Thawed Out

So, tonight I attended a really awesome Twitter party hosted by MomSpark.net. It was all about prepping your car for winter and it got me thinking. How many of us have to go out to our cars in the early morning hours and scrape through a pretty heavy duty layer of ice/snow? Luckily for us down here in the deep south, we don't get that heavy of an ice covering and we rarely get snow, but it does in fact happen from time to time, and having to stand outside and scrape your windshield when it's 20 something degrees at 5:30 in the morning is absolutely NO fun.

So, I wondered, can I make a homemade deicer? The answer is yes, I can. :D YAY!!! That's surely good news for those of us who need a new drivers license every other year from scraping our windshields with it. And the best part of the whole recipe is, it is SO simple and very cost efficient.

Homemade Windshield Deicer:

2 parts Isopropyl Alcohol (70% or above works the best)

1 part Water

And that's it. Mix the alcohol and water in a spray bottle and get to spraying that dreaded ice. I cheated on testing this. (It's not quite cold enough for ice on my windshield at the moment.) I sprayed the edge of my deep freezer with it, where the thinner patches of ice accumulate, and it loosened it right up and made it extremely simple to brush it away. Now please keep in mind, I live in Georgia so our ice does not get very thick very often, but for you northern people you may have to cut back on the water and add more alcohol to cut through the tougher ice thickness. I wouldn't use straight alcohol though because it could very well eat away at the seal around your windshield.

A few more cold weather tips for drivers:

• If there is ice and snow on the road and you don't absolutely HAVE to go out, stay at home.
• Always have your fluid levels and tires checked BEFORE cold weather hits. Better to be safe than sorry.
• Keep flashlights, blankets and other extras in your car for emergencies.
• Always make sure your cell phone is charged before heading out.
• ALWAYS watch out for other motorists. Just because you know how to drive in ice/snow does NOT mean others do.

Happy DIYing Everyone!!!