UK alternative to Windex?

[dougsewell]

Hello again
The ammonia I use is Household Ammonia where the bottle label shows contents as 9.5% Ammonia Solution. Bought at my Home Hardware store for 1.99 500ml. For general cleaning and windows the advice is to use 70-140mls to 5 lts cold or warm water so my home made head cleaner of 1 part ammonia to 8 parts water and 1 part alchohol is quite strong in comparison to the general cleaning mix of about 1:35. Wax stripping advises a dilution of 1:16 with a rinse after 5 mins. I am sure a lesser dilution of my mix with even less alchohol (Gin in my case although Vodka could be a cheaper alternative) will work equally as well with less risk of corrosion to any metal parts. Safety check - - If you adopt the "one for the mix" and "one for me" habit, make sure it is the alchohol you swig and not the ammonia.
Great forum
Doug

 

[websnail]

Thanks for the feedback guys... all good info...

.. and as for the tip on which one to swig...

 

[nicredshaw]

Well it worked for me ! 16:1:1 water:household ammonia:vodka - let it soak for a couple of hours and then (being an impatient sort) injected solution through the head with a syringe and a bit of tubing over the inlets.

Worked an absolute treat, so thanks !

 

[dougsewell]

Found "Car Plan" windscreen washer fluid in my local Halfords. Blue colour and contains alcohol and ammonia. Works a treat either neat or diluted in cleaning blocked heads.
Doug

 

[ghwellsjr]

Here is a link to the Halfords window cleaner.