The First Thing You Should Do with a New Bottle of Rinse Aid

Shifrah Combiths
Shifrah Combiths
With five children, Shifrah is learning a thing or two about how to keep a fairly organized and pretty clean house with a grateful heart in a way that leaves plenty of time for the people who matter most. Shifrah grew up in San Francisco, but has come to appreciate smaller town…read more
published Aug 3, 2021
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Bottle of rinse aid on countertop.
Credit: Sarah Crowley

Until you experience it firsthand, rinse aid feels like one of those extra, unnecessary cleaners that other people use when running the dishwasher. But, we promise, once you see the difference it makes in producing dry, sparkling dishes and glassware, rinse aid will become a household staple. 

Rinse aid works by breaking the surface tension of the water on your dishes, causing the water to dissipate. It eliminates water spots, too. And there’s more: The same properties that make rinse aid an integral addition to dishwashing routines makes it useful for other cleaning tasks as well. 

More specifically, rinse aid makes for a fantastic secret ingredient in a DIY window cleaning solution! It’ll leave your windows sparkling clean, streak-free, and spotless. How? Let’s take a look.

Credit: Sarah Crowley

Use Rinse Aid to Clean Your Windows

Because rinse aid is added to your dishwasher periodically and then replenished when the supply has run low, you probably don’t open a new bottle all too often. So, the occasion of opening a new bottle is the perfect nudge to get you to clean your windows — especially sometime soon, before the rainy season sets in. To make your own window-cleaning solution with rinse aid, mix together the following: 

  • 1 tablespoon of rinse aid
  • 2 tablespoons of Dawn
  • Half a gallon of warm water

Mix the cleaning solution in a bucket. Wipe your windows down with a wet sponge, then wipe them again with the solution. Wipe them one last time with a wet sponge and say hello to your shiny, sparkly windows.

How else do you use rinse aid to clean around the house? Tell us in the comments below.