Homemade Window and Glass Cleaner

We have a lot of windows and mirrors in our home, and LOTS of little fingers, which means we end up with lots of little glass smudges that need to be cleaned up on a regular basis! I take care of all those little fingerprints with my own homemade, all-natural glass cleaner. I also use this stuff like an “all-purpose” cleaner, for wiping down the bathroom counter, cleaning the kitchen appliances, etc.  Here is my recipe!

2 cups of water

½ cup of white vinegar

A little splash of castile soap (I don’t measure, but the amount is probably between ¼ and ½ teaspoon)

10-15 drops of essential oil of your choice (see note below)

Just mix all of the ingredients up in a clean spray bottle. You can re-use an old one from a commercial cleaner (just make sure it’s washed out well) or you can buy plastic spray bottles at any pharmacy or discount store.  Use this as you would any other spray cleaner!

The essential oil serves two purposes in this recipe. Mostly, it makes this stuff smell better, as the smell of the vinegar can be off-putting to some. But also, if you’re going to use this as an “all purpose” cleaner for counters and such, it’s nice to use an essential oil which has some antibacterial properties.  Here are some to try:

Tea Tree

Cinnamon

Lemon

Geranium

Rosemary

Thyme

Lavender

Eucalyptus

Peppermint

Clove

Please note, if you've been using commercial cleaners, you may find that you get a lot of streaks the first time you use this. That's the buildup from the old cleaners! Just keep re-spraying and wiping a few times to remove the buildup, and that should take care of it.

In other news... I'm going to try making pickles today! My kids usually eat up all the cukes from the garden as they're picked, but this year we've got an extra good crop, so I finally have extras to can. I'll be posting about this adventure tomorrow, perhaps!