Last update: 13-12-2022 Home & Garden

How to Clean Mirrors Without Streaks? 5 Best Mirror Cleaning Hacks

Cleaning mirrors, especially the ones located in bathrooms, is something one should do regularly. Otherwise, the dirt becomes difficult to remove. Daily showers or baths cause steam to settle on the mirror's surface, then condensates, and leaves ugly patches. How to clean mirrors without streaks and store-bought products? Take a look at these proven hacks and DIY mirror cleaners.

Cleaning a mirror with store-bought products

Cleaning mirrors with products available at a store is not always the best solution. Cheap cleaners often aren’t of the highest quality. What’s worse – using them involves more work to remove not only dirt, but also streaks appearing during cleaning.

If you decide on store-bought products, make sure to choose professional mirror cleaners – for instance, the ones used by professional cleaning companies. They are slightly more expensive than popular products from supermarkets, but the cleaning quality is incomparably greater.

A homemade mirror cleaner

Mirror cleaning might be problematic. Old dirt is always the most difficult to remove, and achieving a perfect, streak-free surface seems impossible in such a case. Of course, you can use professional mirror cleaners to solve this, but it might be more expensive than planned. In addition, the best cleaners recommended by professionals are typically available only on request, and can rarely be found in physical stores.

To tackle any type of mirror, you can prepare a simple yet very effective DIY mirror cleaner. You only need a spray bottle to spread the product on the surface.

To make a homemade mirror cleaner, prepare the following ingredients:

• 250 ml purified water,
• 250 ml spirit vinegar,
• 10 ml isopropyl alcohol (you can substitute it with e.g., spirit)

Pour all the ingredients into a spray bottle and stir it thoroughly. The mixture not only perfectly removes all dirt from the mirror’s surface, but also gets rid of all troublesome streaks.

Cleaning the mirror with shaving cream – yay or nay?

Cleaning a mirror with shaving cream is a very simple hack to solve the problem of constantly foggy surface. While this method is not perfect for getting rid of dirt, but by applying shaving cream as an additional measure, you form a special protective layer.

This easy mirror protection lasts for many hours, and its greatest advantage is keeping it fog-free. In practice, it means you will be able to see yourself in the mirror even after a steamy shower or a hot bath. The lack of steam also means no wet patches form on the surface when steam turns into droplets.

How to clean mirrors without vinegar – can you use only water?

Cleaning mirrors with just water is the most economical and ecological method. Water combined with special cloths designed for mirrors is highly effective. Clean water activates the special properties of such a fabric. Its structure changes, thanks to which the cloth thoroughly removes any dirt from the surface and doesn’t leave streaks. What’s even more important, it’s reusable. After cleaning, all you need to do is rinse the cloth in clean water and leave it to dry. This method is also highly effective for window cleaning.

How to clean a mirror with soap and water?

Preparing a water-based mirror cleaner is a popular method for cleaning mirrors. Just dissolve a bit of regular soap in a bowl of water. Such a solution is perfect for removing any dirt from the mirror. Simply use a sponge to wash the mirror’s surface. Leave it wet and check whether there are any streaks left. If they are visible, repeat the process. Finally, wipe the mirror dry with a paper towel.

A surprising mirror cleaning hack – a potato and denatured alcohol

Mirror cleaners are not always the obvious store-bought products or popular homemade remedies. You can use something more unexpected, like a potato and denatured alcohol. Mix one portion of the alcohol with 6 portions of clean water. Smear the mirror’s surface thoroughly with a potato cut in half. Then, using a paper towel soaked with the alcohol solution, polish the mirror. Thanks to this, dirt and streaks disappear.

Best way to clean a mirror – use these accessories!

Using store-bought mirror cleaners or preparing them yourself is one thing. But having certain essential accessories is equally important – thanks to them, cleaning mirrors is not a problem. Soft microfiber cloths are undoubtedly worth having. Have one cloth for applying the cleaner and washing the mirror, and another for polishing the surface. Special cloths that change their structure after soaking with water might also be crucial when cleaning mirrors. Such gadgets take little space, and most importantly, remove dirt and get rid of streaks effectively.

If you have a large mirror to clean, a squeegee might be helpful. It has a special ridge which thoroughly removes the excess cleaner or water from the surface – without scratching the surface. If your budget allows it, you can also buy a steam cleaner.