Some say warm water can damage glass, others say modern glass is tougher.
I sometimes use de-icer but it's not very effective. As someone else puts it:
'while the ice initially melts, very soon the volatile liquid evaporates leaving water and, as any schoolchild will tell you, evaporation causes cooling.
So what you get is a short time of melted ice followed by a screen, which is even colder than when you first began, quickly freezing up again!'
Is there a way of predicting if the windscreen will be frozen the next morning? That way I can put the ice blanket up. Is it below 4°c with a clear sky?
Going out 5 minutes early to let the blowers warm up and scraping it off.
It's one of those things there isn't much way around. De-icer helps if it's really caked, but the endothermic nature of the process results in your windscreen misting up on the inside, which is just as much of an arse ache. You have to wait for the air to clear it or else you'll have a streaky windscreen forever.
>>3975 I never had any trouble with warm water. At one point, I was an owl living with a lark, so by the time I was leaving for work, the kettle was warm enough to melt the ice but cool enough to remain liquid and run off the screen, thus dodging the whole misting thing.
Warm water should be fine, I'd just do hot tap water rather than risking it from the kettle.
To be honest though, de-icer always seemed fine for me. That plus a bit of scraping is the fastest way I know, though I do tend to use a quarter of a can of the stuff per go.
You could try one of those windscreen covers that sticks on the outside magnetically, or I've seen Halfords do a 'night before de-icer' spray, which might work.
I have a remote ignition kit on my car, if you have something relatively modern it might be quite a cheap addition - but I'd say that's pretty extreme unless you're a manchild like me who just think's it's cool.
>Is there a way of predicting if the windscreen will be frozen the next morning? That way I can put the ice blanket up. Is it below 4°c with a clear sky?
Check the weather forecast for a frost warning. Bear in mind that frost is notoriously difficult to forecast, so you might still get caught out.
>Is there a way of predicting if the windscreen will be frozen the next morning? That way I can put the ice blanket up. Is it below 4°c with a clear sky?
Is it that much hassle to just do every night anyway? You'll have the added benefit of keeping the windscreen a little cleaner too.
My advice is get one of these scrapers which have a long handle.
It actually makes a huge difference for me in being able to clear my windscreen quickly, just thanks to being able to use 2 hands and get a little weight behind it.
A guy I went to work with used to put clingfilm on the windscreen at night to which the frost would adhere, then just pull it off in the morning before he left for work.
I just used a scraper and de-icer. It doesn't take long. Hot water is useless, it will just cool and freeze to the windscreen.
