How to Clean a Mirror with Rubbing Alcohol

Mirrors suffer a lot of unwanted attention from globs of toothpaste, coats of hairspray, and regularly smeared-on fingerprints. While you might think that a simple spray removes all, not properly treating these spots is the leading cause of streaks—when you go to wipe down the rest of the mirror with a clean or solution-sprayed cloth, the greasy or oily residue just spreads across the surface of the glass with each sweeping motion. Fortunately, an easy solution hides inside your medicine cabinet: rubbing alcohol. Wet a cotton pad with it, and dab away these problem areas before you get cleaning. Pretreating the mirror before you wipe prevents spots from turning into streaks, leaving you with a sparkling surface.