Homemade Window Cleaner and Glass Cleaner That Works Great!

This post may contain affiliate links.

Homemade Window Cleaner

This easy homemade window cleaner works great on any glass surface. It’s made of white vinegar and (antibacterial and antiviral) lemon balm.

Homemade Window Cleaner Recipe

If you have an abundance of lemon balm growing, now is the time to start thinking about using it in creative ways!

It’s hard not to love picking the lemon balm (Melissa officinalis). Even weeding it, you bruise the leaves and find yourself surrounded by the bright and cheery lemon scent. After harvesting, we fill the loft in our barn with two fifty-foot rows worth of lemon balm and it makes our barn smell lovely.

Growing & Harvesting Lemon Balm

Not only is this homemade window cleaner VERY simple to make; lemon balm is so easy to grow. But, it is often considered a nuisance. I certainly don’t mind an abundance of lemon balm. It makes a nice ground cover and seems to be happy in both full sun and partial shade. For the best benefit, this plant needs to be harvested just as the tiny yellow flowers are developing. At this point, the leaves are lush and full. If you wait until the blooming is over, lemon balm gets spindly and you will have fewer leaves to harvest. Right now, my lemon balm is full and lush, but it has yet to put on any flower buds. I’ll have to keep it on my list though because it can develop faster than expected in warm weather.

Uses for Lemon Balm

There are many uses for lemon balm outside of this homemade glass and window cleaner. At my farm, we use the leaves of lemon balm for any kind of nervous system distress. It is a supreme nervine. It has shown clinical abilities for focus, ADHD, and emotional outbursts – acting specifically to calm the anxiety that is generated when someone feels out of control. I love using lemon balm in a topical oil for irritated nerve endings – think chicken pox, shingles, and various types of herpes. It always amazes me that plants can be incredibly gentle while showing amazing healing strength in the body. See our other article about 19 Lemon Balm Uses for Health, Beauty, and More.

Warnings

There is only one group of people for whom herbalists don’t tend to recommend lemon balm use: those with hypothyroidism will need to use caution, but everyone else can use it everywhere possible. I don’t know any man, woman, or child who doesn’t love the taste of this herb in a sun tea, shredded in a salad, or cut as a garnish for a cake or pastry.

An Herb With Cleaning Properties

Lemon balm is antibacterial and antiviral as well and this is why I use the tea to dust my furniture and clean the glass around the house. Today I’m sharing with you my recipe for Lemon Balm Homemade Window Cleaner!

Homemade Window Cleaner with Lemon Balm

Ingredients & Supplies

  • 1 quart white vinegar, slightly warmed
  • 2-3 handfuls of fresh lemon balm
  • quart jar with lid (I use a plastic lid so I don’t have to deal with corrosion)

Directions

  1. To begin making your homemade window cleaner, pick 2-3 handfuls of lemon balm and lay them on a screen in the shade on a hot day. Wilt the plants for about an hour or so, just until they have given up a bit of their water content.
  2. Coarsely chop the lemon balm and place it into a quart jar.
  3. Cover with slightly warmed white vinegar.
  4. Keep the jar out in the sun for about 2-3 days. This seems to me that it makes a stronger and “brighter” finished product. After those first few days, you may bring the jar in and keep it on the counter for a total of 2 weeks.
  5. Strain your jar and store the finished lemon balm glass cleaner in a spray bottle. This should remain shelf stable for at least a year.

Bonus Content

I bet you didn’t think homemade glass and window cleaner could be so simple!

*******

Avatar photo

About Dawn Combs

Dawn is a wife, mother, farmer, author, ethnobotanist, professional speaker, and educator. She has over 20 years of ethnobotanical experience, is a certified herbalist, and has a B.A. in Botany and Humanities/Classics. Dawn is co-owner of Mockingbird Meadows Farm. Her books include Conceiving Healthy Babies and Heal Local.

PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for us to support our website activities, we may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for our endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this website.

DISCLAIMER: Information on DIY Natural™ is not reviewed or endorsed by the FDA and is NOT intended to be substituted for the advice of your health care professional. If you rely solely upon this advice you do so at your own risk. Read full Disclaimer & Disclosure statements here.

Comments

  1. Avatar photoCarol says

    Hi!
    I love lemon balm, and although I don’t yet grow it, plan to in the future. I purchased, by accident, 3 # of it from Mountain Rose Herbs.
    (Since then, I now have a Word doc that lists ALL of my herbs, oils and other items for making all kinds of beauty and medical recipes so I don’t re- purchase extra!) I gave some to my daughter who has fibro, and suffers from PTSD after serving in Iraq for a year with the Marines and it has helped her immensely.
    Anyway, I’d love to have the recipe to “dust with tea”, a very interesting idea.

  2. Avatar photoLaura Bettag says

    I’m glad I found your site! We took out my big mixed use garden bed a couple years ago but lemon balm is tough stuff and is making a good effort to come back even after having been mowed over this long. I prefer the flavor of lemon verbena but do love the way lemon balm smells. I already use vinegar for cleaning and adding lemon balm is a fantastic idea. I also saw the article “19 Lemon Balm Uses for Health Beauty and More” on this web site. Looks like I’ll be rescuing some of that lemon balm to grow in a big pot.

  3. Avatar photoJacques Morrow says

    I am wondering why there is a note of caution by herbalists who don’t tend to recommend lemon balm use for those with hypothyroidism. I love all lemon-type herbs and products and do have hypothyroidism. Please give a little more explanation or guide me to a site to read. Thank you much for your time.

  4. Avatar photoPamela says

    Can’t wait to try this one for sure. Seems now days any glass cleaner I use leaves streaks or a film on the surface. So thank you!
    Sure do love your spray bottle, where did you find it?
    Thanks for helping all of us and your sacrifice of time to do so!
    Blessing!
    Pamela