Glass cleaner is not a complex product, but there are dozens of high priced formulas in a bunch or colors complete with features nobody would really need on the market today.
In this post, I’ll show a simple and effective way to get sparkling clean glass by inexpensively making your own DIY glass cleaner. I own a window restoration company and we clean tens of thousands of square feet of glass every year using this same cleaner with great results and you can too.
To really get clean glass you need two simple things. First you need a carrier like water. Unless the water coming from your tap is low quality like from a poor municipal water supply or dirty well that should perfectly fine. If you want to upgrade and use something fancy like Evian so you can have a French glass cleaner that is always an option too.
The second thing you need is an ingredient to cut grease or oils. For me that ingredient is denatured alcohol. It is available at most every paint store and hardware store in America. Denatured alcohol is a mix of ethanol and methanol. Ethanol is the alcohol from your favorite alcoholic drinks and the added methanol makes denatured alcohol undrinkable (aka poisonous).
Denatured alcohol is flammable in concentrations above 30% – 40% so do be careful and keep it in a safe place away from heat or flame. Denatured alcohol is considered toxic so while it excels at glass cleaning you should avoid contact with skin, eyes, and certainly don’t drink it.
How To Make Glass Cleaner
Get a spray bottle of your choice and get ready to mix up the simplest glass cleaner recipe you’ll ever find. Fill the spray bottle halfway with water and then fill the other half with denatured alcohol. That’s it!
The exact ratios are not terrible important so if you make a mix that is 60% water and 40% denatured alcohol then that will work much the same way. Just keep the proportions roughly the same and aim for a 1:1 ratio.
Put the top on and shake the bottle well and you’re ready to clean. The alcohol and water will not separate over time so you are fine to just grab and go.
This DIY glass cleaner also stores well as long as you keep the top on otherwise the alcohol will evaporate out of the water. You can keep it stored under you sink for months with no problem.
Denatured Alcohol Uses
Much like you would use any glass cleaner spray a bit onto the glass surface and wipe it clean with a clean cotton rag until all the cleaner has been removed and you have a sparkling clean surface.
One of the great things about this DIY glass cleaner is that you can also use it to clean metal surfaces and disinfect surfaces. It leaves a streak free clean wherever you use it.
For really dirty glass that needs more than a simple cleaning check out the video below where I should you how to do a more effective restoration of old glass to bring it’s shine back.
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I love old houses, working with my hands, and teaching others the excitment of doing it yourself! Everything is teachable if you only give it the chance.
I manage a small local glass company and remember years ago someone that I worked with had a recipe for homemade glass cleaner that worked great, but I never knew what the recipe was.
I would love to try this.
I have one question since I work in a northern latitude.
Will this glass cleaner freeze in cold temperatures at all?
50% alcohol seems like it shouldn’t, but I wanted to ask anyway…you know…just in case!!
I appreciate your attention. Thank you.