Home made de-icer?

AdrianC

De-icer is a waste of money, that simple.

Scrape any bulk snow off manually, then tap-hot water from a bottle with the wipers clearing the excess. It works, it doesn't break windscreens, it warms the glass and removes misting from the inside - unlike evaporating alcohol sprays, which cool the glass and increase misting.

forgotmyname

facade, it wont hurt your paint even at full strength, the guys on the detailing forums use it with no issues. Even guys with special paints.

If it stripped paint then all cars would be down to bare metal around the washer jets and the base of the windscreen. Seen any modern cars like that?

facade

Had a new merc 180E that did it though, merc blamed it on the "water soluble paint" (I blamed it on "the boy" at merc topping up the washers with radiator coolant, but I think they drained the washer fluid pdq when I took it back under warranty)

TBH, I can't think of any "modern" cars that have paint anywhere near the base of the windscreen though, it is usually acres of plastic with the washer jets built in.

I just don't trust modern eco-friendly "paint"- give me the proper stuff with chromates and lead in, and proper ozone damaging carcinogenic solvents any time.

d0nkeyk0ng

facade wrote: »

I don't bother with it, as simple physics tells you it isn't going to work,- it gives the ice on the screen a lower melting point, so it melts, cooling the screen down further, so when you get in, your breath freezes on the inside.

I used to have a garage large enough for my car. The new house doesn't have a large enough garage so I'm now faced with this issue. I've been using tap water (at a suitably cool temp) to melt the ice but it can still freeze up as you get in the car.

For the first time, I've started using de-icer and this is what happens. Any moisture/mist on the inside of the windscreen freezes. I use the wipers once the ice has melted so no danger of refreezing but it is amazing to see the ice forming so quickly. I then have to wait for the AC to kick in and demist the screen.

To OP: look at car windscreen covers. If you get the right kind (with wiring inside so it stays stiff), it'll stop any freezing. I bought a cheapo one and it can flap about in windy weather (even with the wipers positioned to hold it in place) so frost can form underneath.

spadoosh

AdrianC wrote: »

De-icer is a waste of money, that simple.

Scrape any bulk snow off manually, then tap-hot water from a bottle with the wipers clearing the excess. It works, it doesn't break windscreens, it warms the glass and removes misting from the inside - unlike evaporating alcohol sprays, which cool the glass and increase misting.

I always get told im going to smash my windscreen.

Top the kettle up with luke warm water, pour it over and drive away.

"but if theres a chip in the windsreen it might crack".

"theres been a chip in the windscreen for 3 years and ive deiced this way every morning its been icy, its not smashing the windscreen is it"

You just need to make sure you get the wipers on before it refreezes. And i can never fill the kettle enough to be able to melt the frozen block that prevents your windows from going down so always end up making 2 trips.

Id much rather have heated windscreen though nothing quite like seeing 1" thick of ice/snow swept off in one sweep.

facade

Whilst I'm still going on about how much better cars were in The Olden Days, I remember that the wipers used to stick out of the bodywork in fresh air, and the blades used to park right over where the hot air hit the screen.
Nowadays the blades park well below where the hot air comes out, so they never defrost, and all the works are buried down a cavity at the base of the screen, where all the mushy snow falls and compacts as it rolls down the screen when there is a partial melt in the day, and then freezes into a solid block of ice, totally jamming the mechanism, with no hope of ever melting.

And somehow modern cars are better?

forgotmyname

facade so he may have put antifreeze into the washers NOT screenwash which is a different product.

Plenty of cars and vans around with the washer jets in the bonnet, so the bonnet gets splashed when the washers are used, and the paint on the wiper arms also. No issues.

Not antifreeze, screenwash (although the labelling is a bit misleading) but its screenwash.

Any company that sells screenwash that strips paint will quickly get sued.

beaker141

spadoosh wrote: »

I always get told im going to smash my windscreen.

And i can never fill the kettle enough to be able to melt the frozen block that prevents your windows from going down so always end up making 2 trips.

I've got a watering can (7litres) that I fill from the "hot" tap including any slug of cold water in the pipes - 1 trip and its all done.

Years of doing it this way, never cracked a screen yet (touch wood) !

hareng

AdrianC wrote: »

Scrape any bulk snow off manually, then tap-hot water from a bottle with the wipers clearing the excess. It works, it doesn't break windscreens, it warms the glass and removes misting from the inside - unlike evaporating alcohol sprays, which cool the glass and increase misting.

Agree been doing it for nearly 40 years and to see the looks on passers by sums up the attitude.
Just a splash at top of each glass let it run whilst doing the others, warms the glass up. Often use boiling and the mrs is heavy handed.
Saying that it didnt work this morning after two kettles full of 90 degrees, neither did the cheap de icer.
3hrs later totally hard ice so put the thermostatic oil filled rad on back seat, ice slid off after an hour. Was -12

Zola.

Lukewarm - warm water. Put in Kettle, pour on icy windows.

Wipe off all water.

Extremely simple, extremely effective, and free.