Pinalen Glass & Surface Cleaner

Cleaning products have been flying off store shelves during the past year, and as stores try to meet demand, I’ve seen some new-to-me brands show up. One of the more popular cleaners recently at Aldi has been the Cloralen brand, which includes multipurpose cleaning spray and bathroom cleaning spray. The company that makes Cloralen produces a range of cleaning products under several brand names, including Pinalen.

The Pinalen brand includes several multipurpose cleaners in various scents, along with multipurpose cleaning wipes and dishwashing liquid. Pinalen also produces a glass cleaner, which I found not long ago at my local Aldi.

Pinalen Glass & Surface Cleaner cost $2.29 for a 22-fluid-ounce spray bottle at the time of publication.

This is marked as a Regular Buy in my local store, which means it’s sold all year. Of course, during the past year cleaning products in a variety of familiar and unfamiliar brands have come and gone, and these kinds of products have sometimes been sporadic in terms of availability, so I can’t make any guarantees.

Pinalen is not exclusive to Aldi, and the store locator feature on Pinalen’s website indicates the brand can be found at my local Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Walmart stores.

As mentioned earlier, Pinalen is from the same family of products as the Cloralen cleaners also sold as Aldi. Both Pinalen and Cloralen are distributed by AlEn USA, which is a subsidiary of Industrias AlEn, a chemical products company based in Monterrey, Mexico. The sales office for the U.S. and the Caribbean is in Houston, Texas. The company also produces cleaning products under the brands Pinol, Flash, and Ensueño.

The bottle states this glass cleaner has a fresh scent and is ammonia free. It also advertises a quick-drying formula that leaves no residues and removes grease and stains. The bottle also says this spray is good for windows, shower doors, mirrors, and marble.

Instructions and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

To use:

1. Turn the nozzle to either the STREAM or SPRAY position.
2. Spray 6-8 inches from the surface to be cleaned.
3. Let it act for a few minutes.
4. Wipe clean or rinse with a cloth or sponge.

Ingredients are: water, butoxyetanol, sodium caprylyl sulfonate, sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, fragrance, sodium hydroxide, colorants, methylisothiazolinone, and methylchoroisothiazolinone.

I compared this to some Target Up & Up brand glass cleaner I already had in my cleaning supply cabinet, and the Target cleaner contains different ingredients such as ammonia and surfactants. Most notably, the Pinalen cleaner does not contain ammonia.

Ammonia is used in many window cleaners because it’s effective at removing grease, fingerprints, and dirt and even acts as a mild disinfectant. It also dries quickly, leaving fewer streaks. However, it’s also a harsh chemical that can irritate the respiratory system, skin, and eyes (and ammonia-based cleaners are not generally recommended for cleaning vehicle windows) so some people prefer to use ammonia-free cleaners.

That doesn’t necessarily mean this cleaner is free of other chemicals, though; it simply doesn’t contain ammonia. If you want to avoid chemicals in your glass cleaner, you’ll want to look for a natural or plant-based cleaner or make a homemade cleaner using diluted vinegar.

As for how well it works, I am happy with this window cleaner. The first thing I noticed was its pleasant smell: fresh, with fruity or light floral notes. One family member also commented on the nice smell while I was cleaning with it.

It does a good job of cleaning, too. It worked well to remove toothpaste splatters from my bathroom mirrors and to clean fingerprints from sliding glass doors and mirrored closet doors. I even used it to clean dirt and grime off the outside of some of my house’s windows and off of the glass portions of my front storm door. In all cases, it did the job as well as any other glass cleaner I’ve used, and after wiping thoroughly with a cleaning cloth it left no streaks.

My only minor quibble is that the spray bottle has a narrow base and is a little on the wobbly side. On the plus side, its narrow profile means it fits easily on a shelf or in a cleaning supply caddy.

With that said, this is a glass cleaner I would readily purchase again because it cleans so well and has a great scent.

The Verdict:

Pinalen Glass & Surface Cleaner is made by the same company that produces Cloralen cleaning products also sold at Aldi. This glass cleaner contains no ammonia, has a pleasant scent, and does a good job of cleaning grime, dirt, fingerprints, and more off of windows, mirrors, shower doors, other glass surfaces, and marble. Recommended.