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Post by ironhold on Jan 4, 2015 3:33:04 GMT
www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/vinegar.aspSome individuals have recommended that a thin mixture of vinegar and water will de-ice the windshield on a car. Others say that you put it on your window to keep it from icing up in the first place. Critics say that vinegar will pit windshields. Other critics say that it might eat paint. Any substance to any of these?
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Post by silverdragon on Jan 4, 2015 13:47:59 GMT
It will de-grease your windshield.
Eat paint?.. only in strong concentrations.
"Weak" solution... no, thats not going to do as much harm as all the other gunk you get hit by on a daily basis.
Spraying a frozen window with water, and spraying a frozen window with water and weak vinegar, I cant see any difference, as they will both have a similar (**to a few points) freezing point, if its minus bloody-hell-thats-cold out there, the water will freeze again anyway.
"Pit" windshields, well, certain housewifes type books used to highly recommend using Vinegar to clean windows, many people still do that, I dont see any damage to normal glass from weak vinegar solution?....
Heck, its sold in bottles.
If it attacked glass, why dont the bottles suffer?...
Clean windows dont ice up as quick.
I have heard that if there is less to grip to, a clean window will stay clearer longer, removing dirt from the window will certainly help prevent ice build up.
Doing that with Vinegar or any other liquid remains to be decided on which is best, but of its washing the window, a proper window cleaner would be better wouldnt it?...
Vinegar on its own will just dry off, run off, and again, below a certain point, its pretty much useless.
**Freezing point of vinegar, stated at as much as minus two degree centigrade.
Freezing point of "weak" vinegar and water solution, therefore, will be a few decimal points different from just water.
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Post by silverdragon on Jan 5, 2015 9:39:21 GMT
[edited post due to overnight conversation at work]
I asked those at work overnight on this, and got the general consensus "Old wives tale".
Some have heard of it.
None would trust it.
As one put it, your in the kitchen, your mixing up a brew to clear the windshield, you are looking at the Vinegar, why are you not looking at the salt?....
If your going to wash the screen with something, a dissolved salt solution would be far better than Vinegar, wouldnt it?...
Others have said they "know someone", but I cant actually find anyone who has used it themselves?...
Or is willing to try...
We all use commercial de-icer, or screen protectors, or both.
Home brew de-icer is just not as good.....
But is anyone can find a possible home brew that is more cost effective?...
One caveat is that as we all are now using NON aerosol pump bottles, the solution must be "green", non polluting, and non poisonous to wildlife.
Or us.
So, in conclusion, although I am ready to rubbish this myth, by stating that acetic acid in Vinegar and a weak solution 1pt store bought vinegar to 3 pts water (as suggested by some) just doesnt have a significant margin over plain tap water or de-ionised water to make it an effective anti-freeze, and I certainly wouldnt want it in my screen wash, as it may damage the pump, or freeze on a very cold night in the tank/pump, I am open to other suggestions as to what else may work.
What about Glycerine?...
Some of us have that in the Kitchens cupboards.
Some have questioned the use of Alcohol in antifreeze.
But that got a discussion if its that cold out, where leaving the vehicle running for 10 mins wont shift the ice on the window, and if you had a bottle of whisky, wouldnt you just drink the whisky and wait for a better day to go anywhere?...
Poring Whisky on your windscreen is seen as a sacrilege, even by the most adamant non religious of us, its how to waste good whisky, you just wont do that will you.
If it ever gets to testing, they ask that its suggested they use either medical alcohol or some real cheep stuff, 'cos if they is seen even trying to use Bush-mills, Jack Daniels, or above, they wont be popular.
And if you are seen to use a single malt Scotch, expect "Visitors", Jocks with attitude, calling you a barbarian?...
Whisky is sometimes more serious than religion......
An' I'm nay kiddin' ya'.....
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Post by ponytail61 on Jan 5, 2015 19:21:34 GMT
5% vinegar has a freezing point of 28F only a few degrees below water. I can't see how a lower concentration would be much different than water itself.
From what I could find lemon juice has a freezing point below 12F so that might be something to look into.
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Post by Antigone68104 on Jan 6, 2015 1:21:03 GMT
Some have questioned the use of Alcohol in antifreeze. But that got a discussion if its that cold out, where leaving the vehicle running for 10 mins wont shift the ice on the window, and if you had a bottle of whisky, wouldnt you just drink the whisky and wait for a better day to go anywhere?... Poring Whisky on your windscreen is seen as a sacrilege, even by the most adamant non religious of us, its how to waste good whisky, you just wont do that will you. If I were going to try alcohol on my windshield, I'd go with rubbing alcohol. Pure isopropyl alcohol doesn't freeze until -127F/-89C, but the stuff in the medicine cabinet is diluted. It should still stay liquid at temperatures where I'm not going outside to start the car. But what's wrong with using a scraper in conjunction with the car's heater? Even if the heater isn't working well (or you don't have time to let the engine warm up), just scraping does a reasonable job of clearing the windows in a Nebraska winter. |
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Post by kharnynb on Jan 6, 2015 8:47:58 GMT
Here in finland we don't use deicers, they are rather pointless after -15c, we do have special winter style -40 windscreen washer liquid, but that alone doesn't shift the ice.
Scratching and a good electric cabin heater that is connected to house power, usually combined with the block heater you need anyway, works best.
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Post by Antigone68104 on Jan 11, 2015 16:59:53 GMT
I was just at the grocery store, and there's a commercial "keep your car windows clear" spray that's basically methyl alcohol and propylene glycol.
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Post by kharnynb on Jan 11, 2015 21:31:07 GMT
Do they sell that with a new set of wipers included?
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Post by wvengineer on Jan 12, 2015 12:11:41 GMT
How about a slight variation? I have heard of people using pickle juice to de-ice windows.They claim the salt brine used to make pickles will work. One question is what sort of lingering smell does it leave?
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Post by the light works on Jan 12, 2015 17:52:48 GMT
How about a slight variation? I have heard of people using pickle juice to de-ice windows.They claim the salt brine used to make pickles will work. One question is what sort of lingering smell does it leave? I'm guessing roses  |
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Post by c64 on Jan 25, 2015 23:07:05 GMT
www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/vinegar.aspSome individuals have recommended that a thin mixture of vinegar and water will de-ice the windshield on a car. Others say that you put it on your window to keep it from icing up in the first place. Critics say that vinegar will pit windshields. Other critics say that it might eat paint. Any substance to any of these? Just like salt, it will only work until dissolved by too much molten snow. Vinegar will lower the freezing point of water so it kind of works like salt - but not good. If the liquid is warm, it will work fine, though. Any acid will damage the paint. That's why bird poop is bad for the paint. Also vinegar washes off protective wax. |
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