Winter Season Guide

How to Prevent Ice from Forming on Your Windshield

Updated January 21, 2019

How Can You Prevent an Icy Windshield?

If you live in an area that is prone to intense bursts of cold weather, then you are surely no stranger to how annoying it is to wake up in the morning and find that your windshield has totally frozen over in the middle of the night. This can make people late to work, cause car accidents, and just generally be a nuisance to try and clean off.

That is why it is a good idea to try and prevent it from even happening in the first place. Although we mere humans are incapable of controlling the weather, there are a couple of relatively simple steps we can take to prevent this from happening to our windshields at the end of each day, some of which we’ll go over right now.

Start With a Vinegar Solution to Prevent Ice

One of the simplest ways to prevent your car from having an icy windshield from forming on it overnight is to spray down your windshield with a vinegar-based spray of some sort. If you’re not inclined to purchase a pre-made solution and instead would like to make one yourself, you can do so by simply combining a couple of parts of vinegar and half the amount of parts of that amount of water into a spray bottle of your choice.

Once you have successfully made your vinegar solution in your spray bottle, take it outside and spray it on your windshield, side windows, rear window, and side mirrors. The solution will dissolve immediately upon being sprayed on your car, so you can use the windshield wipers to help you spread it around to help prevent ice from forming on your windshield.

Afterwards, be sure to wipe your windows down with a cleaning rag to be sure that your car is not coated in vinegar afterwards, as that will leave an unpleasant smell on the outside of your car for a period of time.

Also, it is important to keep in mind that under no circumstances should you ever use hot water on any of the glass on the outside of your car, especially your windshield. It is very sensitive to sudden changes in temperature, and if you suddenly coat it with hot water, it is likely to shatter, which could cause you injuries and unnecessary repair bills.

You Can Use Alternative Types of Mixtures as Well

If you are averse to using a vinegar solution for any reason – maybe you are allergic to vinegar, or maybe you just can’t stand the smell of it – there are a number of different options which are also available to you.

You can use the previously given recipe but substitute the vinegar for rubbing alcohol, which works just as effectively, or also use a saline solution made from saltwater as well. Both of these substances will have a similar effect as the vinegar, but you may find that you prefer one solution over another for whatever reason, so experiment until you find one that works for you.

Using an Onion Will Also Help Prevent Windshield Frost

As strange as this next piece of advice might sound, it is completely true – if you really want to, you can go completely natural in your quest to keep your car windshield from turning into a frozen tundra. The way to do this is by chopping a raw onion in half and rubbing it thoroughly all over your windshield and windows, if you so choose. No one is one hundred percent certain about why this works as well as it does, but it seems to have to do with the naturally occurring chemicals in the oil of the onion.

You Can Also Just Use a Windshield Cover

Sometimes, the path of least resistance is the one that is worth taking, and when you are trying to prevent your windshield from icing up overnight, that is probably not a bad idea at all. One of the simplest ways around this problem is to just buy a windshield cover that will fit your car in the first place.

There are a whole plethora of options to choose from all over the internet, so do a little research until you find a size and style that seems right to you and that will fit your car comfortably.

You Can Improvise if You Don’t Have a Windshield Cover

In the event that you don’t have a windshield cover, there are several other car-related items that you can use in its place as well. These include car mats and car carpets, but any type of large padded surface will really work in this instance. If you are feeling particularly thrifty, you can every try to use an old table cloth or particularly large towel as well.