The best way to de-ice your car as temperatures plummet

KentOnline / KMTV

Social media is full of innovative solutions to de-ice a vehicle in record time, from using boiling water, to rubbing an onion in a preventative measure.  Meghan Shaw reports.

Transcript

00:00Boiling water, toothpaste and even onions?

00:04No, it's not my shopping list.

00:06It's the latest tips and tricks to de-ice your car in record time.

00:10But are any of these safe?

00:12And as the first hint of snow this winter grazed Kent last night,

00:16how are the people of Rochester clearing their windscreens off snow?

00:20Just put the haters on for a couple of minutes.

00:22Done it. It's good enough for me.

00:24Use de-icer. The only way is just a bunch and bunch of de-icer,

00:27and then when that runs out, I have to get more all the time.

00:29I use my ice scraper. Standard.

00:32De-icer. You could use a scrape but de-icer the easiest way.

00:36The cold weather catches about surprising if you haven't got your de-icer and all that.

00:40This much hot water, the rest cold water, and pour it over the windscreen,

00:44it also works a treat.

00:46Turns out the simplest method is in fact the best.

00:49The ice moves away from the windscreen quite easily

00:52and there's also no risk of the windscreen being scraped or even cracked

00:57as other methods might pause.

01:00Generally we say to ignore all these trends that you see on social media.

01:04Using hot water can cause thermal shock which makes your windscreen crack

01:08and obviously if you need to get somewhere in a timely manner it just won't happen.

01:12So what we say is just a general de-icer and a normal scraper.

01:17These are the two best things that you can use to de-ice your car as well as just warming it up.

01:21If you're in a private location some people can have their cars running

01:25but not everyone can do this with their cars on the roadside.

01:28So what we say is if you can be with your car have it running and turn your heaters up

01:32just to mist the windows properly.

01:35But if you don't have ten minutes to spare each morning making sure your car is road safe

01:41experts suggest preventing ice from building up in the first place.

01:45If you know it's going to be freezing in the night there's a couple of things that you can do.

01:49The one important one is if you've got an old blanket or even a windscreen protector for the frosty nights

01:56if you put these on your windscreen overnight and put it in your door and close your door

02:01these will stay away from any high winds that come they will stay on your car.

02:05A lot of people say use cardboard but that can then get blown off your car into maybe a pedestrian

02:10or cyclist in the road and create injury.

02:13So if you can use these light items that the door holds can stay and you can just peel them off in the morning

02:18your windscreen will be nice and clear and then it's just about warming the cab up for you and your passengers.

02:23And with more snow forecasted over next week remember to heat it, scrape it and keep vegetables away from it.

02:31Megan Shaw for KMTV in Medway.

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