How to Clean Windows with Newspaper

Cleaning a wooden window

Regular cleaning is essential if windows are to look their best. This will ensure not only that your view of the outside isn’t partially obscured by a thin veneer of grime, but that natural light can percolate through your interior to the greatest possible extent. There’s nothing more likely to liven up your living room than a healthy dose of natural light, courtesy of a set of clean glass windows!

One of the most popular ways of cleaning windows is with the help of old, scrunched up newspaper. This is among the most low-cost cleaning supplies, with many of us getting a paper through the door every week for absolutely nothing.

But what’s the best way to clean windows using old newspaper? Let’s take a look!

Using Newspaper to Clean Windows

As always, we’ll need to first assemble a few ingredients. In this case, there aren’t that many. You’ll need:

  • Newspaper (any will do)
  • Water
  • White vinegar
  • Washing-up liquid
  • A spray-bottle

For our purposes, we’re going to concoct a tried-and-tested home-brew cleaning solution. If you’d prefer, you can go out and buy one that’s been specially formulated (albeit at greater cost). But white vinegar is inexpensive and will break down all of the grime on your windows in moments, and thus it makes a fantastic solution for most circumstances.

First, we’re going to formulate our home cleaning solution. This can consist of a few drops of washing-up liquid, alongside a 1:3 mixture of white vinegar and water. You can experiment with the proportions for best results. Load it into a spray bottle and give it a vigorous shake before you get started.

Follow these steps to clean your windows effectively with newspaper:

  1. Apply the cleaning formula to the glass. It’s important to be cautious, here; vinegar has a habit of discolouring hardwood furniture and other surfaces, so we want to be sure that we only get it onto the glass. Apply in small patches at the middle of the window.
  2. Now, we can scrub the cleaner into the glass. Move in a small circle to begin with, so that the paper absorbs most of the cleaner. Then you can move onto larger vertical strokes from the top to the bottom of the window. Apply more cleaner as required.
  3. Using this method, clean every window as required, front and back. When you’re done, you should have a shining, transparent surface.

So, what makes newspaper so effective? Put simply, it’s rough enough to be very slightly abrasive. This makes it great at dislodging all of the tiny particles of dirt that, over the course of a week, will find their way onto the glass of your window, and it won’t leave fibres behind in the same way as toilet paper might. Of course, we might say the same about standard sheets of A4 – but newspaper is by far the more economical option!