Mix your own washer fluid?

The trick is to get the methanol cheaply.

The trouble with R_W_M's formula is that the ammonia will out-gas away unless your WW reservoir is air tight.

Watch out for cheap "Summer Blend" come Winter as your reservoir, pump and other stuff might get destroyed by ice.
 
Originally Posted by Jimzz
Home depot does have their -20 on sale for $1 right now. I have found its good till you hit around 20degrees and worthless below 15. The -20 is when it freezes, not when it does not work well on your windshield.

If you read your owners manual, the manufacturers tell you to use windshield washer fluid only on a defrosted windshield. It'll freeze on your windshield unless you use the stuff that is made for deicing.
 
You can buy methanol in bulk from anyplace that sells racing fuel. Wear gloves and glasses and get an antifreeze tester. Mix the methanol with water and a small amount of liquid soap/ammonia and whatever color dye you desire. Get mixes as low as -50F. Still cheaper to buy -34F for a couple bucks a gallon from walmart.
 
Originally Posted by tony1679
Temporary solution, but I'll stock up. I'll stick them in my deep freeze to test, I've read the -20 rating is a stretch. Worst case it's for the other 3 seasons.

It gets colder here than you likely see in OK and never in my life have I had windshield washer fluid freeze. I buy whatever is on sale at Walmart, auto parts store, or wherever we might be when we think about needing more fluid. Occasionally we'll grab "winter" grade stuff if it's winter when we're buying it. At Walmart, that's all they have on the shelf in the winter other than the Rain-X stuff.

Now I've had the nozzles frozen over but that's not the fluids fault. How did I clear it ? Turn on the washer sprayer for a few seconds to see if it melts it enough to allow flow. If not, stop, let the vehicle continue warming up so the engine's heat helps melt the ice, and try again.
 
Originally Posted by sloinker
You can buy methanol in bulk from anyplace that sells racing fuel. Wear gloves and glasses and get an antifreeze tester. Mix the methanol with water and a small amount of liquid soap/ammonia and whatever color dye you desire. Get mixes as low as -50F. Still cheaper to buy -34F for a couple bucks a gallon from walmart.


In general there's no way to buy methanol cheaper than you can get it in windshield washer fluid. Especially now that Home Depot has it for .98 cents a gallon. I just picked up a couple gallons. Has a metal foil so you could keep it til next year.

The only cheaper way is to dilute it with tap water in the summer when you don't need -20 windshield washer fluid. I can't believe people buy 32F windshield washer fluid in the summer, it's basically water. Like buying bottled water for you car which is basically what it is.
 
StevieC's custom mix:

2 cups isopropyl alcohol 99% (or more if you can't find 99% Iso-Alcohol and then just adjust water below) Or less if you don't live where cold temperatures is a concern.
1 cup white vinegar
3 quarts water
2 Tbsp liquid dish soap (Dawn seems to work best)
5 drops blue food coloring
 
Originally Posted by sloinker
You can buy methanol in bulk from anyplace that sells racing fuel. Wear gloves and glasses and get an antifreeze tester. Mix the methanol with water and a small amount of liquid soap/ammonia and whatever color dye you desire. Get mixes as low as -50F. Still cheaper to buy -34F for a couple bucks a gallon from walmart.

Are you sure the antifreeze tester will work with a methanol mix? It is designed for an ethylene glycol mix and measures solution density.

I test my mixes using my freezer.
 
Do NOT use "Rubbing Alcohol"
31.gif
because it is isopropyl alcohol mixed with a very thin mineral oil, castor oil, diethyl phthalate, and methyl salicylate.

I don't think you want films of oils left on the windshield.
33.gif
 
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I (admittedly) over pay for the rain-x stuff. Helps keep it cleaner, just wish it didn't have that horrid orange color that leaves orange streaks on my nice white car!
 
Originally Posted by MolaKule
Do NOT use "Rubbing Alcohol"
31.gif
because it is isopropyl alcohol mixed with a very thin mineral oil, castor oil, diethyl phthalate, and methyl salicylate.

I don't think you want films of oils left on the windshield.
33.gif



ummmmm.....can you elaborate on this?

is there a difference between "rubbing alcohol" and isopropyl alcohol? because a quick google search isn't telling me much.

i'm looking at and have been using a bottle of "70% isopropyl alcohol" for cleaning random things around the house and i have NOT noticed any kind of oily residue.

also, a LOT of car detailers say that after you compound or polish a car's paint, you should use a 50/50 mixture of isopropyl alcohol (70%-90%) and water to remove any kind of residue/oil from the paint before applying the final layer, aka the wax or sealant.
 
Home brewing washer fluid mix is like trying to fix a disposable lighter or making a feral cat into a inside cat, a total waste of time.

I have been down this road before. Unless you either use distilled water or add enough other chemicals to inhibit it, microbial growth in your washer tank will become a problem. The cheap commercial made stuff does not have this problem because they have the economy of scale to make it cheap and also right.
 
Originally Posted by DirtyOilGuy
Originally Posted by MolaKule
Do NOT use "Rubbing Alcohol"
31.gif
because it is isopropyl alcohol mixed with a very thin mineral oil, castor oil, diethyl phthalate, and methyl salicylate.

I don't think you want films of oils left on the windshield.
33.gif



ummmmm.....can you elaborate on this?

is there a difference between "rubbing alcohol" and isopropyl alcohol? because a quick google search isn't telling me much.

i'm looking at and have been using a bottle of "70% isopropyl alcohol" for cleaning random things around the house and i have NOT noticed any kind of oily residue.

also, a LOT of car detailers say that after you compound or polish a car's paint, you should use a 50/50 mixture of isopropyl alcohol (70%-90%) and water to remove any kind of residue/oil from the paint before applying the final layer, aka the wax or sealant.





You have to check the bottles carefully. Some rubbing alcohol products do contain oils and moisturizers. If you purchase plain isopropyl alcohol then you should be good to go. Always check the label.
 
Probably going to get roasted for this but BMW sells a concentrate for both winter and summer which you dilute with distilled water. The winter formula contains a high percentage of methanol and you can adjust the ratio of water : concentrate to reach whatever temp range you want.
 
Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
Probably going to get roasted for this but BMW sells a concentrate for both winter and summer which you dilute with distilled water. The winter formula contains a high percentage of methanol and you can adjust the ratio of water : concentrate to reach whatever temp range you want.


What's the cost though? You basically can't beat .98 cents for a gallon at Home Depot.

That -20F gallon has about 27-36% methanol.

http://www.thelsxdr.com/methanol-injection-101/

One place sells a pint for about $3.16 which to get a a 36% concentration only yields 3 pints or about 48oz or close to $10 to make a similar gallon, not even factoring in the cost of a distilled gallon of water which is almost $1.

Consider yourself roasted.

Here's one guy that sells 55 gallon drums at $277

http://www.cqconcepts.com/product-category/methanol-99/

So you could get over 150 gallons of windshield washer fluid out of it. But your costs for the methanol alone is still over $1.60 a gallon. Plus you then have over 150 gallons of windshield washer fluid....
 
I only mix my own because it performs better than anything I can buy and it also comes in handy for defrosting the windshield. I get a lot of frost / thin pesky ice thanks to living near the lake. A high alcohol content makes this go away in a hurry.

I also mix my own because the de-icing brine they spray on the roads here is sticky as heck thanks to it containing beet juice and the conventional stuff just doesn't cut it. Literally.

My Homemade Windshield Washer Fluid:

2 cups isopropyl alcohol 99% (or more if you can't find 99% Iso-Alcohol and then just adjust water below) Or less if you don't live where cold temperatures is a concern.
1 cup white vinegar
3 quarts water
2 Tbsp liquid dish soap (Dawn seems to work best)
5-10 drops blue food coloring

I've never had mold or anything else grow in my bottles, my wipers are always squeaky clean and last, and it doesn't harm the paint. It's also a lot better for your health because there is no toxic chemicals like those that are typically found in standard washer fluid. Also better for the environment too.
 
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Originally Posted by dave1251
I just do not get trying to save pennies on fluid which is already cheap.


Yeah, the only way to save any pennies is to add additional water to dilute it when you're not expecting temperatures in the -20 range. I think there's a chart somewhere that mentions the concentration.

For instance I think if you don't expect it to go below zero then you could just double the water in a gallon and two gallons out of that one gallon of windshield washer. That'll save you 98 cents, almost $1!
 
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