Mirror, Mirror on the Wall…

…..who’s the dirtiest of them all?

We have this huge mirror in our bathroom that covers 3/4 of  one side of the wall.  It was a great idea when we first installed it because it opened and brightened up our modest-sized bathroom.  However, that was all before we had kids.

Now we’ve got 6 little hands that seem to have a high affinity for shiny, clean surfaces and keeping that mirror finger-print, hand-print and toothpaste-splatter free seems like a never ending task.  I had given up on the “blue” stuff long ago.  Ammonia just didn’t sound pleasant at all since I probably could go through an entire bottle fairly quickly.

I discovered plain, old water plus this great little blue cloth I bought at Loonie Town (a local dollar store) was all I needed.  I can’t remember the exact brand of the cloth but I think it is a microfibre material similar to the kind of cloth used for cleaning your eyeglasses, but a tad thicker.

I just wet the cloth with a small amount of water and rub/wipe away (depending on how dirty it is)  until you have a streak free mirror again.  The trick is the right amount of water.  If you don’t use enough, you won’t be able to get off those prints or splatters.  If you use too much, you’ll be rubbing/wiping away until it all dries up before you get your clear reflection back.  It also works well on chrome bathroom fixtures to remove those darn water spots.  I’ve tried using any lint-free cloth that I have lying around and it seems to do the trick too, though it takes a bit more work.  Of course, you need to keep on top of it so the task is not too daunting.  I keep my cloth under the bathroom sink and anytime I see a mark on the mirror, I take it out and give the mirror a quick wipe.

Who knew that plain H-2-O could solve my “mirror on the wall” dilemma?

I’ve also have heard about using vinegar and crumbled up newspaper on mirrors and windows.  What are your thoughts?

≡mar