, then you may undoubtedly use detergent with vinegar.
In glass windows, it is very likely to get stained. Windows are usually exposed to the outdoor ambiance and are prone to get dusty easily and quickly. If not cleaned regularly, then these stains can get hard to remove.
In case if you have stains on your windows that are strong and adamant not to go away, then you might consider making a strong vinegar solution for it. For that, you will need:
- A good detergent (the one you regularly use to wash clothes or wash the dishes)
- Apple cider vinegar.
- Few cups of water (according to your need)
After taking all the ingredients, mix half cup vinegar with half cup detergent in 2 or 3 cups of water. Try to take warm water for this. Warm water works great for cleaning purposes.
Then using the robust solution you just made, clean your window and bid farewell to your age-old strong stain.
Can You Use Vinegar Regularly To Clean The Windows?
If your window is prone to dust or you need to get it disinfected due to some reason or your personal choice, then you can certainly use vinegar regularly.
Before using vinegar regularly on your windows, make sure to use a lighter vinegar and in a diluted form. A more pungent vinegar might not be a good choice for regular usage.
To use vinegar as a regular cleanser for your windows, you need to make a basic solution. For that you need:
- A cup of warm water
- A cup of white vinegar
After taking the needed ingredients, you have to mix them and make a solution. You can also take half a cup of vinegar instead of a full cup to make the solution even more light.
The solution, as mentioned above, can be great for regular usage.
Is It Possible To Use Vinegar Directly On The Windows Without Diluting Them?
To remove the grimiest stains on your windows, you can use vinegar directly on your windows once in a while.
Diluted vinegar, often known as white vinegar, is a common home cleaning ingredient with the economic advantage of being 100% natural. It is one of the safest solutions to all your cleaning queries.
If you have a dirty window that has some spots in it that are hard to get rid of even with the most potent diluted solutions of vinegar, you may need to forget the water for a while. Instead, you can try warming the vinegar up all by itself. Then use the warm vinegar directly on the spots that you want to clean.
This is a very good spot treatment technique that is easily available at home.
Can You Use Vinegar On Your Wooden Windows?
Though it is not a regular sight to see people making wooden windows, some fancy houses or some houses in rural areas have such windows. To clean such windows, a very light and diluted solution of vinegar can be used.
Among all the kinds of vinegar, white vinegar is the lightest one with 5% acidic components. It is very easy to use with no harmful effects. It is not harsh, unlike other cleaners with chemical-based formulas.
It is well known that wooden surfaces are sensitive, and they need to be cleaned with proper precautions. So if you are planning to clean them, you might want to use the white vinegar. Otherwise, strong and harsh kinds of vinegar can damage the wooden surface, especially if it has wax finishing or is still unfinished.
So, it is recommended to use a very light and diluted version of white vinegar on wooden windows.
Do You Need To Prepare The Area Of The Window By Dusting It Before Cleaning It With Vinegar?
Before cleaning any area with vinegar, you always need to dust it off using a piece of cloth or a duster bought from the store.
Before putting any wet ingredient to clean, you first need to blow out or clean the dry specks of dust off the window surface. Otherwise, it might turn into a mess.
To dust off the window, the things that you need to have at your arm’s length are-
- A piece of an old dry towel or cloth (a towel is more preferred) or,
- A duster.
Before you spray your solution, try to wipe down the window with a soft, clean, lint-free microfiber towel, soft cloth or paper towel to eliminate dust. You can also use a duster bought from the store to clean up this dry mess.
Do You Need To Prepare The Surrounding Area Before Cleaning?
While cleaning, you must remember that you are about to clean the windows only, not your whole house or the furniture or the things around the windows.
There might be many sensitive pieces of furniture or other stuff that can get damaged because of the vinegar solution. For that, you need to –
- Consider moving the objects around the window to some other place to ensure safety and prevent them from getting damaged.
- If you have sensitive wax finished or undone wooden surfaced floors right under the window, you might consider using newspapers or towels to prevent the floor from getting damaged.
Do You Need To Use Spray Bottles To Spray Vinegar Solution On The Windows?
It is always good to spray the cleaning mixture on your desired parts of the window, but it is not mandatory to use it.
Fill a relatively small spray bottle halfway with the solution concentration you choose to use based on the grubbiness of your windows. Using the mixture, spritz the specific window you want to clean.
Spray bottles can be an excellent deal for windows with small surfaced areas or can be used for specific spot treatment.
Spraying the window with vinegar solution can be a great idea, and it can surely make the work more manageable, but it is not something compulsory to use. You can do just fine with your hands but make sure to wear gloves.
Is It Necessary To Rub The Window With Dry Cloth?
Windows can get streaks easily, so it is essential to rub the window with a dry cloth immediately after spraying.
A towel is an ideal choice for this, but paper towels can work nicely. Working swiftly will help you avoid streaks. Pay extra attention to any areas with apparent stains or filth.
Your fast hand will be your best available support in this case to avoid streaks.
Do You Need To Rinse The Window After Cleaning With Vinegar?
It is not necessary to rinse after using vinegar on windows as vinegar solution is not sticky; instead, to avoid streaks, you need to use soft microfibre cloths.
Many surfaces need to clean or rinse after being swept by the vinegar solution. But if glass surfaces tend to get streaky so rinsing them will be a bad idea. The windows can get streaks as it is a bit sensitive surface. It needs to be cleaned with a dry microfiber cloth. Towels are encouraged to avoid it because moisture can harm the glass and create streaks.
Ensure to dry the window fast and thoroughly to prevent any streaks.
Final Verdict:
Vinegar is a DIY magical portion for people who are enthusiastic about cleaning and staying clean. Windows are such areas of our house that need a thorough cleaning and are critical to clean as it is mostly a glass surface.
Vinegar can be a great help to clean windows because it ensures streak-free and hassle-free cleaning of the glass of the window.
