Windex is an American brand of glass and hard-surface cleaners—originally in glass containers, later in plastic ones. The name "Windex" (from "

window A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent ma ...

" + "-ex") is a

registered trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a product or service from a particular source and distinguishes it from ot ...

Drackett The Drackett Company was a leading company in the specialty chemicals business during the 20th century, responsible for such products as Windex glass cleaner, Vanish (brand), Vanish toilet bowl cleaner, Drāno drain opener, Behold (furniture po ...

sold the Windex brand to

Bristol-Meyers The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, doing business as Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consiste ...

in 1965. S. C. Johnson acquired it in 1993 and has been manufacturing it since. The original Windex was yellow. Today, it is commonly blue. Varieties are marketed in several colors (ocean fresh blue, sunshine lemon and citrus orange) and fragrances (spring bouquet, ocean mist, lavender and tea tree), with a number of additives such as vinegar, lemon,

lime Lime most commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Bo ...

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

juice.

Ingredients

On August 26, 1969, Melvin E. Stonebraker and Samuel P. Wise received U.S. patent #3,463,735 for a glass cleaning composition, listing example formulae, one of which is 4.0%

isopropyl alcohol Isopropyl alcohol (IUPAC name propan-2-ol and also called isopropanol or 2-propanol) is a colorless, flammable, organic compound with a pungent alcoholic odor. Isopropyl alcohol, an organic polar molecule, is miscible in water, ethanol, an ...

, 1% ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, 0.1%

sodium lauryl sulfate Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) or sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), sometimes written sodium laurilsulfate, is an organic compound with the formula and structure . It is an anionic surfactant used in many cleaning and hygiene products. This compound ...

(a surfactant), calcium (Ca) 0.01%,

tetrasodium pyrophosphate Tetrasodium pyrophosphate, also called sodium pyrophosphate, tetrasodium phosphate or TSPP, is an inorganic compound with the formula Na4P2O7. As a salt, it is a white, water-soluble solid. It is composed of pyrophosphate anion and sodium ions. Tox ...

(a water softener), 0.05% of 28%

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the chemical formula, formula . A Binary compounds of hydrogen, stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pu ...

, 1% of a dye solution and 0.01% perfume. This formula was not only inexpensive to manufacture but allowed the product to be packaged in glass bottles and dispensed with a plastic sprayer. In 1989, Windex was a 5%

solution. The product was reformulated in 2006. In 2009, S.C. Johnson started publishing ingredients for all of its products, including Windex. The S.C. Johnson website lists Windex's ingredients as water, 2-hexoxyethanol, isopropanolamine, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, lauramine oxide,

ammonium hydroxide Ammonia solution, also known as ammonia water, ammonium hydroxide, ammoniacal liquor, ammonia liquor, aqua ammonia, aqueous ammonia, or (inaccurately) ammonia, is a solution of ammonia in water. It can be denoted by the symbols NH3(aq). Although ...

, fragrance and Liquitint sky blue dye. An alternative variant also for household use cites water, hexoxyethanol, isopropanolamine,

, sodium C10-C16 alkylbenzenesulfonate, lauramine oxide, sodium xylene sulfonate, colorants and fragrances.

Competition

Windex's main competitor in the window cleaning market is

Glass Plus Glass Plus is a glass and multi-surface cleaner. Information Glass Plus is currently manufactured by Reckitt Benckiser, who purchased the brand from S. C. Johnson. SC Johnson had purchased it from Dow Chemical. Dow Chemical acquired it through ...

, a glass cleaning product produced by

Reckitt Benckiser Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC, currently branded as Reckitt, formerly known as Reckitt Benckiser, is a British multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, United Kingdom. It is a producer of health, hygiene and nutrition prod ...

, which Windex's current owner S. C. Johnson & Son was required to divest to gain the approval of the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

to acquire

Dow Chemical Company The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company was among the three largest chemical producers in the world in 2021. It is the operating subsidiary of Dow Inc., ...

's DowBrands consumer products division (the original owner of the Glass Plus brand).

References

"Don’t Let the Blue Fool You: New Logo on Windex® Bottle to Highlight Company's Greenlist™ Process"
S.C. Johnson press release, Racine, Wisconsin, Thursday, January 17, 2008 * "Philip W. Drackett: Earned profits, plaudits" by Barry M. Horstman, ''

Cincinnati Post ''The Cincinnati Post'' was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. In Northern Kentucky, it was bundled inside a local edition called ''The Kentucky Post''. The ''Post'' was a founding publication and onetim ...

'', May 21, 1999.

External links

Windex's official website

{{SCJohnson Products introduced in 1933 Cleaning product brands Household chemicals S. C. Johnson & Son brands Windows 1993 mergers and acquisitions