car in winter. Ice scraper or deicer? What to do with a frozen castle?
In winter, many motorists are faced with a dilemma - to clean the windows from ice or use de-icer? Which solution is safer and which is faster?
In accordance with paragraph 66 of article 1.4 of the Road Traffic Law, a vehicle used in road traffic must be designed, equipped and maintained in such a way that its use provides the driver with sufficient visibility and easy, convenient and safe use. steering and braking devices, signaling and lighting of the road when observing it. If the police stop an untrained vehicle, the driver can be fined.
Car snow removal
After a snowfall, the car body must be covered with snow. A homemade brush is enough for this, but in practice, car brushes turn out to be more convenient - they have a longer handle, which makes it easier to clean snow from the roof and hood. Do not hit the hard parts of the brush on the body during operation. This may cause scratches or chips in the paint.
Snow and ice must be cleared not only from the entire windshield, but also from the side and rear windows. All of them are important, especially when maneuvering and rebuilding. It is worth using the rear window heating function and - if it is in our car - windshield heating. Don't forget about snow removal from the lanterns.
Scraping windows
There are two ways to clean car windows from snow or ice:
- scraping
- defrost.
The safest solution is to pre-spray the windows with defroster, and after a few seconds or minutes (in the case of a thicker layer of ice), scrape off the dissolved ice with a scraper.
Glass scraping - advantages
* The presence of scrapers. We can get window scrapers everywhere. In every auto accessories store or hypermarket there are several types of scrapers on the shelves: smaller, larger, complete with a brush, in a warm glove. We do not recommend scratching the ice with an ATM card - this is inefficient and, most importantly, impractical, because the card is easily damaged.
* Price. Ordinary window scrapers are sometimes added to other products, such as oil, working fluids, etc. When bought in bulk, they usually cost between PLN 2 and 5. Together with a brush or a glove, the price is about PLN 12-15.
* Durability. As long as the plastic on the back is not cracked or damaged, the scraper will easily serve us all winter. You do not have to worry that it will suddenly wear out and there will be nothing to clean the windows.
* Time. The scraper will not allow you to quickly remove a thick layer of ice. However, the scraping effect is not affected by strong winds, which prevent the defrosters from spraying.
Glass scraping - disadvantages
* Damage to seals. Be careful when removing ice around seals. Driving over them with great force with the sharp edge of the scraper may cause damage.
* Possibility to scratch the glass. Theoretically, a plastic scraper should not cause harm, but professionals advise caution. There is a risk of scratches on the glass, a small pebble is enough to get under the scraper. Most often, we keep the scraper in the side compartment or trunk, where it is not always clean and sand can very easily scratch the glass surface. Therefore, before cleaning the glass, we must first clean the scraper.
* Possible damage to the wipers. Rushing window cleaning will not remove all the ice. Running the wipers on uneven surfaces will wear the blades faster.
* Trouble. Cleaning windows thoroughly with an ice scraper can sometimes take several minutes and require some effort.
