Ice on windscreen in the morning ?

Question

I hate clearing ice of my car in the morning, sometimes I use hot water but know this can be dangerous ,I've heard you can buy some sort of spray foam which you spray on your windscreen the night before and it stops ice forming on it over night - anybody know what this stuff is called and is it pricey to buy?

Answer 1

I believe it's called De-fogger or De-icer. You should be able to pick up a can at your neighborhood Shucks/Kragen, or Auto Zone.

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Answer 2

Thereare numerous brands of de-icing spray on the UK market, but do they really work?

Yes, they melt the ice, but then when you drive away, the chemical reaction runs out, and the liquid which is left immediately freezes again.

There is only ONE way of preventing ice, and that is to get rid of the water before you set off. You can do this by covering the screen and pulling off the paper/cardboard (etc), you can scrape the frozen water off (best let the children do that!), but in fact, the worst thing is warm-water, because as soon as you set off, the stuff freezes worse than before.

By all means use warm-water (which doesn't have to be very warm) but make sure you then leather off the excess, and dry the screen.

Personally, my preferred method is to start the car, put on the heater/demister, go back inside, watch TV and have a cup of tea. When you come out, it's lovely to have a nice warm car with a clear screen.

Answer 3

You can place sheets of newspaper across the windscreen, held down by the wipers on the night before.

You can purchase de-icer sprays from shops and supermarkets for £1 or £2. Just spray it all over the windscreen when you wake and then use the wipers to wipe away.

Or just continue to use the method of pouring warm water over the the windscreen in the mornings.

I've not heard of the spray foam you referred to but from it may be more expensive than the methods I've suggested above.

Answer 4

I tried the stuff when it first came out. Didn't work that great so didn't buy any more. Way I do it is start the car and turn defroster on then go back inside while it warms up enough for ice to start melting. The spray it with de-icer and turn on wipers.
You can also buy windshield washer fluid with de-icer in it. In either case wait until the ice starts to melt before using either of them or windshield will ice back up one you.
By doing it that way you are also warming your engine and engine oil up before driving off. Not to mention it being more comfortable taking off in a warm car over freezing your a**s off the first few miles.
By the way you keep pouring hot water on your windshield and you are going to break it.

Answer 5

The cheapest way to get ice of your windscreen is to cover it the night before with sheets of newspaper (held on place by the windscreen wipers) or an old blanket. Then you can pull it off when you go out the following morning. As a pedestrian who goes out early I have seen loads of people doing the above (and it seems to work).

Answer 6

Hi there is some stuff but i dont know what its called my nana got some ages ago of QVC, but all you need to do is run the engine out your heaters on and use de- icer. Never put warm water on your windscreen, its not a bright thing to do.Use De-icer thats what its there for, or the stuff you are on about if you can find it.

Answer 7

Wiping it with vinegar (on a sponge) is also supposed to work.

I just get in the car, turn on the engine and set the heater on full blast (on the windscreen). After 10-15 minutes, the ice starts to melt.

The above method also has the advantage of annoying the eco-mentalists out there.

Answer 8

A friend of mine cracked his windscreen with warm water. A neighbour used boiling water and nothing happened, {He was lucky} ! Lots of things you can do...newspaper,blanket,bin bags etc. Even spray windscreen beforehand with pre-icer { never used it but it's about same price as de-icer}. Someone said it can ruin paintwork..it won't cause it's a different type of anti-freeze from the type that's put in your engine.

Answer 9

Are you boiling the kettle to get the hot water? Did you know the water out the hot tap works just as good.
It is much more environmentally friendly and keeps your fingers warm too. Recycle a plastic water bottle, chuck warm water all over the windows and keep the bottle in the car afterwards.
You know it makes sense.

Answer 10

buy some anti freeze spray to spray directly onto the ice it melts the ice instantly, it cost about a pound for 5 applications you can buy it from any supermarket or garage. I use it every morning when theres ice on the windows it never fails.

Answer 11

You can get a DE icer for the windows you spray on the ice and it melts it off just spray your window screen and then clean with the wipers and off you go works a treat and isn't that expensive a couple of Quid from halfords!