With the winter months rolling in, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council have released some cheap and easy, eco-friendly ways to de-ice your car without damaging your vehicle.

Basingstoke Gazette:

  1. Invest in a windscreen cover.

They cost between £2.00 - £10.00 online and are a life saver in the mornings. Put one of these on the night before to prevent ice from forming on the windscreen and save those precious moments in bed rather than scraping ice off the front of your car.

Basingstoke Gazette:

2. Make your own de-icer

You can make your own de-icer with things you can find in your cupboard which will de-freeze your car without needing to spend a penny on the bottles in the stores. A mixture of 3-parts vinegar to 1-part water sprayed on the windscreen will clear up the ice without the toxic fumes from branded companies.  

Basingstoke Gazette:

3.DON’T pour boiling water onto frozen car windows

By pouring hot water over your car you risk damaging the paintwork and melting the protective wax layer in the paint which can be expensive to correct. The sudden change of temperature can crack or shatter the glass, costing much more money than taking the extra time to defrost the car properly.

Basingstoke Gazette:

4.Only use car-specific scrapers to remove the frost  

Similarly to point three, you should never use anything other than car specific scrapers to remove ice from your windows as you risk scratching the window itself, which in the long run will cost more than the scraper in the garage down the road.