How to Remove Ice from Your Windscreen in Winter

When winter bites across the country, drivers without a garage often face the same extra chore each morning: clearing the ice that has built up overnight on the windscreen.

With the clock ticking, it’s common to resort to desperate tactics - switching the wipers on repeatedly, emptying the windscreen washer reservoir in an attempt to melt the ice, turning on the front demister, or using those trusty plastic cards from your wallet to scrape the glass.

Yes, I know some cars have heated windscreen washer jets to make this job easier, and others (such as Skoda models) even come with their own ice scraper. But what about everyone else who doesn’t have those “luxuries”? The tips in this article are for you.

Common morning habits that don’t help

Trying to force the wipers to move over a frozen windscreen rarely saves time, and relying on the washer jets to do all the work can quickly drain the washer fluid without actually clearing the ice effectively.

Scraping with bank cards, credit cards and similar plastic may feel like a quick fix, but you’ll end up with freezing hands in no time - and there’s also a real chance you’ll damage the cards and render them useless for what they were designed to do.

Hot water? No thanks

Before we get into what does work, it’s worth repeating what you should never do in this situation: do not pour hot water onto your car’s windscreen to melt the ice.

If you do, the glass can crack because of the sudden temperature change. When the hot water hits the outside surface, that outer layer warms up and tends to expand, while the inside of the windscreen stays cold and contracted. That “clash of intentions” can be enough to make the windscreen split.

Preventing windscreen ice overnight

Once you know what to avoid, it becomes easier to focus on steps that prevent the problem in the first place. One straightforward option is a windscreen cover fitted over the glass to stop ice forming.

The catch? Because it sits on the outside, “friends of other people’s things” might take an interest in it.

Another idea is to prepare the windscreen the evening before by rubbing a peeled potato over the glass. It sounds silly, but apparently the starch can make ice easier to remove - and may even stop it building up on the windscreen altogether.

Hand sanitiser gel: effective against pandemics and more

A Facebook post from the Guarda Nacional Republicana recommends mixing either water and alcohol (two parts water to one part alcohol) or water and vinegar (three parts water to one part vinegar). Sprayed onto the ice on the windscreen, these solutions help dissolve it so the wipers can then clear it away more easily. But be careful: don’t pour alcohol or vinegar into the windscreen washer reservoir.

Hand sanitiser gel - an unavoidable companion in daily life over the last year - can also lend a hand in the “fight” against windscreen ice. The downside is that, while it helps break down the ice, it can also leave the glass dirty.

Finally, to speed things up overall, think about where you park and try to position the car so it faces the direction of the first morning sun. That simple parking choice can save you a few minutes every day.