We’ve been on course for making over our medicine cabinet with more natural options, and now we’ve taken on our household items as well. This DIY glass cleaner actually is streak-free with the addition of a simple surprise ingredient and I’m sharing my recipe in this post sponsored by .
DIY GLASS CLEANER & STAINLESS STEEL CLEANER
With four kids, I will say that the thought of making everything we use from scratch seems daunting… but this DIY glass cleaner recipe is easy and quick AND it really works. I’m NOT the mama that goes the DIY route with everything and really, there are so many times I choose the “drive-through” method for convenience, whether it’s for dinner or for the delivery of household items.
Sometimes though, there is a gem. An item that works so well that I’m more than willing to give up what we consider convenience for an alternative option. Kind of like our DIY all-natural deodorant, it was a surprising turn and I’m glad we took went this direction!
You know what’s crazy about the idea of convenience? When it comes down to it, with the right ingredients in our cupboards (and for this recipe, we’re typically stocked, since it’s only a few really simple ingredients listed), it is actually MORE convenient to quickly mix up a batch than it is to run to the store for restocking!
So with the idea of convenience not being an issue anymore, want to know a few other reasons I’m sold on making my own glass, mirror and stainless cleaner? It’s natural, and without chemicals or fumes. It’s great for penny-pinching (and really only costs pennies, especially when you’ve already got the supplies in your cabinets). It works better than most store-bought glass cleaners that I’ve tried!
I was seriously tired of always having streaks on the pendant lights above our kitchen island (no matter how hard I worked on them), and this is the one that worked.
Ready to whip up this simple DIY glass cleaner and stainless steel cleaner?
Here are the few ingredients needed for your DIY class cleaner and stainless steel cleaner:
White Vinegar removes film, cleans and eliminates smudges. I picked up this Citrus Mint Vinegar from and while it still smells like vinegar, I really like it!
Rubbing Alcohol evaporates quickly to keep streaks from forming and shines surface. You can leave out of the recipe if you don’t want to use, or can substitute with Vodka as well.
Cornstarch is the “secret” needed ingredient to create the most effective glass cleaner! Instead of glass and mirrors having a perfectly smooth surface, they actually have tiny little pits, and when water in most glass cleaners gets caught in those pits it causes water spots and streaks. Adding cornstarch to our DIY glass cleaner breaks the water bonds and leaves us all with the shiniest, streak-free, finish.
Distilled water, to avoid hard water and the extra spots it can leave behind. I picked mine up on a recent trip to Sprouts and had it ready! A little goes a long way in cleaning products.
Essential oils are an optional addition that helps to disinfect and deodorize. I love the addition of different citrus oils for the fresh, clean scent, degreasing and disinfecting properties.
A few of our favorite oils for cleaning are: Lemon, Wild Orange, Melaleuca, Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Lavender, Lime
Find the glass bottles we use here.
DIY Streak Free Glass and Stainless Steel Cleaner with Essential Oils
Ingredients
- • glass bottle in a 16 oz. size at least (Stainless steel is also safe.)
- • spray top
- • 1 cup of distilled water
- • ½ cup alcohol
- • ½ cup white vinegar
- • 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- • 6 drops pure orange essential oil (optional)
- • 6 drops pure lemon essential oil (optional)
Instructions
- Using a funnel, start by adding ½ cup of vinegar to the glass bottle.
- Add ½ cup rubbing alcohol (optional: remove from recipe or replace with vodka)
- Pour 1 Tbsp cornstarch in through the funnel.
- Top with 1 cup distilled water. It will also help to get the rest of the cornstarch out of the funnel.
- Optional: add 10-12 drops of essential oil for extra disinfecting power and scent.
- Add spray top to the bottle and shake well before each use.
Eevi-Sofia says
YEs, I totally need this. Many little, sticky fingers are all over my stainless steel appliances, but I haven’t found a great product to clean with.
Also, beautiful pictures!
Meg says
I never would have thought of cornstarch! I’m totally intrigued and want to try it. Thanks!
Ky Toure says
I love love love making my own household cleaners. Thanks for a new recipe!
Julie says
I bet the cleaner smells amazing with the orange and lemon essential oils in them.
Holly Lasha says
What a great DIY cleaner. Love this!!
Brandi Michel | FamilyFelicity.com says
This is a great post that getting me excited because I’m just getting into essential oils. I haven’t received my kit yet, but I’m super excited. Sharing and saving this to make when I receive it!!
Samantha -Raising Twincesses says
Love that there’s no chemicals! I am always trying to use more natural cleaning products when possible! I also like that for this cleaner you can use essential oils to create your own scent!
Shannon says
I never realized that mirrors are totally smooth surfaces. Thanks for the tip about adding cornstarch!
Gina says
Great tip! I would love to try this asap! And the scent in the house is always awesome when cleaning with essential oils.. Love it!
soni says
Has anyone that left comments in here tried and tested it?
Jade says
I did, except I used arrowtoot starch/powder, which is a perfect cup-to-cup alternative to cornstarch. I found it to be a good cleaner, and surprisingly you can bugget like with Windex. However either I spaced out and added too much, or this recipe calls for too much cornstarch, because it sprayed on a little milky and required some hard buffering to get it perfectly clear.
soni says
Has anyone that left comments here tried and tested this? did it work well?
Brenda Star says
Cornstarch would have never been a guess for me when I saw this post! I like the idea of adding oils in too!
Lemuel McKay says
This is really great information. I had no idea my oils could harm my cats!
Robin says
This is an AMAZING recipe! Works like magic! Thank you so much!!!
DAGIAFA says
Woa, Great. thank you for your adivice
Dean Rogers says
These are life-saving hacks, Thanks for sharing them.
DIY Cleaning Cute says
Thank you for this blog you post about cleaning tips. It is very helpful to me because my house is so dirty. It is important to maintain cleanliness at home to avoid bad odor that can harm your health.
Kathi Barancik says
Much needed diy, thank you. I love when they are not complicated. Will be doing this very soon!
Tabitha Laboy says
Thank you!
John Snow says
A nice read about how to clean windows by making DIY cleaning solutions.
John Allen says
Thanks for information