By Finn Clark
Have you ever tried washing windows with a rag? What happens? You get lots of smudges and lint all over your window. And if you’re using paper towels for window washing, the same problem will occur because paper towels have lots of loose material that gets stuck on your nice glass window. I’ve found a simple solution to the problem: Use newspaper! (My mom has also banned paper towels from our house, so we can’t use those.)
If I were to be really scientific about it, here’s the method I’d use for best results:
Spray a solution of mostly water and just a little vinegar onto the window. I don’t know why anyone would go out and buy “window cleaning solution” since this simple solution is easy to make, is less expensive, and is great for the environment.
Don’t use too much spray or it’ll be harder work for you rubbing all the wet stuff off your window. Next, rub in any direction you want. Some might say circular motions work well on caked-on bird poop. (Yup, I said bird poop in this post and I think it’s funny. Don’t worry, there’s no bird poop on our windows.) Your final strokes should be long up and down or back and forth motions to take off any residue. That’s it.
Does newspaper leave an inky smudge on your windows? No! I’ve never noticed any smudging, even with colored newsprint. We bring the crumpled wet newspaper inside and let it dry so we can use it as starter for our wood fires, or in summer we put it in our compost or worm bin. The worms love worn newspaper for laying eggs in.
Happy window cleaning!
Pioneering The Simple Life 
Great post! It’s quite common to use newspaper as a window-cleaning cloth here in the UK, but it’s not common to find willing young window cleaners. Any time you’re passing, Finn, the job’s yours if you want it 😉 ………
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I second this.
Both the newsprint comment and the fact that you can wash ours too! Although the commute may be a bit of an issue. >.<
BTW… You can't use some of the newer paper with the wax in it. That doesn't work at all. But I still use newspaper to clean windows. And I use a 10:1 ratio of white vinegar to slightly warm water. Then I rinse it off with a nice cup of tea and a sit down. B-)
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Ooo, thanks so much for the recipe. We’ll try it, too. It’s a family thing we have going here — kids wash the windows and they get to watch a favorite movie. At least that’s how we can roll while they’re young. Who knows, they could start a window-washing business one day?
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Hahaha! We might just take you up on your offer, Margaret!
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Hi Finn, Well done 👏🏻
Margaret beat me to it – I was going to say exaclty the same! This has long been a traditional method especially in the north of England, I don’t know why people don’t use it as much now except that perhaps it’s a bit messy. And the smell of vinegar might be a bit off-putting – though that shouldn’t be a problem outside and it certainly does work.
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Liesl:
Just wanted you to know that your photos are so large that my printer would only print the first page before stopping all printing and getting tied into knots. While beautiful, please repost with photos that are less than about 8 inches tall so they will either wrap or not trip out as being too large for the paper. Dad
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Thanks, Dad. Well, we just roll with what’s easiest and maybe looking at the pix online, without printing onto paper, is a good way to see the images? Not to discourage any sharing of this info, but if you can read it on your rectangular device or your laptop, maybe the images will still look strong enough for sharing? Love you Dad/Papa!!! Liesl & Finn
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Hi great post! I use this method for my windows and it doesn’t smell at ALL. Also I found that going up and down on one side, then across from side to side on the other, really stops any smearing or marks. Who would even use bottles of window cleaning stuff? Its disgusting – although some people do use it to cloud up their windows on purpose if they are decorating a room. It stops nosy folk from staring in. They do that in the UK sometimes.
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That’s so funny! Yes, we agree, that silly window-washing stuff for sale is just a waste of money, and thank you for your much better explanation of the best method for removing all smudges from the window, by first going up and down and then side to side. That’s definitely the way to go, to remove all residue!
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