Natural window cleaning guide with our best DIY recipes!

This is the Ultimate Guide for family-safe window cleaning without the toxic fumes.

Cleaning windows often feels like a daunting task, and it can be a lot of work. The average house has 18 windows - so it pays to have a trick or two up your sleeve to keep the cleaning time down and the results great. But the worst bit has to be that typical window cleaning products leave us choking on nasty fumes.

It's not surprising that this is a chore we leave off the regular roster! But you know what they say - kids with sticky fingers and dogs with wet noses are drawn to windows like a moth to the flame! We'll I may have made that up - but what I'm trying to say is windows get really gross in no time, just minding their own business! Sound familiar?

Keeping up with window cleaning really pays off - so you're not left with an even bigger clean up a few months later.

Now this is when I tell you keeping on top of window cleaning can be easy & non-toxic, and most importantly 100% free of nasty fumes. Which is brilliant, now the windows can have a sparkle up while the kids are still in the room! We're going to cover off

• maintenance cleaning for windows that aren't too dirty
• deep cleaning for windows that need a reset.

And it's all without nasty chems because really, who's got time for those?

No matter how dirty, with these tips you'll get sparkling results, remove allergens and mould build up and be letting in more of that glorious sunlight, giving your indoor plants and mood, a little boost!

Your non-tox window washing kit and DIY recipes

Windows can be cleaned easily with just two natural products and a couple of tools. We're sharing our best DIY window cleaning recipes below

Vinegar window cleaning solution:

Mix 250ml Figgy cleaning vinegar with 250ml tap water in a 500ml spray bottle. Figgy & Co. strong white cleaning vinegar is naturally brewed white vinegar made the traditional way here in New Zealand. This cleaning vinegar is 9.9% acetic acid making it more than double the strength of supermarket vinegar. This makes it great for sparkling windows but also tackling mould growth on your glass.

Castile soap window cleaning solution:

1-2 teaspoons Figgy home cleaning castile soap added to 500ml water in a spray bottle or bucket. Figgy & Co. Home cleaning castile soap is hand-batched in our Kapiti workshop using fair-trade coconut oil. We have formulated our liquid castile soap especially for home cleaning tasks. It works beautifully all around the house while being gentle on you and better for our earth. If you have our DIY cleaning recipe booklet you will know this recipe as our SOS spray!

Window cleaning tools:

• lint free cloth or newspaper for buffing
• cleaning cloth for washing dirty windows
• window squeegee - look for a professional level one with a replaceable rubber blade (like this one)
• old towel for catching drips.

Allow 10-30 minutes per room

Regular Chemical Window Cleaners are down right toxic

Did you know that using conventional off-the-shelf window cleaners, can pose several serious health risks. Many of these products contain chemicals that will pollute the air quality in your home with toxic fumes. The sprayed droplets get inhaled and also fall on surfaces and the floor as residue. Read here why toxic cleaning chemicals pose an increased risk to kids and babies.

Ammonia:

This is a very common ingredient in window cleaning solutions. At low concentrations it's irritating to skin, eyes, and breathing and, can exacerbate conditions like asthma. At higher concentrations, it is especially harmful and can cause long term damage to lungs, including respiratory failure.

Butyl Cellosolve:

This is a sweet smelling glycol ether solvent that's banded in some regions but is still found in many glass cleaners because it cuts grime so well. When sprayed it's absorbed through the skin, eyes and lungs. It's linked to health issues such shortness of breath, nausea, and headaches and also liver and kidney damage and birth defects and reproductive damage.

Fragrances and dyes:

Fragrances are added to window cleaners to hide the smell of other chemicals while dyes are added to give a standardised look (i.e blue for window cleaning) or just to give the product a certain look for branding. Synthetic fragrances contain phthalates, which are associated with hormone disruption, reduced fertility, and developmental issues in children. Dyes do not add to the cleaning ability of a product and just add to chemical exposure. Dyes commonly added to cleaners can irritate lungs and skin and are not readily biodegradable. So, when it comes to cleaning your windows, we’re serious about ditching the chemical waffle to keep your air clean and your wellbeing intact. Stick with us and follow our step-by-step guide below on how you can clean your windows naturally, without the headaches and dizzy spells!

Let's get these windows clean!

It doesn't matter if your windows need a bit of a freshen up or if they need the whole hog reset clean. With these two methods, no matter how dirty they may be, in no time at all you will be standing back and loving on your sparkly clean windows!

3 Steps for Quick Cleaning Windows

1. You'll need the vinegar cleaning solution from above and a lint free cloth or window squeegee & old towel. 

2. Spray the windows (or mirror) to get an even mist.

3. Use the cloth to lightly buff off the vinegar or the squeegee to blade off the vinegar.

If you use the squeegee work left to right starting at the top of the glass. Watch this video to see how to blade off in one motion to save time.

You will need the towel to dry any way would drips. 

Deep Cleaning Windows that are Extra Dirty

1. You'll need all the supplies! Gather your soap and vinegar cleaning solutions, cleaning cloth & either your lint free cloth or squeegee and towel for drips. 

2. Check for dust around the windowsill and window tracks. Do a quick vacuum with the brush attachment first. Removing dust will keep your cleaning equipment like your cloth cleaner.

3.. First use the soap solution to wash away built up grime, mould and dust. Spray the glass or dip your cloth into your bucket of soapy water. Give the glass a good wipe over. 

4. Use the squeegee to blade off the soapy mix or rinse the cloth and wipe over the windows again. See the squeegee pointers above.

5. Wipe down the sill and frame. For frames that are very dirty with mould build up, use a little undiluted Home cleaning castile soap and an old tooth brush to loosen the mould before wiping away.

6. Now follow the instruction set out above for maintenance cleaning using the vinegar cleaning solution to really make your glass shine! 

Tip for keeping windows clean between washes

If you have Figgy's Everyday spray handy - this is a perfectly good cleaner for quick window wipe down for those rouge finger prints you see out the corner of your eye. It's a soap based cleaning solution and when used with our textured high absorbency eco cleaning cloth breezes through marks and is streak free.

The best part, using family-safe ingredients means you don’t have to do the cleaning alone. Get the kids involved too and make it a fun job with some music playing and maybe the odd dance move along the way! Here's to banishing polluting blue sprays and instead getting back to basics with natural cleaners for sparkling windows and a healthier home!

Get natural cleaning tips from our blog!

We want you to have everything you need to clean your home healthier while avoiding unwanted chemicals – and looking out for the planet too! Take a browse through our blog and learn more about natural cleaning, safe ingredients and so much more!