windscreen de-icer

Justamum

It's a lovely, mild day today with no prospect of ice, so my mind (naturally :rotfl:) turns to windscreen de-icer. I've tried putting a cover on the windscreen on my car, but they don't really fit all that well, and the other windows still get covered in ice. So I wondered if anyone knows how to make my own de-icer in a spray bottle? Would something like surgical spirit work?

Volcano

De-icer is normally a mixture of a type of alcohol in water. You could mix this up yourself if you knew the correct ratio, but the neat alcohol can be a bit hazardous.

I use warm (as in tepid, NOT hot) water; pour a large glassful onto the windscreen and put the wipers on quickly before it can freeze...does a quick job of de-icing though your wipers need to be in good condition.

Edit: Surgical spirit seems to differ in composition depending on where you buy it. It does contain alcohol of some sort or another, though this can already be diluted and (I would guess) be more expensive to use than de-icer from a shop.

Premier_2

You can probably buy meths a lot cheaper than surgical spirit (and its essentially the same plus a colour added, less the castor oil).

A great degreaser. I've even known decorators to clean their paint brushes in it.

I hate to imagine what damage it might do to a vehicle's paintwork.:eek:

Being hygroscopic (water attracting), even if it doesn't remove the paint, it'll probably start corrosion as anyone who has used a tilly lamp pre-heating torch will probably be all too familiar with.

davetrousers

Prevention is better than cure, imo!

goldspanners

im sure it will be on special in tesco soon so why not just buy a tin or 2. it doesnt cost much. and saves guess at what chemicals wont do any serious damage to your paint work.

DaveMacD

Costco often do large crates of the stuff. Worth chipping in with a few people to get a load in

Justamum

DaveMacD wrote: »

Costco often do large crates of the stuff. Worth chipping in with a few people to get a load in

Is Costco some kind of supermarket? We don't have that over here. I'll just have a look round to see what I can find. Thanks for all your replies.

Premier_2

Justamum wrote: »

Is Costco some kind of supermarket? We don't have that over here. I'll just have a look round to see what I can find. Thanks for all your replies.

It's a wholesaler. They've only got just over 20 sites across the UK. I think membership costs about £20 (plus other terms apply), so even if you are a eligible to join, you'd need to buy a lot of de-icer to make it cost effective.

Awaits a cry that members already spend £00s each every day in there anyway, so no extra membership to pay for getting de-icer too ... :whistle:
(but that membership needs to be included on one item, or spread out on all purchases if it's to be viable)

Justamum

Premier wrote: »

It's a wholesaler. I think membership costs about £20 (plus other terms apply), so even if you are a eligible to join, you'd need to buy a lot of de-icer to make it cost effective.

Awaits a cry that members already spend £00s every day in there anyway, so no extra membership to pay for getting de-icer too ... :whistle:
(but that membership needs to be included on one item, or spread out on all purchases if it's to be viable)

Oh. It wouldn't be very cost effective for me then - I'd have to pay a couple of hundred pounds for the ferry to get me over there! :eek:

harveybobbles

5 litres of neat stuff is 2.74 plus VAT.

eslick

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7403332/Trail/searchtext%3EDE-ICER.htm

this is the one thats one sale at costco its better than the stuff from supermarkets, i bought 6 cans for a fiver I think recently.

wouldnt be putting any home made de-icer on my car you cant be sure what it will do to the windscreen.

read an article about a night before de-icer they said it works this is the only one I can see

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_220969_langId_-1_categoryId_229902

just seen the reviews of this one it only got one star