How do you defrost your windscreen?

[waynne]

What do you use to get the frost off your windscreen? I used a plastic scraper until I found that it was scratching the glass. I have a friend who uses a credit card but I dont want to stuff up my card cos I use it a lot.

[pgarner]

normally use a plastic scraper but here the thing i use the rubber strip

have you got a libary card or something similer ?

[HDi fun]

Plastic lemonade bottle with tap water and a can of cheap 'n' nasty tesco de-icer spray. I hate Tesco groceries and the fresh meat is plain horrible but I'm happy to use de-icer from there.

[blacklineninja]

When you get home at night after using your car for the last time, open the windows and let the car take in the cold air for 5 minutes.

When you return to the car in the morning your windows will only have a minimal amount of frosting. It will be bl**dy cold though!

[waynne]

I use lukewarm water - it stops it refreezing and you dont get the ice on the inside that you tend to get with de-icer sprays.

[BUDZ]

ive used water boiled from the kettle b4 but i have been told not to do that as the glass may crack so i wouldnt advise it as such yet coz its fast i still do it ill pay 1 day im sure

[pgarner]

i used to use the hot water outo the tap , then again at ma mums its pretty much boiling a min after it comes outo the tap, but was told this would crack the window so have sinse stopped but i see alot of people use it

[fingers]

I leave my wipers at full sweep with some big bits of card underneath stopping the frost getting to the glass. Walk out in the morning, remove the card, job done. 8)

[pgarner]

do that at work with a survial blanket but no at hame some c**t would nick it as parked on the street

[HDi fun]

lukewarm tap water is good. Not out of the kettle and hot. I've got one of those heated front windscreen efforts - it works to a point but once you've noticed the wires they are an annoyance year in year out. Every bloody day

[waynne]

I had a monitor with 2 horizontal wires - when I noticed them they really started to annoy me. (It was a 22 inch CRT with aperture grill - it was good but TFT is soo much better.)

So I can sympathize with you HDi - try wearing dark glasses it might help.

[HDi fun]

I reckon the monitor was a Sony Trinitron model. Yes, I agree, those wires are bloody irritating once you've seen 'em.

Fine in a telly (Sony's been making 'em since the mid 1970's) as you sit further away from it.

Those wired windscreen things were originally introduced by Ford as far back as the late 1980's.

They do work very very well indeed but the array of vertical wires is irritating. It's so easy to focus on them mesmerically and then ignore the road completely.

Makes you wonder how safe they really are.

Hopefully someone will create some kind of glass surfacing technology where the whole screen is conductive, thereby removing the fine vertical lines from the screen.

[MR.Lee]

I just run the car for about 10 minutes while I stand in the front room with a nice warm brew 8)

Obviously this requires a spare set of keys to lock the car up while its running.

[pgarner]

well it was minus 4.5 when i went to work this morning very hard frozen and id slept in a bit
so went back to using the warm water in a bottle 15 secs to to the whole car

the wife who left with me took 5 mins to clear her front window

[HDi fun]

Warm water in a squeezy bottle is looking popular. Another thing to do is turn on all your lamps (mains, fogs, the lot). It adds to the electrical load which makes the engine working every so slightly harder. It also defrosts all the lights.

I also turn on rear window demister because it's linked to the door mirror heaters (most are) so they get cleared. Also adds more electric load.

[pgarner]

Originally Posted by HDi

I also turn on rear window demister because it's linked to the door mirror heaters (most are) so they get cleared. Also adds more electric load

i wonder if thats how mines work it says that they are heated but couldnt get them to work
theres nothing in the handbook about them and the civic had them but them were on al the time i think.

[waynne]

On My A3 if you lift the door handle before unlocking it the heated mirrors kick in. They also kick in if the temperature is below 5 degrees - probably the same on your car as well.

[pgarner]

ill give it a try next time its frosty

the mirrrors are the things i always forget about when defrosting

[Pixel]

This shouldn't even be a discussion

Boil the kettle for 30 seconds until the water is lukewarm and pour it over the glass, the ice melts in seconds leaving the windows clear as day. I usually stick the heaters on when the car has warmed up to sort out the inside. And lukewarm water will not crack the glass, boiling water probably wont either but it has happened before so don't take the risk.

[wyze]

30 seconds is all my kettle takes to boil the water so that would be too hot. Cold water from the tap does the job fine to me. Its over 0 degrees so will melt the ice. If you use enough it doesnt refreeze either.

[gendox]

the rumor is in older cars the window will crack with boiling water newer cars i dont think so but my rover windscreen cracked when i pored boiling water over it last year that was a 1997 haha gutted

[waynne]

I think the laws of physics say any thick peiece of glass, laminated or not will crack if you pour boiling water on it.

[gendox]

mine did haha it was chipped in the first place though ???

[Wcnwzrd]

i have to let the truck warm up in the mornings anyways so just turn on the heater to full and let it defrost while i finish getting ready, normally about 10 to 15 min. side mirrors get frosted every so often but hardly use them unless im backing so don't bother me.

[turbonutter69]

Cold water does the job for me if my screen is really icy.