What are glass cleaners and what are they for?

Homemade Window Cleaning Recipes

Homemade cleaning solutions often contain the following ingredients:

• lemon,
• alcohol,
• soap,
• starch,
• ammonia,
• vinegar,
• soda,
• glycerol,

If it is necessary to remove severe contamination, add potassium permanganate, ammonia and ash.

To wipe mirrors, it is recommended to use a cloth made of soft materials. This will help avoid streaks.

Water and lemon

One of the simplest and most affordable products to make with many positive reviews.

It's easy to prepare the essence:

1. Add citric acid or lemon juice in an amount of 50 g to one glass of water.
2. Stir thoroughly.
3. Wipe the surface with the resulting liquid.

For mild contamination, the concentration of lemon juice can be reduced . The advantage of the method is the absence of streaks and a pleasant fresh aroma: a lemon-scented flavor is added to many chemical compositions.

Starch

Starch works well with dust and stuck dirt.

A recipe based on it can be made like this:

1. Add a tablespoon of starch powder to a liter of water.
2. To stir thoroughly.
3. Apply to the area with a sponge and leave to dry.
4. Remove the remaining starch with a damp cloth and wipe with newspaper.

Raw potatoes are also used - they contain a lot of starch. The tuber is cut and rubbed on the surface, left until completely dry. To add shine, the surface is wiped with microfiber.

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Vinegar

If the windows have not been washed for a long time, use vinegar. It is able to remove heavy stains without leaving streaks. It is used for cleaning window frames and polishing mirrors.

To obtain a concentrated essence, you need to add a quarter glass of apple or white vinegar to half a liter of liquid and stir thoroughly.

Important! To enhance the effect, add half a teaspoon of ordinary liquid soap; this ensures quick cleaning of the glass from dirt.

Acetic acid should be handled with care. It is recommended to use rubber gloves.

Vinegar, alcohol and starch

A mixture of these three components is considered the number one remedy in the fight against pollution.

How to prepare it:

1. Gently heat 500 milliliters of water (2 cups).
2. Dilute 1 tbsp. l. starch.
3. Add pure industrial alcohol and vinegar (a quarter cup each).
4. Shake the bottle.

You can put a special spray nozzle on the bottle, which will facilitate the process of spraying the liquid. After spraying it, wipe the surface with a dry soft cloth.

Advice! Instead of industrial alcohol, you can add regular vodka (a third of a glass).

Black tea and vinegar

A lesser-known method of preparing glass cleaning liquid is a mixture of black tea and vinegar.

It’s easy to prepare, all you need is:

1. Brew strong tea and let it brew.
2. Add 3 tbsp. l. acids.
3. Mix the ingredients thoroughly until the liquid acquires a uniform color.

The resulting liquid is applied to the surface, then washed off with water. The glass is wiped dry with a napkin or rag.

Ammonia

Ammonia is toxic; it is recommended to work with it especially carefully.

The process of preparing the solution:

1. Pour a liter of heated water into a glass container.
2. Add 1 tbsp. l. ammonia.
3. Use the resulting liquid to wipe the window with a microfiber cloth.

It is recommended to wipe the glass with newspapers: printing inks contain carbon. By interacting with ammonia, it allows you to give the glass a special shine.

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Liquid soap and vinegar

When these substances are mixed, a foamy liquid is obtained that perfectly washes away most of the contaminants.

Cooking process:

1. Add 2 tbsp. l. acetic acid per 500 ml of water.
2. Pour in half a teaspoon of soap.
3. Shake until foam appears.

If there is not enough foam, add more soap.

Vinegar and soda

Pure vinegar mixed with baking soda can even wipe off a marker or pen. This is relevant for washing old window glass and mirrors.

Simple cooking method:

1. Pour 2 liters of clean water into a saucepan or other container.
2. Add 100 ml of acid and 50 g of baking soda.
3. To stir thoroughly.

Instead of soda, ordinary table salt is sometimes used; it gives the glass a distinctive shine. But the disadvantage of salt is that its crystals can scratch the surface, so you cannot wash PVC products with it.

Means for heavy soiling

Sometimes it is necessary to clean heavy stains, for example, drops of dried paint after repairs.

To do this, it is recommended to use a special ammonia concentrate with the addition of vinegar..

You need to work with this mixture carefully; just blot the dirty areas with a sponge. It is recommended to purchase a respirator to avoid inhaling harmful ammonia fumes.

Many also use potassium permanganate - dilute several of its crystals and apply the resulting liquid to the windows. Some people wipe the surface with wood ash before doing this to keep it clean longer.

How to care for car glass

Author Sergey Bukhransky

25.05.2019 10:40

Auto

Car glass care is no less important than regular car washing. Clean and properly washed car windows not only promote good visibility, but also remain in excellent condition for much longer. Our article will tell you how to properly care for car windows and give some very useful tips and recommendations.

3 shared

To wash car windows well and correctly, you do not need to have any special experience. Any motorist can handle this. It is important to do this correctly so as not to damage the glass during washing. As practice shows, in the warm season, glass requires maintenance every few days, during which time they become covered with dust. Well, at other times, this has to be done out of necessity, since dirt, slush, rain and snow stain the glass much more often.

Depending on how dirty the glass is, in order to wash it you will need the following:

• A soft, medium-sized sponge and a clean rag. You can use regular kitchen sponges and rags, but it is better to buy special car sponges. In any case, it is better to purchase a special car rag.
• If the glass is not very dirty, then it is enough to use soapy water, but if the dirt is significant, then you should purchase special products for washing car glass. You can buy them at an auto store.

General tips.

• To clean car windows that are only lightly dusted, you can use plain water or a mild soap solution. To do this, you will need a dry, clean rag and sponge.
• If the glass is very dirty, then you cannot do without special car cleaning products. It is necessary to wash glass with such means carefully so that splashes and foam do not get on the paintwork of the car, as well as on the rubber seals edging the car windows.
• If it is not possible to get water and the glass is dirty, you can use special absorbent wipes. With their help, it will be easy to remove cleaning agent or foam from the glass.
• In cold winter, you should not use water to wash car windows. Moreover, you should not wash glass with warm water. As a result of a sharp temperature change, the glass may burst. It is best to use special antifreeze products that wash glass at low temperatures.
• Do not neglect the special chemicals that can be used to coat the glass after washing. Such products help the glass stay clean for a longer period of time by repelling particles of dust, dirt and moisture from the surface.
• It is important to wipe the glass not only on the outside of the car, but also on the inside. In this case, it would be a good idea to treat the glass with a special anti-fog agent.

All the recommendations described above are equally suitable for both regular glass and tinted glass. In the case of tinted glass, it is not advisable to rub them with brushes or other hard objects.

Tips for caring for your windshield.

The windshield requires a special approach. While washing the side windows can sometimes be neglected, the safety of the driver and passengers depends on the visibility of the windshield.

• If possible, wipe the wipers frequently and remove any stuck-on solid particles. This could be sand, mud or ice. Dirty wipers can scratch the glass. Also, do not use wipers on dry glass. There should always be liquid between the wiper and the glass, be it raindrops or washer fluid.
• In cold weather, it is not advisable to use various scrapers to clean the windshield. It is best to wait until the glass defrosts itself and the ice melts as a result of the flow of warm air from the stove. You can also use special chemicals to defrost car windows.
• In winter, you should definitely use only certified liquids as antifreeze. Practice shows that a homemade washer also works well on frozen glass, but sometimes an unknown liquid can be very harmful to both the glass and the car body.
• When the car is parked for a long period or overnight in winter, it is better to remove or bend the wipers. This way they will not freeze to the glass and will last longer.
• It is important to occasionally check your car's wipers to ensure they are intact. A damaged wiper can ruin the glass very quickly. Wipers especially often deteriorate after the winter period. If various defects appear on the wiper rubber bands, it is advisable to replace them as soon as possible.
• If the car has been standing for a long time in the scorching heat, then washing it in this case is very dangerous. Often, after cold water hits hot glass, it simply crumbles.
• To avoid severe frostbite from the drain in the morning, you should leave the car with the doors open for ten minutes before leaving the car overnight.

All these recommendations are suitable for most motorists living in our country. In addition to the above, there are many folk remedies to prevent severe freezing or fogging of car windows. They all have a reason to exist. The only thing you need to know for sure is that dirty glass at night has claimed more than one human life.

Photo: mapioza.com

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Washing windows using ammonia and glycerin

Rubbing glass with glycerin makes it resistant to fogging. Combination with ammonia ensures that the surface remains clean for a long time.

Be sure to read:

How to wash the outside of a window without streaks if it doesn’t open and you can’t reach it

To prepare the liquid, you need:

1. Add glycerin (70 ml) to 30 ml of water.
2. Add 10-20 drops of ammonia.
3. Mix.

Before application, it is recommended to wipe the surface with a dry cloth.

Special Additives

The main ingredient of the product, which, according to the company, ensures easy cleaning of windows and mirrors from dirt and dust, is ammonia. Because it helps to perfectly remove dirt from a shiny surface without streaks. After all, as you know, housewives all over the world, before the advent of assistants a la “Mr. Muscle,” added ammonia alcohol to the water before starting to wash windows.

To enhance the effect, isopropyl alcohol is added to this brand of liquid for washing glass and other surfaces instead of ammonia.

The Best Eco-Friendly Window Cleaners

The pros and cons of the safest components are shown in the table:

Common pollution

In the presence of normal contaminants, chemicals are not used. For cleaning, use a standard cloth and soap solution. Special rags or napkins will help you wash windows more effectively and absorb moisture, reducing the likelihood of streaks.

If the contamination is not very large, you can mix water and alcohol and use this mixture to clean the glass. This method is more suitable for indoor window cleaning. The ratio of components should be one to one. An additional advantage of using the solution is the elimination of unpleasant odors in the cabin.