Removing Ice from Car Windshields

Winter weather is fast approaching and with winter, comes ice. No one likes to wake up to car windows and windshields covered in ice. Everyone wants to know how to prevent ice from building up on car windows, and luckily the answers are fast, easy and green.

For all sakes and purposes, everyone knows how to de-ice car windows and windshields. The problem with the traditional method of warming a car's engine, turning on the defroster on low (high could crack a very cold windshield) and scraping, scraping, scraping until all
 the ice is gone, is that it takes too much time. Preventing ice from ever collecting on the car's windows, is a much easier method of winter car maintenance.

To prevent a car's windows and windshields from icing during the cold winter months, the auto consumer need simply treat the windows before bed each night. The window treatment can be made up of 50% vinegar and 50% water and placed in a spray bottle. This mixture when sprayed on a car's windows and windshield will prevent ice from forming. It is important to spray all of the car's windows and and not just the windshield.

If the auto consumer has no vinegar on hand, a 50% / 50% mixture can also be made up of rubbing alcohol and water. This will prevent ice formation on windows and windshields as well.

Once ice has formed on the windows of a car, it is sometimes very hard to remove. The same mixtures used to prevent ice from forming on a car window, are the same ones that can be used to remove built up ice. Simply spraying the 50% / 50% mixtures on the frozen windows and windshields will melt away the ice in no time flat.

For those that need ice removal on the go, mixing 2 - 3 tablespoons, for cars, or 4 - 5 tablespoons, for trucks, of rubbing alcohol into the windshield washer fluid should do the trick. The alcohol turns the normal windshield washer fluid into an ice melting mixture, ready when you are!

Related information
  • Never pour hot water on an iced windshield, the windshield could crack!
 
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Thanks, This should save a lot of time in the rushed cold morning. I can't wait to try the vinegar/water mixture.

Posted on 10/11/2008 at 10:10:50 AM

I never heard about pre-treating the windows with anything. Great idea and timely too.

Posted on 10/23/2007 at 2:10:00 PM

That season is approaching even though we're still experiencing 80 degree temps here in October. I'll try the vinegar preparation.

Posted on 10/16/2007 at 9:10:00 AM

:-)

Posted on 10/16/2007 at 7:10:00 AM

Oh, what a great tip! We could never afford those commercial de-icers but the pre-treatment of vinegar/water sounds like the way to go.

Posted on 10/15/2007 at 1:10:00 PM

Interesting concepts. Thank You fer sharin'. ;-}}>

Posted on 10/15/2007 at 10:10:00 AM

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