We moved into our new home 4 years ago and believe it or not i have never cleaned any of the windows. Yes i know - in a previous century i would be totally unworthy of the hefty bride price my husband would have paid!

Since my goal is to use non-toxic products none of the commercial glass cleaners would fit the bill. Most of them contain ammonia which not only makes me sneeze but would probably make my dogs sick since they love to lick the windows so much. They are also wax based which means they leave streaks on the glass as you clean.

So i did some web surfing and came across numerous suggestions to use club soda. Club soda is super cheap, much cheaper than any glass cleaner you will find the market. It is carbonated water with a little bit of sodium citrate. Apparently the sodium citrate softens the water and is the reason it does such a good job with the glass.

I filled a spray bottle with club soda, sprayed on the windows and wiped. It seemed to work best if i used two rags; one for the initial wet wipe and the other for drying up. I used an old cotton t-shirt that i cut up in pieces for my rags. I contemplated using old newspapers like we did on the farm as kids but i remember the smell of the runny toxic ink on the paper as we cleaned and decided to skip that bit.

Needless to say, my husband will not be demanding a re-negotiation on bride price as the windows are sparkling clean.

I have also used club soda to clean kitchen and bathroom sink knobs and it does a wonderful job there too.