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Defrosting your car windscreen – the do’s and don'ts

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14/11/2017

Defrosting your car windscreen – the do’s and don'ts

Hands up who's "enjoyed" the first frost of the winter season! 

Much of the UK has seen sub-zero temperatures in the small hours this week so defrosting your car if you're an early commuter will soon be a daily occurrence.

Whilst you might be lucky enough to have either bought or leased a car with a heated windscreen, many of us will need to tackle scraping off a heavy frost! 

It is so important that you defrost your windscreen thoroughly before you drive off - relying on a tiny window of windscreen to see through is NOT SAFE! 

Also you don't want to damage your windscreen and cause yourself more delays and unwanted cost. 

So, here are Little Green Car Leasing's tips on defrosing your windscreen properly and safely!

Be Prepared

If you know it’s likely to freeze overnight then be prepared!

If you can, park your car in the garage or covered car-port. If you don't have this available consider buying a cover for your windscreen. Some people even cover their entire car but we realise this isn't the most practical of solutions. 

Give yourself extra time - set your alarm 15 minutes early so you aren't rushing.

Use your heating system...here's the best way: 

  • Does your car have heated seats? (If you’re driving a brand new lease car it may well have!) Turn these on.
  • Treat the frozen areas with a De-icer liquid.
  • Turn on the heated rear window if you have one.
  • Start your car and make sure the ventilation system is pointing to the windscreen.
  • Turn up the heater to its highest setting and the blower to half or three quarter setting. If you use power on the fan straight away, the air will be cooling down as it reaches your windscreen.
  • Set the heater to ‘recirculate’ – this will recirculate the interior air instead of bringing in fresh cold air from outside.
  • If you have air-conditioning, make sure you switch this on because the air you circulate will have less condensation in it.
  • Vary the engine revs every 30 seconds or so rather than leaving your vehicle on tick over.
  • As the screen starts to clear, use a proper plastic scraper to remove the ice, flip it and use the rubber blade for a clean finish.  Avoid improvising with credit cards or kitchen utensils - you'll damage your car!

So you've read our top tips...now for some don'ts!

Don’t leave your car running whilst unattended. There have been far too many stories of cars being stolen from driveways whilst their owners left the engine running to clear the frost! That extra cup of tea isn't worth losing your brand new lease car, or any other vehicle for that matter!

Don’t defrost a frozen windscreen with a boiling kettle – the rapid change in temperature can turn any chip or imperfection into a large crack. Room temperature water will do the job just fine.

Don’t use newspaper to protect a windscreen – newspaper will stick to the screen and be more difficult to remove as it thaws than the frost itself.

Don’t run wipers on a frozen windscreen – this will damage the edge of the rubber and may cause your windscreen to streak when you use them in the rain.

Don’t under any circumstances begin your journey with a partly defrosted vehicle. The law requires you to have ‘all round’ unobstructed visibility when driving a vehicle on the highway.

Happy Motoring!

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