When I was a kid, I was always excited to help my mom clean. Which is just unusual in itself, but that’s for another blog.One of my favorite cleaners, and the first one that I was allowed to use, was Windex.

Back then, it was clear, like the ammonia it’s derived from. Then my mom brought home the colorful blue liquid. Now not only was it my “special” cleaner, it was pretty too!

I used it with newspapers to clean the windows when I was young, but as a starving young singleton, I couldn’t buy all the different cleaners that my mother used. At that point I found out, (before Nia Vardalos gave us her Big, Fat, Greek Wedding), that Windex has a 1,000 uses!

I have used it to clean carpet, clean windows, remove sap from vehicles, remove glue from CD and DVD cases, destroy an ant colony, clean my car interior (Armor All is expensive!), built up grease on the stove hood, grease on the counter tops, removing a tight ring from a finger, dried dog food (and other unmentionables), mopping tile floors…did I mention destroy an ant colony?

I could go on and on.

Even now, when I can afford the fancy cleaners that make up a well-stocked cleaning pantry, I still go to Windex first, because it never lets me down.

Keep in mind, however, that I am no cleaning expert and you should test all these solutions on a small patch of whatever you’re using it on that can be easily hidden if it backfires.

Please don’t end up on YouTube as an example of what NOT to do with Windex. Happy cleaning!