Sprayway

Sprayway has made its cleaners since 1947, and they handle house windows, windshields, mirrors and the hard surfaces around them, at home, in the garage or at work. The line runs from the everyday Glass & Surface Cleaner and its wipes to an outdoor window cleaner, stainless steel cleaners and a disinfectant. Pick the one that fits the surface, and the glass comes out clear instead of hazy, which in Montana means clear through a winter of sanded roads and a summer of smoke.

Sprayway is an American company based in Memphis, Tennessee, and part of Highline Warren LLC, a supplier of automotive and maintenance products, and it makes its cleaners for home, auto and professional use. Its foaming Glass Cleaner aerosol, which Sprayway bills as “The World’s Best,” is the product that made the name.

Glass & Surface Cleaner for windows and mirrors

The 32-ounce Glass & Surface Cleaner is the everyday bottle for the kitchen window, the bathroom mirror, glass shower doors and glass tabletops. It’s ammonia-free and made for streak-free glass, so one bottle handles every pane and mirror in the house without leaving a haze or a sharp smell behind. Smoke film is on the list of what it is made to remove, and in a Montana house that is the haze a winter of wood heat leaves on the inside of the windows in the room with the stove; the 32-ounce size is the right one because that film comes off with a lot of cleaner and a lot of towel.

Streaks come from glass left damp or a rag that’s already dirty, not from the cleaner. Use two microfiber towels: wipe with one, then buff the glass completely dry with the second. Near painted trim, electronics or a dashboard, spray the towel instead of the surface. For a quick pass on a mirror or a truck window, the 20-count pack of Glass & Surface wipes does the same job with nothing to spray, and the pack rides in a glove box or a shop drawer.

Outside windows and the truck

Outside glass takes a harder beating here than anything in the house. From November to March the highways between Kalispell, Missoula and Helena get sanded and treated with mag chloride, and the film that throws onto a windshield and the front windows of a house near the road is oily and grey and does not wipe off with water. August adds a season of wildfire smoke that settles on every pane in the valley. A quick wipe just smears both around. Sprayway’s 32-ounce Outdoor Glass Cleaner is made for the outside of the windows, where that smoke film, road film and pollen collect, so it is the bottle for the outside of the house in September and for the truck all winter, and the Glass & Surface Cleaner stays inside.

People often wonder whether a house cleaner is safe for the truck. Sprayway makes its cleaners for home and auto use alike, and the Glass & Surface Cleaner being ammonia-free matters most on a vehicle, because ammonia can break down aftermarket window tint film over time. On the inside of the windshield, spray the towel so the cleaner stays off the dash and out of the defroster vents. The inside gets a greasy haze from the dash and the heater, so it usually needs two passes. Wipe side to side on the inside and up and down on the outside, and you’ll know which side any streak is on.

Stainless steel cleaner

Sprayway’s 15-ounce Stainless Steel Cleaner cleans, polishes and protects stainless appliance fronts, range hoods and sinks, and it comes in water-based and oil-based versions. The water-based one is the better pick for regular use and spot cleaning, so it’s the can to keep in the kitchen for fingerprints on the fridge door; the oil-based can is for the range hood that gets a film of cooking grease, because oil cuts oil. Spray it on a microfiber cloth, wipe with the grain of the metal, never in circles, and buff dry with a clean side of the cloth. Keep it off the glass cooktop and the control panel.

Disinfectant cleaner

For a counter, a door handle or a bathroom fixture that needs sanitizing and not just a shine, Sprayway’s 19-ounce disinfectant cleaner is the can, made for the hard, non-porous surfaces its label lists: counters, sinks, handles and fixtures. It cleans and disinfects in one pass, which is the point when a shop bathroom or a break-room counter gets one wipe-down a day. Follow the contact time on its label, because a disinfectant only works if the surface stays wet for as long as the label says.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Sprayway glass cleaner toxic or safe to use indoors?

It’s safe to use indoors when used by the label. The Glass & Surface Cleaner is ammonia-free, so there’s no sharp ammonia smell filling a small bathroom. Run a fan in tight spaces, and keep aerosol cans away from pilot lights and off a hot dashboard.

Is Sprayway glass cleaner good?

Yes. It leaves glass streak-free without ammonia, it is made to take off fingerprints, dust, smoke film and the rest of what lands on a window, and the same bottle does the house windows, the mirrors and the truck. The outdoor version handles the road film and smoke that beat a regular cleaner, and the wipes put the same cleaner in a glove box.

What is in Sprayway glass cleaner, and does it have alcohol in it?

A little. By its safety data sheet, the classic Sprayway Glass Cleaner is mostly water with under 5 percent ethyl alcohol and under 5 percent of a glycol ether solvent, plus propane and butane as the propellant in the aerosol can. That small dose of alcohol is what flashes off fast and leaves no streak, and there is no ammonia in it.

Can you use Sprayway glass cleaner on stainless steel?

It’ll take fingerprints and smudges off a stainless fridge or dishwasher front, but it cleans without polishing. For a finish that resists prints, use Sprayway’s Stainless Steel Cleaner, which cleans, polishes and protects in one step. Either way, wipe in the direction of the grain, not in circles.

Is it good for car windows?

Yes. Sprayway makes its cleaners for home and auto use, and ammonia-free is the right choice around window tint. Clean the inside of the windshield side to side and the outside up and down so you can tell which side a streak is on.

Is Sprayway glass cleaner a disinfectant?

No. The glass cleaners are sold for streak-free cleaning, not for killing germs. For a surface that needs sanitizing, use Sprayway’s disinfectant cleaner and follow the contact time on its label.