It can be a pain when your car window becomes covered with ice and snow. You have to spend time out in the cold scraping it away. It's even worse if you don't have the right tools to scrape away your windshield. However, there are right and wrong ways to clean off your windshield that may be ineffective or may even lead to your windshield becoming damaged.
Water
Do not try to remove the ice by pouring hot water on the windshield. Best case scenario is this will actually create more ice and make the situation worse. Worst case is the shock of the hot water on the cold window will cause the glass to crack. The hot water won't stay hot long enough to melt the ice and the cold outside weather will freeze it.
Salt
Never use salt to remove ice from your car windshield. The salt is hard on a road surface itself and is definitely hard on a car's paint job. Also, you'll get the road salt everywhere.
Windshield Wipers
Do not try to remove ice or salt from your windshield using the windshield wipers. They are ineffective at removing ice and you might also damage the blades, making them less effective at removing water from your windshield.
Hard Objects
Whatever material you use to scrape the windshield, make sure it's made from plastic or brass. Use a device that is designed specifically for removing ice or if you're desperate, use a credit card. Just make sure to wear gloves so you don't make your hands too cold.
Brass is the one type of metal that won't scratch your windshield. It's ideal for those who live in very cold climates where the ice is too tough for plastic to cut through. Don't ruin your windshield by using any other type of metal. For example, do not use a spatula, key, metal shovel or a metal hair clip to remove ice and snow. However, it is a good idea to keep a plastic shovel in your car to remove heavy snow and help dig your car out.
Portable Heaters
Do not use a portable heater to warm up the windshield. Warming up your car is enough to help heat and melt the ice and using a portable heater can be dangerous. You won't get much benefit from this approach either.
If you do damage your windshield, visit a windshield repair shop as soon as possible. If you don't repair your windshield, a small chip might turn into a more serious crack and may force you to replace your windshield.
Share23 January 2019
After moving into a house with loads of windows, I knew that I would be spending a lot of time dealing with the problem. I wanted to make things right, so I started thinking about how to clean glass more effectively. I started focusing on keeping water from spraying on the windows, and then I worked on making sure that the glass stayed polished all of the time. I even hired a few of my kids to shine the windows periodically, which I felt really helped. This website is your new resource for all things glass, including how to keep them clean.