Maybe some people don’t “do” windows, but there’s no reason for you to be among them. Nothing makes a room look better than the sun shining in through sparkling clean glass, and making this happen is easier than you think.

First, forget the idea that you have to run out and buy the pretty blue liquid in the plastic spray bottle. You can make your own cleaning solution from 2 cups of water, ¼ cup of white vinegar and a squirt of dish soap. (You can use just vinegar and water, but there will probably be a waxy residue on your windows left from previously-used commercial cleaners. Vinegar alone is not enough to remove this completely, and you may leave streaks – the dish soap circumvents this problem.)

Now, choose your weapons. You will need something to apply the cleaning solution to the window and something to get it off again. For soaping up, you can use a sponge, a lint-free cloth (such as a dishrag or an old diaper), newspaper, or a “strip applicator” (which looks kind of like a sponge mop with a wider, softer head). Cover the window pane with the vinegar solution, scrubbing gently and working from the top down (so dirty water won’t run over already-cleaned glass).

Now either use a squeegee to remove the liquid (working left-to-right, top-to-bottom and stopping after every wipe to clean the blade with a lint-free cloth) or wipe the windows from top to bottom again with dry cloths or crumpled newspaper sheets until they shine.

If you remember to give that final polish with a back-and-forth motion on the inside of the windows and an up-and-down motion on the outside, it will be easier for you to tell on which side any remaining streaks are hiding.

That’s it! No more window pains!