We’ve written a lot of posts here lately to prepare you and your vehicle for winter, and today is no different! Today we’re serving up a few non-traditional, but effective methods to solve your common winter car problems. It involves onions, drinking straws, chalkboard erasers and more! Have we peaked your interest? Good! These fixes all involve household items that you likely already possess. That way, if your car is frozen right now and you quickly Googled how to thaw it, you’ll probably have the necessary items on-hand and can be on your way to work in no time.
Some of the tips below are preventive, but
some also help you if your car is already frozen!
Read on to see how to solve those pesky, but common winter car problems this season.
Auto Glass Winter Problems
One way to prevent ice from forming on your windows is covering them with plastic bags, which you can secure with rubber bands or even clothespins. Then just remove them in the morning and you’ll find your windows ice-free!
If you’re not interested in covering your car windows with a plastic bag every night this winter, you can also wipe the windows and your windshield down with white vinegar (undiluted) once you’re in for the night. It prevents frost build-up!
Better yet, you can also rub a raw onion half on your windshield the night before and that prevents frost build-up as well.
If you don’t want to spend your morning scraping snow off your windshield in the freezing winds, you can put old bath mats or even a plastic tablecloth over your windshield. Then in the morning you just pull it off, shake off the snow, and keep it in your car or garage.
Keep a chalkboard eraser in your car for those mornings when your windshield is foggy. It won’t leave behind smudges either! Of course, you can also roll down a window to let some fresh air in and that can dispel the fog too.
Windshield Wiper Winter Problems
Slide a pair of old socks over your windshield wipers in the evening, so if it rains or snows, you’ll keep them from getting icy!
If you forget to put the socks on your wipers one night, you can unfreeze them by soaking a soft cloth in full-strength rubbing alcohol. Then wipe each blade. This will prevent them from sticking to the windshield as well.
Other Common Winter Car Problems
If you don’t have a key fob to unlock your car door, you may run into trouble with a frozen car door lock. If this happens, heat your key up with a match or lighter, then push the heated key into the lock, gently of course to avoid causing damage, and as you apply gentle pressure, the hot key should melt the ice.
You can also take a drinking straw, place one side over the door lock, and blow in from the other side. Just as the last method, your breath can melt the ice in the lock.
To prevent the lock from freezing you can put Vaseline in it, and then put your key in to make sure the Vaseline gets evenly distributed. Or you can also use WD-40 to prevent the lock from freezing.
You can prevent doors from freezing closed by spraying them with Pam or some other cooking spray in the evening.
Forgot or didn’t know about the cooking spray in time? You can unfreeze your windows by using a hair dryer to melt the ice. You shouldn’t force the door open–it could damage the door seal.
Now you know how to use household items to solve your trickiest winter car problem!
Do you have any extra tips?
Leave them in the comments below.
- Driving with a Cracked Windshield is Dangerous! - November 28, 2019
- Common Causes of Windshield Cracks: What You Need to Know - November 20, 2019
- The Best Road Trip Snacks for Kids - November 20, 2019
