Cold weather tips

[NOKNOT]

Have tried some but not all. Its getting that time of year.

Keep your headlights clear with car wax! Just wipe ordinary car wax on
your headlights. It contains special water repellents that will prevent
that messy mixture from accumulating on your lights - lasts 6 weeks.

Squeak-proof your wipers with rubbing alcohol! Wipe the wipers with a
cloth saturated with rubbing alcohol or ammonia. This one trick can make
badly streaking & squeaking wipers change to near perfect silence &
clarity.

Ice-proof your windows with vinegar! Frost on it's way? Just fill a
spray bottle with three parts vinegar to one part water & spritz it on
all your windows at night. In the morning, they'll be clear of icy mess.
Vinegar contains acetic acid, which raises the melting point of
water---preventing water from freezing!

Prevent car doors from freezing shut with cooking spray! Spritz cooking
oil on the rubber seals around car doors & rub it in with a paper towel.
The cooking spray prevents water from melting into the rubber


Fog-proof your windshield with shaving cream! Spray some shaving cream
on the inside of your windshield & wipe if off with paper towels.
Shaving cream has many of the same ingredients found in commercial
defoggers.



De-ice your lock in seconds with hand sanitizer! Just put some hand
sanitizer gel on the key & the lock & the problems solved!

[Pilgrim]

I took my car out a couple of days ago for the first time in a week.
It started first time and it then took an hour to defrost it and move it from where it was.
It was -17°C at the time.

The first idea did not apply as it was daytime.
The second idea is worth knowing but the wiper arms had nearly 2" of solid ice over and around them so it would have made no difference.
The third idea I should have thought of myself.
The fourth idea has a very old alternative, vaseline.
The fifth idea I have never heard of.
The sixth idea no longer applies, central locking.

Very interesting post and useful tips but we must remember that we are in a period of Global Warming!

[NOKNOT]

Guess Im lucky Pilgrim, we are just now starting to hit in the teens as far as cold. After seeing your comment about central locking, it didnt come to mind that most people probably own a newer auto than my 1992 pickup. Oh well maybe Santa might bring me another one this year.

[kiwidave]

Oh to live in the southern hemisphere at this time of the year

[Student26]

Oh to live in the southern hemisphere at this time of the year

All of the sudden seems like a real nice idea.
Unfortunately, I am a dirt poor student so I am stuck where I am. Though I am not complaining because life only gets tougher when you go out into the "real" world and have to have a full time job to support yourself.

If you're warming up a vehicle and had a kid, why not just make him start the engine and wait until it is not a frozen chamber?

That is what my parents made me do. . . everyday

[Pilgrim]

NOKNOT,

My present car is 6 years old and is the first one that I have owned with central locking.
Fortunately central locking has improved since it first came out as I can remember many times when I had to repair broken cables between doors and the main bodywork on other people's cars.

Oh well maybe Santa might bring me another one this year.

He'll need a hell of a big sack.

Oh to live in the southern hemisphere at this time of the year

You mean with the earthquakes and floods?
We have even had a few earthquakes and floods where I live but nothing on the scale that some get.
It seems that wherever you live these days nature is getting its own back for the way we have treated the planet.

Student26,

When we come into this world no-one says it is going to be easy.

I have travelled across most of your country and if the opportunity had presented itself years ago I would have moved to BC, and yes I have been there in the winter.

Have you thought of suing your parents for child abuse?


Just to update my original post.

This morning there is water running off of everything, it has been a bit warmer the last two days but not enough to touch the snow and ice.
Today it is a positively balmy 7°C and the thaw has set in.
Unfortunately the forecast is that by Sunday we will be back below freezing. Oh joy!

[johnshaw1917]

One of the advantages of having a "tuck under" garage for my vehicles, is that it stays pretty warm inside all winter. This is most fortunate, as it rarely gets above freezing all winter long in these parts. Any wind out of the north comes directly from northern Canada, or Siberia.

[NOKNOT]

johnshaw, what part of the good old U.S.A. do you live in? I'm not far from the Smoky Mountains.

[johnshaw1917]

I live in north central MN, so fortunately we have lots of trees to help break the wind a bit.

[jj1two3]

Thanks NOKNOT for the tips, I will try some of them out.