How to Clean Windows, Mirrors & Screens Without a Single Streak

Living in Chicago, between work, family, and trying to enjoy the city, keeping your space spotless can feel like a full-time job. We get it—sometimes you just need a few pro tips to make your regular apartment cleaning routine faster and more effective, especially when it comes to those frustrating streaks on glass and screens.

Let’s be honest: even in the cleanest home, streaky mirrors, smudgy windows, and fingerprint-covered screens can make everything feel dirty. There’s a right way and a wrong way to tackle these surfaces. But with the right products, tools, and techniques, you can make your glass and screens sparkle. Here’s how to get that professional-level shine yourself—or know when to call in the experts for some deep cleaning help.

The Secret to Streak-Free Mirrors & Windows

Skip the expensive store-bought sprays. My go-to recipe is simple, cheap, and incredibly effective.

Your DIY Glass Cleaner Recipe

• Equal parts water and white vinegar
• 5 drops of peppermint essential oil (optional, for a fresh scent)

Mix them in a spray bottle, and you’re ready to go. This formula has been my secret weapon since I started in the cleaning business—it saves money and works perfectly.

The Professional Technique

Spray the mirror or window liberally but don’t flood it. Let it sit for a second. Then, using a microfiber cloth folded into quarters, wipe in an “S” pattern from the top to the bottom. For large surfaces, work in sections. Pro tip: always give the bottom edge of a mirror a final wipe to prevent drips from settling and causing damage over time.

If you’re short on time or just want a guaranteed streak-free finish, a professional home cleaning service can handle this for you in no time.

Heavy-Duty Glass Cleaning for Busy Households

Got kids or pets? Handprints and nose smudges require a stronger solution. For tough grime on glass doors or panels, level up your cleaner.

The “Heavy-Duty” Upgrade

Use the same base recipe (equal parts water and vinegar), but add one tablespoon of cornstarch. The cornstarch acts as a super-fine, non-scratching abrasive that helps lift stubborn dirt. Shake well before each use, as the cornstarch will settle.

This is perfect for those high-touch areas that need a little more power. For a consistently clean home without the elbow grease, consider a regular cleaning service near me to maintain that fresh look.

How to Safely Clean TVs, Phones & Laptops

Our electronics are fingerprint magnets. But using the wrong product can damage special coatings. Here’s the safe way to clean your apartment‘s tech.

The Safe Screen Cleaning Solution

Manufacturers recommend a mix of equal parts water and rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol). Never spray this directly on the screen.

The Right Tools & Technique

Use a flat-weave cloth (like an optical or specialty electronics cloth). Spray your solution lightly onto the cloth—it should only feel as damp as a sneeze. Gently wipe the screen using the same “S” pattern from top to bottom. The results are instant and streak-free.

If managing all these details feels overwhelming, why not book an appointment with a pro? They have the right tools and know-how to treat all your surfaces with care.

Pro Method for Exterior Windows

For outside windows, you’ll want a more robust setup. A janitorial pro once shared this flawless method with me, and it hasn’t failed yet.

The Ultimate Window Washing Setup

• A rectangular bucket
• A double-sided squeegee (with a replaceable rubber blade)
• Your cleaning solution: 1 gallon of hot water, 1 cup of white vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of dish soap.

Mix the solution in your bucket. Dunk the absorbent side of your squeegee into the solution, then run it over the glass from top to bottom. Flip the tool and use the rubber blade to squeegee off the liquid in a clean, overlapping stroke. This method is efficient and leaves windows crystal clear.

For many Chicagoans, tackling exterior windows is a big job. That’s where a trusted Chicago cleaning company can be a lifesaver, offering the equipment and expertise to get your space cleaned inside and out.

Keeping Your Chicago Home Consistently Clean

With these tips, you can conquer streaks and smudges efficiently. But we know life gets busy. Sometimes, the best solution is to schedule a cleaning with a reliable team that treats your home with respect. Whether you need a one-time refresh or ongoing maintenance, there are excellent cleaning services in Chicago ready to help.

If you’ve ever thought, “I need someone to clean my apartment,” you’re not alone. It’s the easiest way to reclaim your time and enjoy a sparkling home.

Look, even if you live in the world’s cleanest home, if you have streaky mirrors, streaky glass, and smudges on your flat screens, your house is not going to look clean. And there’s definitely a right way to go about this and a wrong way to go about this. But if you know the right products and tools and techniques to get the job done right, your mirrors, windows, glass, touchcreens are going to look amazing. And that’s exactly what I want to teach you how to do in this video. By the way, if you’re new here, welcome to Clean My Space. My name is Melissa Maker. I’m an accidental cleaning expert. What does that mean? It means I hate to clean, but I love to find the most efficient and effective ways to get the job done right the first time. So, you’re in the right place. By the way, in this video, you’re going to see me using a flatwave cloth. And that is sold at Makers Clean, which is my sister company. And I’ve got a link to that down below in case you’re interested. So, if you haven’t done so already, make sure that you subscribe to the Clean My Space channel. All right, let’s get out our cloths and our correct cleaning sprays and let’s get this job done. So, rather than buying a store-bought glass cleaner, I whip my own up. I use equal parts water and white vinegar. So, here I’m using a cup and a cup. I’m also adding five drops of peppermint essential oils because it just smells nice. Now, the technique that I’m using is I’m spraying the entire mirror fairly liberally with the product. I’m not holding back, but I’m also not flooding it. I’ll wait just a sec. And then I’m using my microfiber cloth, my glass and mirror microfiber cloth here. I folded it up into quarters. It just makes it easier to handle and it gets you a more even finish. And then I’m using the S pattern, starting from the top, working my way to the bottom. And this is a huge mirror, so I’m breaking it into sections, starting with the left side and then moving my way over to the right side. Now, we do get asked about using essential oils in glass cleaners and if you will get streaks on the mirror because there’s a bit of glass uh there’s a bit of oil in the product. Not going to happen. You know, five little drops of essential oils won’t show up on your mirrors won’t leave streaks and certainly won’t ruin a microfiber cloth. One other thing I want to point out when you’re cleaning a mirror is to make sure that you don’t let the little area at the bottom catch any drips. you know, some’s going to get in there while it’s, you know, being cleaned, but make sure that when you’re done, you do a nice finishing wipe at the bottom. If you don’t do that over time, it can really age and kind of rust your mirror. Before we move on, I have to tell you that I have been using these DIY glass and window and mirror cleaning recipes since I started my cleaning business back in 2006. It has saved me so much money. And that brings me to a comment question, which is, are you on team Windex and paper towel, or are you on team DIY and microfiber cloth? Let me know what you do in the comments down below. While water and vinegar is a very effective glass cleaner, sometimes you need to level up a little bit. So, a perfect example of heavyduty glass cleaning would be a glass panel in a home with children or pets. Now, a lot of uh friends and family were very surprised when we chose this because they said, “You’re going to be cleaning it all the time.” But I know how to clean it, so it it’s not that bad. But yeah, the truth is my daughter does get her handprints all over here, and it does get quite messy. So, the secret sauce that I’m using to clean uh you can see it looks a little bit milky is the exact same recipe as the regular glass cleaner. So, equal parts water and white vinegar, five drops of peppermint essential oils, which was totally optional, but to it I added a tablespoon of cornstarch. Now, corn starch is interesting because it acts as the this super super super fine abrasive that we can use. And when I say abrasive, I more mean it can like lift dirt off a surface, but it absolutely will not scratch glass, which is why it’s so unique and so useful for this particular application. Anything in my house that has a flat screen has fingerprints. My tablet looks disgusting right now. And this phone, I mean, laptops, you name it, it’s got fingerprints and marks. And these surfaces need to be cleaned fairly regularly. But we’ve also been told we’re not supposed to use product on these surfaces. So what we do know is that if we use product, it can remove some of the important coatings that these surfaces have. It can also leave permanent marks. So you want to make sure you’re using some something that is safe. Moreover, you want to make sure that you’re using a flat weave cloth like either an optical cloth like what I have here, which is just the smaller version, also great for glasses, or the bigger version, our glass and electronics cloth. This also goes for television screens. The reason you want to use something that’s flat is because it can’t hold on to any debris, so it will not scratch any of these surfaces. I’ve done a lot of research and when I do research, I just call manufacturers directly and I get them to shoot straight with me. So, I called Apple and I said, “Help me understand how to clean these screens properly.” And they said, “In no uncertain terms, you can use equal parts water and rubbing alcohol to clean our electronics.” But the way to do it, and I’ve been saying this for years, is to spray your recipe onto your cloth. So, it should feel about as damp as a sneeze. And if it feels too wet, you can kind of tap it off on your hand before you clean the surface. You never spray the electronic item directly. So in here, I’ve already got half of this little teeny tiny bottle filled up with water. I’m going to fill the rest up with rubbing alcohol. So I’ll shake this up. Give it a little spritz. Tap it off on the back of my hand. That is just enough. Start at the top using the S pattern. Work my way to the bottom. and almost immediately it takes off dirt, fingerprints, you name it, it’s gone. Years ago, uh I asked a woman who worked at a janitorial supply company what the best way was to do this, and she said quite simply, double-sided squeegee, hot water, vinegar, dish soap, rectangular bucket. That has not failed me, and I’m going to show you exactly what to do. So, first, get a bucket. I’m planning to use about two gallons of water. That’s so I can dunk my squeegee in. So, the recipe that I’m using is for one gallon. So, just level it up depending on how much you’re going to be using for your windows. So, it’s one gallon of hot water, one cup of white vinegar, and a teaspoon of dish soap. Mix that all together. And then dunk your squeegee in. Let it really get nice and saturated. The squeegee I’m using here, this is a double-sided squeegee. So, this kind of has like an absorbent pad and a microfiber exterior, which is great for picking up dirt and also depositing liquid onto the glass surface. And then I’ll flip it over, repeating my steps, working my way from top to bottom, left to right, swiping it clean with this rubber squeegee. Now, if this for whatever reason gets nicked, kind of like a windshield wiper blade, you can easily replace this rubber part, which makes this tool something that you will have uh for quite a while. It’s a really good investment piece, and it will keep your exterior windows and glass looking amazing. And that’s it. That’s all it takes to get your windows, your mirrors, and your screens looking streak free and gorgeous without anything expensive, without excessive scrubbing and buffing and rubbing. Now you know how to be efficient and effective and get this job done. And just a reminder, if you love that cloth, you can find it at makerscle.com and I’ve got a link for you down below. Also, if you want more cleaning solutions to your cleaning challenges, I’ve got a newsletter that comes straight to your inbox every week. It’s called the dirty dish and you can sign up for it. I’ve got a link down below for you as well. If you love the work that we do here at Clean My Space, consider becoming a member. It really helps support us. One of the biggest challenges you might ever encounter will be getting rid of soap scum. And I’ve got a video all about how to make the removal of soap scum really easy. And it’s right over here. Remember, if you haven’t done so already, you can subscribe to the Clean MySpace channel. Thanks so much for watching, and we’ll see you next time.