The £1.50 kitchen cupboard essential everyone should keep in their BOOT to defrost their car windscreen in seconds
KEEPING a simple £1.50 cupboard essential in your car boot could allow you to defrost your windscreen in seconds, drivers have been told.
This week has seen bone-chilling temperatures in the UK – with temperatures as low as -11C and numerous warnings about dangerous driving conditions by the Met Office.
So motorists will no doubt be looking for ways to defrost their windscreens quickly and safely.
A simple spray bottle, which can be purchased cheaply from outlets like Superdrug, can do the trick.
Simply make a solution of about 150ml of rubbing alcohol – which can be picked up online for about 20p – and about 80ml of water.
Then, pour this mixture in the bottle and store it in your car boot until the time comes to defrost your windscreen.
Crucially, the rubbing alcohol – which has a freezing point of -89C – will stop the mixture from going solid, even in chilly conditions like a car boot.
So it’ll be ready to go in even the most extreme of frosts.
Lightly spray the liquid onto your windscreen or windows, leave it for a few seconds, and then use a scraper to clear away the ice.
The hack has been mentioned by various motoring experts, including on the Glass Doctor website.
In the blog post, the expert said: “Start from the top and work your way down, making sure to clear the entire window for maximum visibility.”
In the same post, the expert also advised drivers on how to clear condensation from the inside of their cars after a frost.
They recommended first cranking the heating, to absorb excess moisture from the vehicle.
However, if you live in a humid climate, it might be more beneficial to turn on the air conditioning, as this will help dry out the air, according to the expert.
They also noted that cracking a window can be helpful as it means the humid air inside the car is replaced with drier air from outside it.
The handy trick comes after The Sun revealed a list of other cheap tips and tricks for defrosting your windscreen after a frost.
However, be sure to avoid one de-icing “hack” that is prevalent on social media.
Some drivers have been advising pouring boiling water from your kettle over the windscreen to bust the ice in seconds.
But if you try this, it might not just be the ice your busting.
When glass, like most solid items, gets very cold it contracts slightly before expanding again when its warm.
If you heat it too rapidly, by hitting it with boiling water for instance, this expansion happens too fast and can lead to chips and cracks or, in worst case scenarios, the whole pane shattering.
Not only is this expensive to repair, it’s also very dangerous so definitely steer clear of this one.
Other ways to defrost your windscreen
- The bag method
Run some water from a warm (but not hot) tap into a sealable plastic bag.
You can then rub this gently across the frozen glass, heating the ice and causing it to melt.
Just make sure that the water isn’t too warm for reasons we’ll explain down below.
- Use an ice scraper from Halfords
Halfords is selling a super-affordable gadget that is the Ferrari Enzo to the average ice scraper’s VW Beetle.
The 3-in-1 squeegee and scraper includes a plastic head to clear ice, a rubber blade to wipe away excess water and a foam strip to dry the glass and prevent re-freezing.
You can get all that for just £1.79.
And if that doesn’t feel worth it, a similar tool is on sale at B&M right now for just £1.
- Cover your windscreen
This prevents water from condensing on the glass so it won’t freeze up.
Halfords sells a specially-designed, weighted cover for just £5.
Or, if it’s not going to be too windy, you can drape anything from a blanket to an old curtain over the pane for the same effect.
Just make sure that your cover is dry before putting it out or the moisture could seep through and render it less effective.
- Use kitchen essentials
Another preventative measure is to use any number of kitchen essentials to coat the glass.
You can use anything from a potato to an onion to a lemon, as well as white vinegar.
Simply slice up your chosen vegetable and rub it on the windscreen (or spray it if using vinegar).
This works on a similar principle to the rubbing alcohol with the starch of the potato and onion or the acidity of the lemon/vinegar serving to alter the freezing point of the water.
Rubbing on the night before will form a protective layer across the windscreen and reduce the amount of frost that forms overnight.