"Look out your window, tell me what you see..."

Those lyrics are from Steve Earle's Window song.....and today, I can actually see out the window, rather than just the fingerprints, nose prints and lip prints on the inside.

Well, my daughter and I completed our window cleaner testing yesterday...ok, I'll be honest...we only did the ones that you see when you first come in the house, and only at eye level...on the insides....I hate cleaning windows!

When I was visiting at Turner's store in Little Current, I was given a number of "green" products to try out and review. natureclean ® is a Canadian company that offers non-toxic, environmentally safe alternatives for household cleaning. They disclose all ingredients on their product labels and promise that their products are made without suspected carcinogens.

My daughter Brooke was armed with her spray bottle with vinegar and water (and for some reason she had to wear her tiara....I guess even princesses need to learn to clean windows), and I had a bottle of natureclean ® Glass and Window Cleaner. Traditional commercial window cleaners contain ammonia, which is a toxic compound. The natureclean ® product is ammonia free. We used only last week's crumpled Manitoulin Expositor for wiping and drying.

The Results:

The natureclean ® Glass and Window Cleaner was nice to use because it had virtually no smell. When I sniffed really closely I could faintly smell the vinegar but that was it. How refreshing from the nasty ammonia smell of most cleaners. The windows came very clean ,and trust me, they were dirty; limited amounts of elbow grease required.

How did it rate compared to just vinegar? Well, I didn't see a huge difference, but then again, I didn't tackle the really nasty outside windows....no way am I doing that in the winter! My homemade cleaner was definitely a lot stronger in smell though, and I think that for small, quick jobs inside the house I will definitely use the natureclean ® product. And I think I will wait until spring to do the ULTIMATE test - the outside windows!

To sum up, the natureclean ® Glass and Window Cleaner worked well, was no more expensive than other window cleaners on the store shelves, and perhaps best of all, I have found that it is available locally at Turner's as well as Your Independent Grocer. And whether I use the natureclean ® product or my homemade vinegar solution, I am not afraid for either my dog or my kids to lick the windows.

Don't forget to check back tomorrow to see who won the stainless steel water bottle, and to enter for this week's giveaway.