Saturday Afternoon (on a SUNDAY NIGHT) Quickie - DIY All-Purpose Cleaning Spray!

Weekly Reminder: What is a "QUICKIE" anyway?...hmmmmm, found this online: "Very little foreplay, quick finish. Usually 5-10 minutes, start to finish.." Perfect! Since I've demonstrated how blog challenged I am this year AND last, a speedy, once a week drop-in is JUST what the doctor ordered (wink!).
So clear your calendars, I'm all yours for 10 minutes every weekend...rawr

I'm back and Spring is around the corner, so Let's Get Squeaky!...

I don't know about you, but I've noticed EVERYTHING-EVERYWHERE seems to be getting more expensive.  Even purchasing items in bulk (Sam's Club - Costco) doesn't seem to feel like the big "save" any longer.  Long story short, it's a sad day when you find me jumping up and down screaming, "SCORE!" because Walmart is offering a box of my boys beloved Twinkies® for mere $1.98!!
In my recent quest to save-save-save, I made it my mission to hunt down a "dupe" recipe for an all-purpose household spray cleaner that ACTUALLY would work on counter tops, mirrors, windows and even floors in a pinch!
Spring cleaning time is just around the corner - arm yourselves ~
You probably have most of these ingredients, so get under your sinks and dig this stuff out girls...
After reading and trying many recipes and after some tweaking - this is what I came up with:

Homemade All-Purpose Spray Cleaner 
makes approx. 88 oz. (0.6875 of a gallon)
aka Grease Cutter
64 ounces of hot water
5 ounces ammonia
3 ounces white vinegar
16 ounces rubbing alcohol
4 good squirts of Dawn dish soap (any kind will do...)

Take care to incorporate the dish soap gently (to avoid a bubble nightmare) after mixing all of the other ingredients together.  Pour into a clean spray bottle and there you go!  In my effort to recycle, I store the extra cleaner in a gallon sized empty Heinz white vinegar jug.
I have found this stuff to leave little if any streaks on my mirrors - but if you feel the formulation needs help in this area, simply add a tad more white vinegar...that should do the trick.

Below is a badly photographed (I was super "spent" that day!) before-and-after example of what this stuff did to a nasty, crusty, dusty, dirty file folder holder I found in the garage.  I simply sprayed the heck out of it, covering every surface.  I let it sit for 2-3 minutes, then used my hose to rinse.  My fingers NEVER scrubbed an inch - the cleaner lifted the dirt so well, that I was able to use the hose only to finish the job.  Wowzie ~

Before

After

Just a note here...for tougher stains and spots simply spray and let it sit for a moment before wiping.  You might also notice small spots left over on glass or mirrors ~ there seems to be a "theory" out there that Windex adds a bit of wax to their formulation, and what you're seeing is "the left over wax" from your last cleaning session.  Once you get that stuff off, your homemade cleaner should keep your glass and mirrors "honestly" sparkling clean.
Here's to showing off your clean-y-clean home and picking up everyone's jaw off of the floor when they discover that you actually MADE the cleaner to do it!

p.s.: use at your own risk and/or discretion - I am not responsible for any ruined furniture or appliances!

Thanks for the QUICKIE (wink!), I'll see ya next week!