How to Make a Simple, Cheap Homemade De-Icer Spray for Your Car
Winter is here, and precipitation has already pummeled many cars across the country. If you didn’t stock up on de-icer spray off-season, you’ll find that purchasing a bottle now can be costly. And if you have to use a large amount of liquid every morning to clean your car, that cost can add up!
If you want to save money and use a homemade de-icer spray, here are the ingredients you should utilize.
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The magic solution for a homemade de-icer spray
Before you mix your homemade de-icer spray, you need something to store and spray it with. Either clean out and reuse an empty spray bottle you already own or stop by the dollar store to obtain a new, empty one. Don’t forget to grab a funnel from the kitchen to pour the contents into the bottle.
Here’s the most important thing that most people won’t tell you: The ratio at which you combine water and rubbing alcohol will depend upon how diluted/concentrated the rubbing alcohol is. If the alcohol is a 50 percent solution, you’ll fill the spray bottle with mostly alcohol. If you use 70-percent solution, you’ll use about 1/3-bottle of water. And if you use 90-percent solution, a couple capfuls will be enough. We recommend using 90 percent solution and gradually adding more to the water until you find an effective ratio.
Squirting a bit of dish soap and a bit of table salt into the mixture helps the ice from re-freezing once it melts. Like road salt, applying a salty solution to your car’s icy windows will reduce the freezing point of the ice and transform it back to water. Unfortunately, the downside to this method is that you’re pouring corrosive solution on your car, so it’s up to you if you want to use salt.
Some people recommend using solutions like bleach or windshield washer fluid, but these are quite toxic and could harm your car and your lawn. You can also use vodka, but you’ll have to pay a lot for the real high-proof, effective stuff, so it’s not worth it.
We like sticking with the water-alcohol-soap combination. What do you use to de-ice your car?
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Aaron is unashamed to be a native Clevelander and the proud driver of a Hyundai Veloster Turbo (which recently replaced his 1995 Saturn SC-2). He gleefully utilizes his background in theater, literature, and communication to dramatically recite his own articles to nearby youth. Mr. Widmar happily resides in Dayton, Ohio with his magnificent wife, Vicki, but is often on the road with her exploring new destinations. Aaron has high aspirations for his writing career but often gets distracted pondering the profound nature of the human condition and forgets what he was writing… See more articles by Aaron.