It's frosty outside, snowing, blizzarding. Most residents know firsthand about the surprises of winter. In such weather, lumps of snow and ice freeze on your car windshield wipers. And the windshield wipers themselves freeze to the windshield after a long period of parking. Is it possible to somehow get rid of this unpleasant phenomenon? And, preferably, without much effort and without capital investments? Let's try one life hack.
What will you need?
We will not use special expensive store-bought products such as “Anti-ice” or “Anti-snow”. We will not use “folk” glycerin either. We will treat the surfaces of our wipers inexpensively Silicone oil, which will be enough for the whole winter, and there will still be some left over.
Why silicone?
- It repels water perfectly. This means that ice will not freeze on the working surfaces of the wipers and snow will not accumulate.
- It does not freeze at low temperatures. Thanks to this, the wiper rubber bands remain elastic in cold weather.
- Chemically inactive. It has a beneficial effect on rubber and does not harm the paintwork or windshield.
Regarding the last point, there will probably be readers who will object: “It leaves a residue on the glass, it makes visibility difficult!”
To prevent this from happening, you should be careful when applying silicone and buy a special brand of oil. This product is sold in amateur radio stores and is called PMS Silicone Oil.
We will experiment with oil PMS-100. Yes, the name PMS is funny, there is room for jokers to run wild. But the abbreviation stands for simply and boringly: polymethylsiloxane. And the number 100 is the digital value of kinematic viscosity. In a line of oils, this figure can be from 5 to 1000.
Why exactly PMS-100? Type PMS-5 is frankly weak for our purposes. It will wash off very quickly. On the contrary, PMS-1000 is too “fat”. There will be clearly visible stains on the glass that will be difficult to wipe off.
Inexpensive anti-ice for wipers in action
Now let's start processing. First, thoroughly clear the windshield wipers of snow and ice. Then we take a bottle of silicone and apply literally a few drops of oil to the elastic band. For a long wiper, 4-5 drops distributed along the entire length are enough. Three is enough for a short one. Then you need to rub everything with a cloth over the entire elastic band.
You can also add a few drops to the joints of the brushes so that they also do not freeze. That's all.
Now let's check the effectiveness. The wiper rubbers have become actually softer and more elastic. The pressure has improved, there are practically no uncleaned areas. Immediately after the brush stroke, a light oily mark is visible on the glass, which disappears in less than a second. It doesn't interfere with visibility at all.
To more fully evaluate the method, we will drive several kilometers along a snow-covered highway. The result is pleasing. The wipers work easily, nothing freezes on them. There are no oily stains on the glass.One treatment usually lasts up to 10 days.
The method works, the main thing is not to overdo it with the amount and brand of silicone oil.
