The Dollar Tree Candy Jar Hack That'll Help You Keep Your Windows Sparkling Clean

A beautiful set of windows can be the centerpiece of any room. However, you probably want nothing more than to cover them up with curtains if they're dirty with smudges from a pet's nose or fingerprints from kids. Neglect your dirty windows for long enough, and the dirt may etch and damage the glass' surface. There's plenty of window washing solutions on the market, but surprisingly, a common Dollar Tree product can help with the task in a clever way. The secret? Coffee filters! Using a Dollar Tree plastic candy jar with lid helps you keep coffee filters easily contained for a quick daily or weekly cleaning session.

One of the most creative and effective uses for coffee filters around the home is as a window cleaner.  Coffee filters are a preferred alternative to using paper towels, which can easily scratch glass, or newspapers to clean your windows. While this glass-cleaning trick has been popular for years, it's advised you don't use newspapers on your windows. The newspapers of today aren't well-suited for cleaning your windows because they can easily leave newsprint on your hands or glass. Enter the coffee filter. An affordable window cleaning "cloth" that may already be in your kitchen. The Dollar Tree candy jar is the perfect size to hold a stack of coffee filters for a better ink-free clean in a snap.

Cleaning your windows with a coffee filter is ideal for several reasons: the filters can easily get wet without falling apart, they're lint-free, and they're soft enough that they won't scratch the glass. Vinegar delivers a grime-busting streak-free shine to your windows without additives, unlike commercial glass cleaners. In addition to being non-toxic, vinegar is also a natural disinfectant and capable of killing bacteria, perfect for cleaning glass during cold/flu season or when anyone in the home is ill.

To make your vinegar window cleaning solution, use a 50/50 combination of water and vinegar in a spray bottle. Spray your windows with the mixture, being careful to not oversaturate the windows. Now you only need to grab a coffee filter from the candy jar to get your windows back to that same sparkle and shine. Use the filter starting from the top to the bottom to clean the windows. You don't need to scrub hard because the filth on your windows weakens significantly under the acidic quality of vinegar.  While you're busy cleaning your windows, you might need to clean your window screens as well. Be honest, it's been a while, and you deserve to have an amazing view.