The common £1 item that can banish annoying streaks from mirrors

Many homeowners are regularly sharing their best and most clever cleaning hacks, often using unconventional items to keep kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms sparkling. Among these handy cleaning hacks is one that many people swear by when it comes to keeping bathroom mirrors free from streaks and fog. Bathrooms can often be among the most difficult parts of a house to keep clean, considering the amount of steam and condensation that appears after hot showers.

As a result, bathrooms can often be the areas that need to be cleaned most, including the mirrors which often get dirty from backsplash from brushing teeth and washing hands. A difficulty that is often faced by homeowners is being left with streaky bathroom mirrors right after cleaning, something that can be hugely frustrating and tricky to get rid of. But if you want to keep your bathroom mirror looking brand spanking new, then there is a clever hack that some homeowners have known about for a while: using shaving foam to clean mirrors.

Users on social media sites such as TikTok and Reddit have been sharing this hack, revealing that it cleans their mirrors and leaves no streaks, and it also prevents them from fogging up.

Shaving foam is a common household item, especially for houses with men who prefer to go clean-shaven. The widely available product is available in all supermarkets and can be bought for as little as £1 in Poundland.

One TikTok user, Lisa, shared a video of her attempt at the cleaning hack and revealed that it did in fact work for her. But she warned that if you leave the shaving foam on the mirror for too long, then you will get a cloudy look on your mirror and it will take a lot of “elbow grease” to get it off.

Meanwhile, Boston’s Museum of Science explains why exactly this trick works. In a video shared to their TikTok account, they advise: “Take a little shaving cream, rub it into the glass, and next time you take a shower, no fog.”

They explain that steam from the shower condenses into cold water droplets when it hits the cold mirror and stays there due to adhesion between the water molecules and the glass and cohesion between the water molecules themselves.

“Shaving cream contains molecules called surfactants which help the shaving cream get nice and foamy,” they explain.

“When you rub the shaving cream on the glass, you leave behind a tiny layer of those surfactants. They interrupt the cohesive properties of the water, meaning the bigger droplets can’t form and obscure your view.”

TikTok users took to the comments section to share their reactions, with some admitting that they also tried this hack and it worked for them.

One person commented: “I’ve seen this all over the internet and I never believed it. I just tried it and I’m ABSOLUTELY FLABBERGASTED.”