Have you just finished the energy-consuming job of cleaning your mirrors but are still frustrated? The streaks and scuffs on the surface are still enjoying their place. It’s heart-wrenching right! The condensed haze on the mirror glass becomes so stubborn that it does not leave you to sigh in relief, it snatches the attractiveness of your mirrors that were once gleaming and highly reflecting. But with time haze overshadows your reflection and the appeal of your mirror sneaks away. If you are suffering from misty and foggy mirrors, what would be your first choice for their cleaning? Definitely, you will rush to the glass cleaners available in markets but end up with more stains and a persistent haze. No further worries- you have come to the right place to get better ideas to clean a hazy mirror
What makes the Mirrors Foggy?
Before purchasing an antic mirror or highly expensive brand mirror, it’s a wise idea to know about the future risks which may snatch the beauty of your precious mirrors, so that you would be conscious of their proper maintenance and timely neatness.
The obvious reasons for accumulated haze are listed as:
- The natural process of building up of residue with time may cause haziness.
- It might be as a result of damage to the silver mirror backing
- The warm water bath in the washroom or the splashes from brushing may add their share in residue accumulation.
- The persistent ignorance of the cleanliness of mirrors or application of Abrasive cleaners may create scratches that serve as a focal point of haze.
Which Items are needed to clean a hazy mirror?
Before conducting the cleaning task, you should be equipped with the appropriate cleaning tools and solutions to perform the job easily and timely.
- Lint-free microfiber cloth for rubbing the glass
- A Good Quality Commercial Glass Cleaner, it is preferable to choose non-toxic cleaners with natural characteristics to avoid any health risk
- A homemade vinegar solution with water in the ratio of 1 cup vinegar with 3 cups water, to make a distilled and diluted solution.
- Cotton Pads to treat the individual stains which are not removing by the ordinary cleaning process.
- Alcohol Solution to remove the limescale or calcium deposits if any.
- A definite Jeweler’s rouge to remove the prolonged and difficult spots.
- A Spray bottle to apply the mixture on the mirror surface.
- An inexpensive foamy Shaving cream to avoid the coverage of fog on the surface.
- A delicate Newspaper free from soy based inks.
Step Wise Process of Mirror Glass Cleaning
Cloudy mirrors are more threatening than a nightmare as they do not allow you to view a clear image in your valuable mirror. Ordinary commercial leaners mostly fail to address the streaks and smudges, as they might switch their location after a thorough cleaning process. If you are continuously struggling with a definite mirror but unable to get the desired results, do not lose hope rather try the below-mentioned easy tips to get rid of the most stubborn stains and prolonged cloudiness.
- Start with proper dusting of the mirror glass to ensure the removal of the on surface dust particles, molds, and spores.
- If you find and settled solid scuffs remove them manually with the help of a paint scraper or a butter knife, special care is needed during this process as any careless movement can damage the mirror surface or put scratches on it.
- Now take a good quality glass cleaner and spritz it on the surface, this step needs special attention as the solution could damage the backing of your mirror if you put it on the surface with heavy spills. All you need is to spray at the middle of the mirror gently and spread it on the entire surface using a microfiber cloth, rub the surface gently, and wipe down the solution, now apply clean water and replace the cloth with a new one and mop the glass.
Tip: Adopt a zig-zag pattern instead of a circular motion while wiping the glass surface to get a streak-free surface.
- Use a Homemade Solution instead of Commercial Cleaner. You can perform the job easily if the market cleaner fails to remove the stains entirely. Take 1 cup of white vinegar and mix it with 3 cups of water, it is recommended to use distilled water as the tap water contain minerals that get accumulated on the surface of mirror.
- If the stains still persist? Soak cotton pads in alcohol solution and apply them on the scuffs individually. Gently rub them for a thorough removal.
- Tip: For the most obstinate stains use a jeweler’s rouge in paste form, apply manually on them then wipe with a clean lint-free cloth.
How to Avoid the retention of Haze on the Mirror Glass?
Sometimes, the regular cleaning fails to save the mirror surface to host haze and cloudy marks and commercial glass cleaners do not succeed to present a streak-free shiny surface. Here is the wonder in your hand,
The Ordinary Shaving Cream: Take the foamy cream and squirt a definite amount on a paper towel which must be lint-free to avoid any leftover on the surface, then briskly wipe it down using a crippled newspaper, it will remove all the dirt and waste present on the surface completely. Use this trick before going to bathe, apply the cream on the surface. It will not only fight effectively with grime, scuffs, and streaks but also keep the glass free from cloudiness.
How to Maintain Best Cleaning Practices to clean a hazy mirror
It is not only the cleaning process that is important to remove the spots and bring high reflectivity to your mirror surface, and offer a clear image. Also, you can check our details guide on Move-In Checklist
Some Ideas should be kept in mind while dealing with the cleaning practice.
Regular cleaning of your mirrors. If you adopt a habit of dusting and cleaning your window glass regularly, you will not get a stuffed surface tough to be cleaned. It will not take much time, you can perform the job easily along with your routine home cleaning.
Use a clean microfiber cloth every time. While cleaning the surface we mostly use a single cleaning microfiber cloth and do not bother to replace it with a new one or do not clean it regularly after the cleaning practice. It would facilitate the building up of waste on the surface as it might contain dust particles, grime, or other hidden waste in its fibers.
Avoid scrubbers or abrasive cleaners. The scrubber sponges or other abrasives are highly damaging to the surface of the glass, they put scratches that permanently damage the mirror’s reflectivity. Use soft touch mopping materials but it must be lint-free.
Check the result of your cleaning job by viewing it through different dimensions. The head-on testing approach to get the outcomes of your cleaning practice is not suitable to ensure perfect neatness, in this practice you will discover the missing dirt at corners or in between which was missed out earlier.
It is better to not directly spray water or other cleaning solutions on the mirror surface. It can travel to your backing and the result would be a cloudy mirror. Put them on a microfiber cloth or towel then apply on the surface.
Always remember to cover the frames, especially wood and metallic ones during a deep mirror cleaning process, the applied mixtures might ruin the luster of your precious frames. Special care is needed while dealing with antic mirrors.
Always stick to a mild glass cleaner or homemade solution. Never switch to multi-purpose cleaner or furniture polish, it may cause resting of unwanted materials on the surface which might be difficult to remove.
Final Comments
The smudges on the mirror surface are always repulsive and can’t seem to be getting off. They are the most difficult thing to handle as they may transfer to other places and the mirror still looks cloudy, it definitely breaks the heart. Sometimes you can’t clean mirrors with the routine cleaning service, thus the poor fellows are stuffed with dirt. If you want to save your energy and time then it is the best idea to avail the of professional cleaners. Global Cleaning Agency in the UK is at a single call away from your locality to facilitate you with complete lush clean mirrors.