Windshield Washer Fluid

[sciphi]

In the winter my car may well be down in the Lowcountry one weekend, then up in the mountains the next. Throw in a long Christmastime trip to NY to visit the family, and plain water or +32* F fluid doesn't work for me. I needed the Rain-X fluid to round out a $25 purchase at Advance to use the $10 coupon, so it worked out nicely. ;-)

Now I'm trying to use up the half-gallon of +32 fluid in the reservoir in the next month. Whatever, it's ensuring my wiper blades don't stay in one position.

 

[Bamaro]

The methanol keeps the fluid from freezing in the tank and tubes. That way when its cold and you spray it on your windshield, especially when moving, it instantly freezes on your windshield as the methanol evaporates.

 

[Drew99GT]

I use the Rain-X stuff. In a heavy downpour just squirt a little on the windshield to boost the Rain-X affect. If I'm going fast enough I don't even have to use the wipers!

 

[Cutehumor]

I never wash my car and If I'm unlucky, there's no squigee things at the gas station. Peak WW fluid from china mart is a must

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I dont understand why anyone would "buy" WW fluid for above freezing temps when you can make it for 2c? At the simplest just a couple DROPS dishwashing liquid in tap water - its good for getting grease off the windshield in the rain and getting a clean swipe. That methanol deicer stuff is BAD in warm climes.

 

[Papa Bear]

"That methanol deicer stuff is BAD in warm climes."

Bad for what ?? .... I use washer antifreeze year-round with no (apparent) problem. Have for nearly 50 yrs.
What's bad is when you live in Canada and forget to drain/refill the reservoir in the fall.

 

[The_Jeff]

I've a stash of around 20 gallons of the blue stuff and about 1.5 gallons of the yellow -25'F prestone/knockoff with, IIRC, urea in it as well.

(What is that magic stuff when methanol won't do?)

Of all the stuff to stash for a winter storm, blue stuff is up there, so one can avoid extortion-level pricing.

 

[jcwit]

The blue stuff works great for frozen drains.

 

[GMFan]

I use the Rain-X orange stuff....10x better than the blue stuff. I have had nightmare experiences driving with the blue stuff on the interstates here where both nozzles froze up while salty mist sprayed onto my windshield. The windshield wipers then did a nice job of evenly making a salty spread on the windshield reducing my visibility to zero.

BTW, in winter I use a 100% concentration...no water is mixed in. Seeing how it is so cheap it isn't worth the risk/frustration of reduced visibility.

Usually in the dead of winter I go through so much de-icer that my car is orange/blue around the windshield with streaks going on the sides of the doors. Especially evident as my car is white.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: GMFan


Usually in the dead of winter I go through so much de-icer that my car is orange/blue around the windshield with streaks going on the sides of the doors. Especially evident as my car is white.


Me too. I've driven through some winters where there's about a cm of grime built up on every surface of my car but the windshield is crystal clear. The rain-x stuff seems to help eliminate any kind of buildup.

 

[Ausfahrt]

The wife and I decided to do a winter vacation over Christmas in Vermont and after landing in Boston we drover to Vermont in our rented Impala during a blizzard. Now, I am 47 years old and have spent my entire adult life in Florida and so this was quite an experience! I was using the wipers and washers continuously on that trip to our rented cabin in the woods of Vermont. It was pitch black when we got there (thanks GPS). The next morning we woke up to a winter wonderland and it was all beautiful except that the lower third of the Impalas windshield was a blue block of solid ice.

I noticed that some of the native New Englanders left their wipers sticking out into the air at night and I copied them lickety split.

We had a great two weeks and then wouldn't you know that we would hit another blizzard on the way back to Boston and this is a pic from I-95!

Sorry if this is off topic but thought some of you might like hearing about our little adventure. I don't know how you guys survive these winters.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
I never use washer fluid. And neither do my parents. If our windshield is dirty to need washer fluid, we just manually clean the window.


It seems the front of your car never gets covered in bug splatter where you are! Here, summer evening highway drives are terrible for that. Plain water just smears the splatter.

 

[Drew99GT]

Try driving across Kansas or Nebraska in June at midnight with no washer fluid. You'd make it about 10 miles before you couldn't see anything from bug splatter.

 

[Drew2000]

During warm weather, I buy the commercial-line Windex or Zep glass cleaner concentrate and dilute per directions (1 gallon makes around 32 gallons of mix) Works great on buggy splatter, and cheap too! (works out to around .40 cents/gallon) I get them at Home Depot.

In winter, either the orange Rain-x or Prestone De-Icer washer fluid.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

My Old Renault Fuego came from the factory with WW fluid that smelled like Dewar's White Label - I wish I could find that stuff ... the WW fluid that is. Just don't get pulled over by the FuZZ after spritzing your windshield at 2 AM.