It is that time of year! The holiday season is in full swing: familiar jingles, colorful lights, crackling fireplaces, friendly faces – oh, and frosted windows. Falling temperatures have car owners scouring the Internet for methods to prevent or remove icing from windshields. We spoke with our service department experts to compile a brief list of ways to save you a bit of trouble.
1) Cover it up
To help you remember this tip, think of (uncle) Joey Gladstone from Full House: “Cut-it-out.” Well, you need to take your car and cover-it-up! Yes, we just made a Full House reference.
At night, you can cover your windshield with a piece of cardboard, a sheet, or even a towel. The car’s wiper blades are perfect for holding the bottom half of the cover in place, but you’ll need to set something weighted to keep the top secure. In the morning, simply remove the cover to see your glistening windshield in the morning sun void of snow and ice!
2) Commercial formulas
Okay, we’re going to borrow the tune of a commercial jingle to help you remember this tip. Remember Bagel Bites? Here we go…
Spray it in the morning! Spray it in the evening! Spray it at supper time! When you spray on a deicer, you won’t have ice on your windshield! … Did you sing it?
You can visit any auto store to see a myriad of deicers and ice preventers along an entire shelf, or two. The ice preventers, however, should be sprayed at night to give you the joy of an ice-free morning. If there happens to be any ice accumulation after using one of these products, you’ll find that it is merely a thin layer that easily scrapes off.
3) Homemade deicers
If you prefer to take a Dr. Victor Frankenstein approach, you can piece together your own monster (insert diabolical laugh)! It’s alive! It’s ALIVE! Okay, it’s not alive. It’s a deicer in a spray bottle.
Taking this approach will save you the cost of purchasing a commercial deicer, and they’re easy to make. Simply take a spray bottle, fill it with rubbing alcohol, and put in just a few drops of dish soap. Close the bottle and shake it up to thoroughly mix it. Spray it on your windshield and, after a minute or two, the majority of the ice will be partly melted for easy removal with a scraper.
4) Remote starter
Ah, so you want to know a method that will allow you to sit in your kitchen all warm and toasty while the windshield deices itself? If you don’t have a KITT (yes, a Knight Rider reference) or a Hal 9000 (we are on a roll), you can opt to install a remote starter.
Remote starters usually cost a few hundred dollars, including installation, but you’ll realize its value after the first few uses. From the warmth of your own home, click the button to start your car as you finish your morning routine. In the winter time, you’ll walk out to a car that has been successfully deiced from the defroster, as well as warm inside; in the summertime, you’ll walk out to a car that has been cooled by the A/C. Either way, you’re a winner! Just make sure that you have the appropriate settings chosen the night before.
Since it is that time of year, we at Leith Volkswagen in Cary want to wish you a happy and safe holiday!
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at comment@leithmail.com!
As always, the family at Leith Cars encourages you to…
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