Why You Should Rub A Potato On Your Mirrors

Whether you're using Windex or trying a DIY glass cleaner with rubbing alcohol, somehow there always seems to be streaks left on your mirrors. It's an aggravating problem, but did you know you could actually solve it by rubbing your mirror with a potato?

That's right: A potato, the kind you find in your grocery store or farmer's market, is actually a great glass cleaning tool. Here's what you do. Take a potato, cut it in half, and rub your mirror with the cut side. You will see a thin starchy residue forming on the glass. Once you've covered the entire mirror, spritz with some water, then wipe the whole thing down with a dishcloth or paper towel. The result will be a sparklingly clean mirror.

If you're not entirely convinced of this, let me lay your doubts to rest. I gave this a try myself and it worked a treat. Some of the store bought glass cleaners I've tried in the past haven't done the job well, and other natural remedies I've tried, like using lemon essential oil, have worked but been expensive. Potatoes cost under $1 per pound, which makes for an incredibly affordable alternative to other easy-to-use glass cleaning products like the Magic Eraser. But what exactly is it about these starchy tubers that make them work so well as glass cleaners?

When it comes to potatoes, we bet most of you are thinking about what's the next meal you can cook with them or how to tell if the ones you planted are ready to harvest. But you may not know about the natural properties of the potato that can help clean and protect your mirror glass. 

Both the starch and oxalic acid in potatoes are excellent at grabbing onto dirt and grime, and lifting them off of the glass surface. And while it does the job of getting the glass clean, the starch can also help protect the glass. If you don't wash away the starch residue left behind by the potato and let it dry, it will create a thin film over the glass. This will also keep your mirror glass from fogging up by preventing the steam from sticking to the surface. This trick is also used to keep ice from sticking to your cars windshield during the winter.

How lovely would it be to get out of a hot shower and not have to wipe the steam away from your mirror? A potato can do that for you. So whether you're planting them in your garden or buying them at the grocery store, the next time you need to clean your mirrors, or any glass for that matter, consider a potato. The starchier varieties, such as russets, will work best for this.