The Old-School Kitchen Cleaning Habit That Should Stay In The Past

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Most people get their cleaning habits from their parents, who got them from their parents and so on. Your family is who you grew up seeing clean, and who taught you to clean when we were old enough to pitch in. So, you settle into your own home with those methods and may not even stop to question them. But a cleaning technique that's generations old isn't necessarily a good thing — as years go by, technology and products improve, as does our knowledge of things like where bacteria comes from and how to actually wipe it out. There are old-school cleaning habits you should retire immediately – most of which seemed like great ideas at some point, when no one was the wiser; but now that we are indeed a little wiser, we know there are better ways. 

One of the more puzzling old-school cleaning methods was to wipe glass surfaces with newspaper. The approach developed because people noticed that newspaper had a bit of abrasiveness to it — it could get into smudges and build-up on kitchen windows or glassware and lift it off, without being so rough it damaged the glass. Newspaper is also relatively absorbent, and didn't have any fuzziness or lint to leave behind like a rag or towel might have. But what newspaper does have that can transfer onto glass is ink — which is far tougher to remove than some lint. Especially if the newspaper is too wet, it's possible that you'll end up with stained, smudged glass. 

You can determine just how bad that ink transfer will be cleaning with newspaper depending on the kind of ink, petroleum-based or soy-based, used – with the former known for transferring more ink. You can figure out which kind of ink was used on your newspaper simply by holding it for a couple of minutes and then seeing if there is ink on your fingers. If not, you might be able to safely use that newspaper on glass with a vinegar-and-water solution — or, you can skip this entire process because there's an easier, more efficient way that doesn't risk unsightly ink stains on your glass at all: a microfiber cloth. 

Microfiber cloths are the way to go nowadays. Yes, this means buying cloths instead of reusing your morning newspaper, but they're affordable and a worthwhile investment for avoiding ruining your glass and creating a much worse cleaning headache. You can grab a six-pack of Puomue glass-cleaning cloths on Amazon for under $10. Microfiber cloths are absorbent and lint-free, so you can get in there and clean tough spots without transferring fuzzies. They don't leave streaks, and are the scratch-free solution to cleaning glass stovetops, refrigerator shelves, and more. Plus, you can simply throw them in your washing machine to clean them.