DIY Window Cleaner - Recycle your Squirt Bottle for Big Savings!

header

You realize that when you buy Window Cleaner, the most expensive part is the Bottle?

Yup, most folk toss them into the recycle container when they're empty, but that squirt mechanism and bottle cost far more than the pithy blue contents. You can refill your empty bottles with a homemade solution for pennies each refill. You'll need Water, and three basic house cleaning ingredients, all available at your local drug store. I happened to have all three stored under my sink:

  • Ammonia Cleaner
  • Rubbing Alcohol
  • Dish-washing Detergent

ingredients

I happened to have 2 bottles ready for a refill, so in each bottle, I started with 4 drops of Dish-washing Liquid. The rest of the mixture should be 15% Ammonia, 15% Alcohol, and 70% water. Each bottle will have a different fill capacity, so you can use the percentages to figure the amounts to add. The bottles pictured held 24 oz. So in this case, I added 4 ounces of both Ammonia and Alcohol, then filled with water. Give it a good shake once all the ingredients are added to the bottle, and use warm water to facilitate blending. That's It! Try out your new formula on some dirty windows and be amazed at how well this works!

Super Special Ingredient

Everyone else online rants and raves about adding a tablespoon of cornstarch to each bottle to really boost the cleaning power. I can see how the fine cornstarch would add a nice buffing grit to most cleaning jobs. I chose not to include it, but if you have an opportunity, try it in a future batch. I'd add it before the liquid to ensure it gets blended, and each time you use the cleaner in the future, it might require a quick shake to mix the settled contents.

But It's Not Blue!

If you're jonesing for the familiar blue color, a drop of blue food coloring should do the trick, but I don't mind the pale yellow color as it's mixed. You should note, the blue dye is put in most window cleaning mixes to discourage young children from drinking it. However, in today's age of multi-colored soft drinks, blue is fast becoming a popular drink color, and is no longer effective in discouraging drinking.