Watching my neighbour tediously scraping the ice off her car windscreen recently, I wondered again why more people don’t use water to melt the ice. Now I don’t mean boiling a kettle and splashing very hot water onto cold glass. For years now I have used tepid water for the purpose. It may be necessary to use copious amounts of tepid water if the temperature is very low, and this can mean that the drive can become a bit of an ice rink, which is a slight disadvantage. I haven’t cracked a windscreen yet and have had the benefit of a warm windscreen which doesn’t mist up dangerously in the period before the heater becomes effective. Anyone else do this?
As you say, the water ends up somewhere.
I have to do it to the drivers window on a car with “frameless” windows where the window has to come down 10 mm out of the roof seal to allow the door to open/close.
Scraping windscreens has never bothered me and with AC the windscreen doesn’t most up for more than 30 seconds even when the engine is cold.
Mainly we use our Leaf EV these days which runs its heat pump over the charge cable to defrost, demist and warm the cabin. Magic.
Interesting! I've always been afeared of cracking the glass! Also living in a block of flats means I would have to carry a bucket of warm water down and back through the corridor and stairs each time, but I'll give it a try
Not sure, however, how my neighbours would react to my spreading ice on the surface of the shared car parking area......
In reply :
BTW isn't it now illegal to leave your engine running whilst the car is stationary? For de icing in winter or AC in summer? It's all to do with air pollution.
I start my van and put the heater on recirculation full heat and full fan blowing up the screen. I then scrape it off and move on to scraping off the wife's car. Only takes a few mins to do the wife's car and its enough to give my van a bit of time to start warming up.
Aye, works well. I now have a cover (10 quid off Amazon) for when the car is too far away for the water option.
I always use the camper van on icy days, and pop out to put the Eberspacher heater on 15 mins before we leave
Icy windsreen you say?
Now where's my ice gear ...
Only if its unattended.
What are icy windscreens?
(Driver of Ford with heated front and rear windscreens :-D )
I spray mine with wd40 prior to it freezing. Any ice slides off. Wd40 is also good for preventing flocks of sparrows on toilet basins.
> It's all to do with air pollution.
It's also about not getting your car stolen.
It's also about not having a driverless car careering around the roads.
It's also bloody annoying...
I park my car with the windscreen pointing South (warmer) whereas all my neighbours have theirs pointing North (colder). Quite often they have icy windscreens and mines either totally clear or much easier to de ice...
Yes I have found a big difference depending on which way I park, south is also downhill which means it is less inclined to hold snow/water.
Engine on, scrape windows then jump in and go. Another trick I have used with cars that took ages for the heaters to warm up is to put a warm/hot water bottle on the dashboard.
I hate de-icer. I'm convinced that as it melts the outside ice it cold the windscreen and freezes solid any moisture on the inside.
> I spray mine with wd40 prior to it freezing. Any ice slides off. Wd40 is also good for preventing flocks of sparrows on toilet basins.
I put WD 40 on the windscreen by accident once after grapping a can in the dark thinking it was de icer. It stayed on for years. So quite effective in some respects.
I remove my windscreen and keep it in the house overnight.
+1 for hot water bottle on the dash. Also use a reflective sheet over the windscreen if I think far enough ahead, and face the car east away from prevailing wind
> +1 for hot water bottle on the dash. Also use a reflective sheet over the windscreen if I think far enough ahead, and face the car east away from prevailing wind
Question for the UKC boffins:
Does facing the car away from a prevailing wind mean that the windscreen is less likely to ice up?
Convection. Cold winds draw heat?
I use water only too. No additional polluting the ground. I use about 2L of water at ~30C.
Added bonus that is cleans the dirt of the back windscreen.
Leaving you car running unattended is only an offence if the car is on a public road.
Rarely am I on a position where I can't wait the 5mins it takes my car to defrost the windscreen. I seldom bother with scraping and I can't stand the smell of de-icer.
Keeping the windscreen clean helps a fair bit to reducing the degree of frosting.
> In reply :
> BTW isn't it now illegal to leave your engine running whilst the car is stationary? For de icing in winter or AC in summer? It's all to do with air pollution.
LOL. Over here we have the ability to start cars remotely so's they are warm when we get to them.
BTW, I always used water when I was in the UK and never lost a windscreen.
> I use about 2L of water at ~30C.
Just so. Why else do you think God wakes you up each morning with a full bladder?
Always wondered why you had two big dents on your car bonnet.
I have never come across anyone with a cracked windscreen from pouring water on it but if I use water to defrost then I use it cold just in case. I presume it's the rapid temperature change so using warm/tepid water is bound to be more of a risk. I normally put the pre-heater on for about 20 minutes then run the engine till the blowers have cleared the screens. I don't think running an old diesel from cold is any better for the environment than letting it warm up first.
Yep. I use water from the hot tap, which is hot (you wouldn't want to submerge your hand in it and keep it there). Been doing the same for decades and never come close to breaking the windscreen.
Much easier to just cover the windscreen overnight. I do know people who have managed to shatter their windows pouring water on.
I have the benefit of a drive way. Toady I put a fan heater in the car for 5-6 minutes before I went between the front seats on the console. Warm interior, no misting and the ice just melted off all the windows and the screen. Highly recommended. Easier than the hot water and a lovely toasty interior.
a 'rubbish' vacuum flask in the car overnight filled with boiling water helps in winter if you are camping or away..
I've had a screen 'sheet' in the past, but am now trying a cheap camping mat from Wilko... as I can;t find the sheet...
>"Watching my neighbour tediously scraping the ice off her car windscreen"
A simple but effective solution is duct tape your phone to the inside of the windscreen then simply clean the a tiny area of the windscreed around the phones camera lens. One can then use the phone's camera to see a clear view of the road ahead for the five or so minutes it takes for the car to defrost.
> Question for the UKC boffins:
> Does facing the car away from a prevailing wind mean that the windscreen is less likely to ice up?
It "feels like it does". Can't explain the science, may just be a placebo
Or indeed more likely, on the basis that the moving air is less likely than still, cold air to freeze up?
> A simple but effective solution is duct tape your phone to the inside of the windscreen then simply clean the a tiny area of the windscreed around the phones camera lens. One can then use the phone's camera to see a clear view of the road ahead for the five or so minutes it takes for the car to defrost.
While I would like to think that nobody would be so stupid and lazy to do this, I suspect that there are those who would see nothing untoward with it (not you, JLS, obviously).
About 20 years ago I knew somebody who jumped into a vehicle with an iced-up windscreen and just lowered the driver's door window and stuck his head out and drove along - this wasn't on a public road and it was only for a fairly short distance but still...
> The downside is that if it's very cold you just form a new, nice, thin layer of ice from the water you've poured on.
Just put more water on. There's enough heat in even tepid water to do the job unless the temps are very extreme.
It isn't recommended to put your engine on and leave it ticking over in a cold state. Creates a lot of unnecessary wear.
> I have the benefit of a drive way. Toady I put a fan heater in the car for 5-6 minutes before I went between the front seats on the console.
Doesn't sound less trouble to me.
> a 'rubbish' vacuum flask in the car overnight filled with boiling water helps in winter if you are camping or away..
Second that
> I've had a screen 'sheet' in the past, but am now trying a cheap camping mat from Wilko... as I can;t find the sheet...
Sorry, I'm completely out of cheap camping mats.
> I've had a screen 'sheet' in the past, but am now trying a cheap camping mat from Wilko... as I can;t find the sheet...
Let us know how hard it is to remove the camping mat once it has frozen onto a windscreen If it absorbs moisture then it might well do that
Top tip!
> Toady I put a fan heater in the car for 5-6 minutes before I went between the front seats on the console.
Why did you go between the front seats?
Couple of litres of luke warm water clears all my windows on all but the coldest of days when it'll re-freeze instantly.
I've no idea why electrically heated screens like Fords have haven't caught on. I assumed they were under patent so too expensive to licence but that can't still be the case, Ford's version is 20+ year old. They're brilliant, clear of mist and ice in 30 seconds from start without having to scrape, throw water or put up with a roaring blower motor and hot dry eyes.
jk
Its foil backed, but yes, I'll see how it goes If may be a (dance) disaahster (dahling)
Agoraphobia
I have pterygium, so not having the car blower on full is a bonus of heating the interior and then taking the heater out.
Tepid water works too... At the expense of an ice rink on the sloping drive...
> I've no idea why electrically heated screens like Fords have haven't caught on. I assumed they were under patent so too expensive to licence but that can't still be the case, Ford's version is 20+ year old. They're brilliant, clear of mist and ice in 30 seconds from start without having to scrape, throw water or put up with a roaring blower motor and hot dry eyes.
> jk
They were irritatingly visible to me.
You're going to have to start the engine at some point,
> Leaving you car running unattended is only an offence if the car is on a public road.
I can start mine from my phone.
I could see them but a mucky screen has never much bothered me. I actually quite liked the psychedelic shimmer you got driving through colourful city lights.
Jk
Water on the screen this morning. Did the trick nicely.
I am trying the water next time.
There is also an element of advertising and peer pressure in conditioning folk to buy unneccesary products when simpler cheaper options are available.
> About 20 years ago I knew somebody who jumped into a vehicle with an iced-up windscreen and just lowered the driver's door window and stuck his head out and drove along - this wasn't on a public road and it was only for a fairly short distance but still...
Was it an oldish chap near Sandringham?
I'm aware of the filaments if I'm driving in fog, but I'm able to look straight through them because I'm focusing on the road - they don't bother me at all, and having the heated front windscreen was one of the things that sent me back for another Fiesta when the last one got nicked.
Driving a cold engine is much worse than letting it warm up on tickover.
> There is also an element of advertising and peer pressure in conditioning folk to buy unneccesary products when simpler cheaper options are available.
This was also in my mind when writing the OP. Not sure if de-icer represents a pollution risk.
Interesting. I have always gone with the advice of the guy who serviced my cars for many years who said just the opposite. Start the engine, drive off gently and get the engine to working temperature as soon as possible. I'm no engineer, but no doubt there are some on this site?
Greggs reusable cup filled with hot water (not boiling) as I leave the house. Pour water through little drink hole over windscreen, sides and rear window. Ensure you jump straight into car and fire it up to work wipers so water doesn’t re freeze. Takes about 10seconds to thaw car. No wasted fuel, no increased emissions and no theft risk.
Even the fords with their heater elements are having to wait, regardless of what they claim.
> I spray mine with wd40 prior to it freezing. Any ice slides off. Wd40 is also good for preventing flocks of sparrows on toilet basins.
Why would you get flocks of sparrows on a toilet basin or is this some sort of expression that I've not heard of before?? Not even sure what a toilet basin is..............
> Driving a cold engine is much worse than letting it warm up on tickover.
Not according to my car's manual, in which it's specifically started not to warm up the engine on tick over.
I use a 1kW fan heater inside the car, powered by an extension lead through the letter box.
It take about five minutes, and has the advantage of leaving the screen dry and warm, and also warms the inside of the car a bit too.
Obviously not much good if you have to park the car on the road, or half way up the street, but we have a drive.
> I use a 1kW fan heater inside the car, powered by an extension lead through the letter box.
Hope it's good and stable, 'cos if it fell over it could melt you car seats!
> Hope it's good and stable, 'cos if it fell over it could melt you car seats!
It the right size to get wedged between the two front seats and can even be directed up and down to suit.
I really hope Rog that we do not see a thread, "How to cope with a broken wrist" in a couple of weeks, beacuse you have slipped on your arse on your ice rink.
Buy a windscreen cover, about £4 from Aldi or £78 from Booths
> (Driver of Ford with heated front and rear windscreens :-D )
Yes, there are days when I miss my Focus...
I've got an anti-rain treatment on the windows of my car, so very little water stays on to freeze and what is there comes off pretty easily, mostly with just a squeegee rather than a scraper.
I've got a cover I put on my wife's car, as I haven't got round to doing those windows yet...
Anti-freeze is one of my pet hates - it's un-necessary use of chemicals by lazy people, IMO.
> Echo!
> ( )
Sorry han't seen you post, would have saved me typing if I had
Great minds and all that eh?
I haven't had to do it much this year, but last year it got some use.
Another useful option, if you can is to park with the screen facing the sun, not everyone can do that, and obviously the sun's not always out, but if it is even if it's very low it soon melts the ice.
I can either park in the open or under a low hanging, out of control leylandii hedge.
Guess which option is frost free.
> Why would you get flocks of sparrows on a toilet basin or is this some sort of expression that I've not heard of before?? Not even sure what a toilet basin is..............
Toilet bowl sorry. Flocks of sparrows are a Type 6-7 stool.
> Another useful option, if you can is to park with the screen facing the sun....
Another thing to add to the list of 'must haves' for when I buy my next house - east facing driveway.
It also appears that you are breaking the law if you don't remove snow from your car before setting off. And I don't just mean the windscreen, but the roof and bonnet too.
No, otherwise you'd have to turn it off at every red light or traffic jam. It is illegal to leave your engine running in an unattended vehicle (ie, no one sitting in the drivers seat).
> Another thing to add to the list of 'must haves' for when I buy my next house - east facing driveway.
Without obstruction from trees or other houses obviously
The Daily Mail isn't completely useless after all! (unless this is fake news.....)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6636947/A-savvy-motorist-reveale...
Keeping the water in a bag solves the problem of water on the floor giving a slip hazard too.
More plastic waste
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