You’re already five minutes late, you step outside, and your windshield is covered in a sheet of ice that looks like it belongs on a hockey rink. Your first instinct is to crank the heat, blast the defroster, and wait 15 minutes while your gas money literally disappears into thin air.
But you don’t have 15 minutes, and you shouldn’t have to spend your morning shivering in a cold car. There are better ways to get moving that don’t involve scratching your glass with a credit card or pouring boiling water on the window—which, by the way, is a great way to shatter your windshield and land a massive repair bill.
Here’s how to clear the ice and get on the road without the drama.
1. The homemade spray solution
Forget the pricey de-icer sprays at the gas station. You can make a more effective version at home for pennies. Mix two parts rubbing alcohol with one part room-temperature water in a spray bottle.
Because rubbing alcohol has a much lower freezing point than water, it melts ice almost instantly on contact. Keep a bottle in your car or by the front door, give the glass a few squirts, and watch the ice turn to slush.
2. Use the “low-and-slow” sun visor trick
Here’s a tip most people ignore: when you turn on your car’s defroster, flip both of your sun visors down. It sounds weird, but it works. The visors help trap the warm air against the glass instead of letting it circulate back into the cabin.
This creates a pocket of heat that speeds up the melting process. It’s a simple physics hack that costs zero dollars. If you’re dealing with condensation on the inside, make sure you know the best way to defog your windshield too.
3. The vinegar preventative
If you know a freeze is coming, you can stop the ice before it even forms. Mix three parts white distilled vinegar with one part water and spray it on your windows the night before.
The acidity in the vinegar prevents water from frosting over on the glass. Just don’t go overboard; vinegar isn’t great for your car’s paint, so try to keep the spray focused on the glass.
4. Cover it up
If you want to be the person who just peels the ice away and drives off, grab an old towel or a piece of cardboard. Lay it across the windshield at night and secure it with your wiper blades. In the morning, you just lift the cover—along with all the ice and snow—and then toss the cover in the trunk or garage.
If you use a towel, just make sure you don’t leave it on there for days, or it might eventually freeze to the glass itself.
5. Don’t forget the side mirrors
It’s easy to focus on the windshield and forget that you actually need to see the lanes next to you.
A quick fix for side mirrors is to cover them with gallon-sized Ziploc bags the night before. Use a rubber band to keep them snug. When you pull the bags off in the morning, the mirrors will be crystal clear.
For more cold-weather strategies, check out 10 blizzard-proof ways to save big this winter.