Mirror
The object whose standard household treatment its own trade body rules out. Vinegar and ammonia are both named.
Precautions
- Test on an inconspicuous area first
- Limit the contact time
In detail
Almost everyone cleans a mirror with a spray containing either ammonia or vinegar, and the glass industry's mirror division says not to. Its stated reason is structural rather than chemical fussiness: a mirror has a reflective coating and a backing, and exposed edges where both are reachable. Acid and alkali can each attack the front surface, the edges and the backing, so the two household actives most used on glass are the two named. Solvents are excluded for the same reason, and no abrasive should ever be used on the surface. What the paper recommends instead is almost aggressively plain — clean warm water on a soft lint-free cloth, wrung out, dried immediately. The technique matters as much as the liquid. Cleaner goes on the cloth and is never sprayed at the mirror, precisely so it cannot run down into the edges, and the last step of the job is checking that the joints and edges are dry. Where a mark will not come off with water, the recommendation is 0000 oil-free steel wool rather than a solvent. Wet edges left wet produce the darkening known as black edge, which is the mirror failing rather than the mirror being dirty.
Related
- Mirror is made from Mirrored glass
Hacks and claims involving this
- Vinegar for mirrors and glass Does not work
Sources for this page
Sources
Glass Technical Paper FB06-05: Proper Procedures for Cleaning Flat Glass Mirrors
National Glass Association (NGA), Mirror Division, 2019 · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That commercial mirror cleaners containing ammonia or vinegar must not be used, that acid or alkali cleaners attack the front surface, edges and backing, that clean warm water on a wrung lint-free cloth dried immediately is the safest method, that cleaner is applied to the cloth rather than sprayed, and that wet edges cause black edge. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — 'Care and Cleaning of Mirrors', the numbered recommendations 1 to 8. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .