I Tried This Polish Grandmother’s Unusual Trick for Cleaning Windows

Is there any cleaning hack I won’t try these days? Not likely. But there’s one window cleaning technique that I recently discovered on Apartment Therapy that had me turning up my nose — quite literally — before I decided to go for it. 

I’ve seen some interesting hacks for cleaning windows, including using old newsprint instead of a paper towel. (It works, but I’ve long given up my print newspaper subscription in favor of digital, so it’s not practical.) But using an onion to clean windows? I was very skeptical of the idea of using vegetables outside of culinary endeavors, but writer Marlen Komar shared this interesting window cleaning trick in the article as something she learned from her Polish grandmother.

To be fair, I have heard of using half an onion speared on a fork to clean a barbecue grill. The idea is that the natural acid from the onion cuts through the cooked-on grease. Any onion residue that’s left behind will just flavor the grates, as a bonus. I couldn’t fathom how this would translate to window glass, though. But I just happened to have half a yellow onion in my fridge that was past its prime. Because it was destined for the compost anyway, I decided to try it.

This hack is as easy as it is surprising. Here’s how it works.

1. Slice an onion in half.
2. Rub the cut half on the window glass.
3. Wipe with a clean rag. 

I tried this on the glass pane in both my kitchen door and my front door. I grabbed sunglasses as a sort of safety goggle, as I always cry when I’m chopping onions. I’m happy to report that I didn’t tear up one bit when scrubbing the glass with the onion.

How does one scrub with an onion? I pretended it was a regular sponge or a Magic Eraser. I did see it left a bit of residue — and yes, I could smell it when I moved inside to do the interior of the door glass, although it was gone when I wiped with the microfiber cloth.

Did it work? I had a dirty onion as proof. The window seemed clean, although perhaps that was more from me using a bit more elbow grease with the microfiber cloth to remove any traces of onion. It’s been confirmed that this works elsewhere on the internet, including by Smart Fox on YouTube, which specifically states this is a good way to remove fly droppings — apparently those are what those little black dots are on window panes. I didn’t really see any of those, but I did scrub at some other dirt and crud, and my onion scrubber worked. I then took a dry microfiber cloth and wiped the pane well to remove any onion residue.

The video also suggests another technique for your onion.

1. Cut an onion in half or chunks.
2. Soak in a bucket of water for about 30 minutes.
3. Dip a cloth into the onion water, then wipe down the window pane.

Washing windows in onion water somehow seems even less palatable to me than scrubbing directly with one, so I did not opt for this technique.

I’m torn: Was it the onion that worked to clean the window, or was it the elbow grease I used to wipe away any onion-y remains? My glass doors did look clean, but I’m sure I could have arrived at the same outcome with the natural and much sweeter-smelling Method Glass Cleaner. 

Again, I wasn’t too worried about wasting a vegetable that was already heading toward the compost bin. But the next time I have an extra onion on my hands, I’ll use it to make soup — not clean windows.