Here at How-to Stuff, Molly and I like to take on even the most mundane inconveniences of our daily lives. Exhibit A: the foggy bathroom mirror. You take a nice hot shower, towel off and look up to behold your glorious bathroom mirror obstructed by fog. Of course, you could invest upwards of $70 for a fog-free mirror, but that’s too rich for my blood.

My preferred de-fog method is to blast the mirror with a hair dryer. I’ll first wipe the mirror with a towel to remove excess vapor if it’s particularly steamy in the bathroom, and after about 10 seconds under the hair dryer, the job is done.

An article on ReadyMade got me thinking about this topic in the first place. Spreading a thin coating of shaving cream on the mirror then wiping it off should create an effective fog barrier. Esquire endorses Barbasol and a paper towel for the task. I’m curious about the residue buildup over time since a Thrifty Fun commenter who tried the trick ran into trouble with stubborn streaks on the mirror after a few months.

For a two-in-one mirror cleaning and fog-proofing, Apartment Therapy swears by a mixture of vinegar and water. Just add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to a quart of room temperature water and to another quart of hot water. After wiping the mirror with the room temperature solution and towel drying, follow it up with the hot liquid and allow to air dry.

Any tried-and-true methods I’m overlooking?