Handy Tips to De-Ice Your Car and Windshield!

Here are some great things to do if you find snowy, freezing weather heading your way.

1) Cover your windows! Using car mats, carpet remnants, or sheets of plastic to cover your car windows will prevent them from getting any frost, snow, or ice on them in the first place. For the side windows, open the doors and let the plastic drape over the windows before closing the doors again. This takes a bit of planning the night before, but you’ll sure be happy when you wake up in the morning!

2) Another use for vinegar! If you spray or wipe vinegar over your windows after you park your car, it will prevent ice from forming in moderately cold temps. You can also use it to mist over a light frost to help it melt faster.

3) Protect your wipers! One of the most frustrating parts of an icy car is trying to chip away at the ice around your windshield wipers. The car’s defroster rarely reaches the wipers too, so warming your car up in advance of needing it doesn’t help either. Not a problem! Simply place an old pair of socks over your wipers after you park, and you’ll be good to go no matter what the weather brings!

4) Get mad! If your car is really covered in pure ice, give the hood of your car a good smack with a flat palm to help crack the ice and give yourself a place to start scraping. When removing ice and snow, remember not to use shovels or other sharp objects to remove the ice, as this will easily scratch your paint. Only use scrapers and brushes specifically meant for clearing ice and snow from cars.

5) Water it down! Another thing you can do to try to melt ice or frost is to simply fill a bucket with water and toss it over your windshield. This will either completely melt the ice, or will at least make it easy to scrape or brush off. The trick here is to make sure that the water is just luke warm. If you use boiling water, you risk cracking your windows because of the rapid change in temperature.

 

6) A smarter way to park your car! If temperatures will just be getting a little bit chilly, chances are the sun’s rays in the morning may be able to do all the work for you. If you can park your car facing East (where the sun rises), then the frost on your windshield may just be melted for you before you even need to think about scraping!

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