Nickers needs to know: Does Windex, the window cleaner, work on pimples? Because I just saw “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and they said to “Windex it.” Like put some on a cotton ball and dab it on. Is it true? The Right Brain responds:
We hate to break bad on scientific beauty advice from any major motion picture, especially a block buster romantic comedy such as this, but with all due respect: FORGET ABOUT IT!
Windex is a mixture of water, rubbing alcohol and some industrial solvents. Yes, it might help degrease your oily skin and it might even kill off a few acne causing bacteria, but it won’t work as well as pimple medications that you buy in the store. And it might even irritate your skin and make your pimples worse. Stick with Clearasil! (By the way, you’ll feel 13% smarter if you read our explanation of what causes acne.)
Or if you really want to try something different, check out the Zeno Zit Zapper. Yes, it’s expensive but it really works!
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Windex may not work very well on zits but it works wonders on carpet stains.
Hey everyone,
Windex may not be the product of choice for using it on breakouts, but it is EXCELLENT for getting rings on and off. If your rings are tight, just spray Windex on your fingers/toes and POOF! the rings slide right on!
Lynnette, while this might work I don’t think we should be recommending that people spray glass cleaners on their skin. It contains 2-butoxyethanol which isn’t a great chemical for your skin. For removing rings and things you could use something like vegetable oil.
BB,
I have probably the most sensitive skin of anyone I know or who has become my client. I used this recently to put a ring on and washed it immediately off the finger. For me, it was no different than wiping the windows with a wet Windexed paper towel. Really, I did not react and it is not on the skin long enough to penetrate. You will find this being done at many jewlery stores. Gets it right over that knuckle! But, thanks for your concern and reply!!! PS– I am not using it on my clients…they can do it if they want to.
We’re probably being over cautious. For the most part people should avoid exposure to chemicals though. They don’t have the same safety requirements for household cleaners as they do for cosmetics. Thanks for your comments.
I had a roommate once who used Lysol for everything. If he were sick, he’d spray into into the vents, so it would be distributed throughout the apartment. If he had a cold sore, he would cut it with a razor and dab it with Lysol (I don’t know which is worse, actually cutting it with a razor, or dousing it with Lysol). Windex as an acne treatment. He would have loved it! Me? I work with dermatologists and plastic surgeons all over the country, including a doc who performs plastic surgery in New Jersey, and I can tell you one thing for sure: I’ve never seen any of them carrying Windex as a professional skin care product!
Feel free to call me crazy, insane, etc. But after years of dealing with break-outs, I got fed up and tried the Windex. And you know what? It worked. After washing my face, I would spray a little onto a cotton ball and gently wipe the area where I had a zit. Within a couple of days they were almost gone. The Windex was a complete act of desperation. I had tried EVERYTHING else – believe me – everything. I probably spent thousands of dollars on products that helped for a few days and then everything went back to normal.
Now, my skin is happy, and I’m happy. It may not be a professional skin care product, but it helped me. I have extremely dry skin and I was very apprehensive the first time I used it. I figured it was going to burn like crazy, but it didn’t. I couldn’t even feel it. But the next morning, I could already see a major difference.
Like I said, call me crazy… but it truly worked for me.
Um… washing your face, good.
Windex… might disinfect. But if you are going to use chemical cleaners, disregarding the harm they do, then by all means just cut off whatever part of the body seems to hurt, and you won’t have to worry about it ever hurting again. Shoot, go ahead and just use super glue to hold your hair in place. You won’t ever have to do it again.
Heck, have your taxidermist in your Fav Five for those times when you want to look your best but never want to worry about dealing with it again…
The Windex on zits really does work,not as an all over treatment but more like a spot treatment( i only suggest using it on a zit that is really really bugging you) how do i know?
my friend Brandon used it once when our school took the drama students for a weekend retreat at a very expensive lodge,we woke up one morning and the zit was right on the end of his nose and it was huge,he dabbed some Windex on it out of curiosity and i worked wonders and by lunch time it was completely gone!
Not true. I get zits that are below the surface of the skin and appear on the surface only as HUGE (we’re talking the size of a woman’s thumbnail), itchy red bumps that hurt like crazy and take about two months to disappear from my nose and chin. In a fit of desperation I decided to try the Windex tip, rubbing Windex on one four times a day (when I got up, twice during the day, and just before bed). It doesn’t work in the miraculous single day that the film shows, but in about four days, the thing was gone. I wouldn’t advise bathing in it, but it’s the only thing that’s worked for me.
Yes, it absolutely DOES work…but only as a spot treatment. Do NOT wash your face with it!! I had a big zit on my nose (*ugh!*) and put some windex on it before I went to bed. Next morning it was barely noticeable and not at all red. I thought it might be coincidence, so a few days later, I tried it on a zit on my chin and voila! Same result, but this time I put it on in the morning and once again in the afternoon.. Just a drop each time.
As for removing rings: Using Windex to remove rings has been a jeweler’s trick for YEARS. My rings were too tight when I was pregnant and I went to a jewelers to have them cut off after trying butter, vaseline, lotion, baby oil, soap, all the “normal” things. He sprayed my fingers with Windex and they came right off.
As much as i love that movie, windex is not the answer (it may work for every hundreth person don’t get me wrong) but i wouldn’t place my hopes on it
I just tried the windex only because I was desperate and I’ve read lots of good reviews on it.
A coworker of mines uses windex to kill flies lol
somebody told me that windex was the trick for zit and frankly i haven’t seen “my big phat greek wedding” so i dont know what was going on with that but i just washed my face wit that two times a day and it worked fo me!!!!!!!!
Yes, it works. Every once in a while, I get a few breakouts. I’ve been putting windex on my breakouts for almost a year now and it works every time. Just MAKE SURE you wash your face every morningg and before you go to bed for best results.
Yep….it works…been doing it for years… long before the movie even came out – so I just gave away some age there ! Just a dab on the actual pimple, a trick my grandmother showed me years ago. Sounds ridiculous but its not. There are so many uses for household products that were intended for other purposes and not all work for everyone, but this one probably works for many people’s ugly little pimple problem, just not eveyone wants to admit it…. LOL…
I am going to try it!
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