Windex Original: A Glycol Ether, Ammonia, and Whatever You Do, Don't Add Bleach
SC Johnson discloses this one unusually well, including the fragrance. The real risk is the bottle next to it.
Windex earns points for transparency, SC Johnson lists the full formula and even breaks out the fragrance allergens, which almost no one does. The formula itself is a glycol-ether solvent, ammonia, surfactants, fragrance, and a blue dye. On its own, used with ventilation, it is a minor irritant. The genuine danger is the one the label warns about: ammonia plus bleach makes toxic chloramine gas, and that mistake happens in real kitchens and bathrooms.
The label, flagged
Water
Ethylene Glycol N-Hexyl EtherCAUTION
The main effect is hematotoxicity (red-cell damage) via a metabolite, documented mostly in animals and in high-dose human poisonings, not in routine spritzing. Not classified as a carcinogen. Inhalation in poorly ventilated use is the route that matters. A measured caution.
glycol-ether solvent (2-hexoxyethanol)
Monoisopropanolamine
pH adjuster
Ammonium HydroxideCAUTION
At household concentrations with ventilation, ammonia is a transient irritant, not a chronic hazard. The real danger is specific and severe: mixed with bleach it makes toxic chloramine gas. The caution is about the mixing, not the molecule.
ammonia
Lauryl Dimethyl Amine Oxide
surfactant
Sodium Dodecylbenzene Sulfonate
surfactant
FragranceCAUTION
Not a hazard in itself, but a legal black box. “Fragrance” can shield ingredients (including EU-banned ones) that you are never told are there.
disclosed sub-components incl. linalool, hexyl cinnamal, citronellol
Butylphenyl MethylpropionalAVOID
Banned outright from all EU and UK cosmetics since March 2022 as a presumed reproductive toxicant (CMR 1B), still fully legal in the United States.
Lilial, EU-banned fragrance allergen
Liquitint Sky Blue Dye
dye
Source: SC Johnson 'What's Inside' disclosure. View label. Tap any flagged ingredient for the evidence.
What to use instead
The fix isn’t complicated: a fragrance-free or fully-disclosed alternative, with the ingredients flagged on this label designed out, closes these gaps at once. We pick the ones worth your money.
Shop ammonia-free glass cleaner →Editorial analysis of the publicly listed label and regulatory/peer-reviewed sources. Not medical advice, not affiliated with the brand. Verdicts are evidence-graded, we flag what the data flags and clear what it clears.