Jan 27, 2017
It’s wintertime in Chicagoland, and that means that many mornings are spent deicing and defrosting our cars before we can go anywhere. But we know that your time is precious, so we’ve rounded up some of the best hacks for quickly deicing and defrosting your car.
Cover Your Windshield
The easiest way to defrost your windshield: don’t let frost form in the first place! Place some cloth or cardboard over the windshield and hold it in place with your wipers. This both prevents condensation from forming and stops your wipers from sticking to the windshield.
Use Your Car’s Settings
We’re sure you know about your car’s defrost button, but are you really using it correctly with the rest of your car’s settings? According to science, the best combination of settings are:
- Turn heater on at full blast
- Turn AC on
- Turn off the inside air circulation
- Crack open the windows
Watch the video below to learn more about the science behind it, as well as a few other defrosting tips.
Cover Your Mirrors
Prevent ice from forming on your side mirrors by covering them with plastic bags in the evening. In the morning, just remove the bags and you’re ready to go!
Alcohol Solution
A meteorologist from Tennessee shared his own trick for quickly defrosting a windshield – a water/alcohol solution. The video below has been viewed over 17 million times, so we think he must be onto something.
Park in Your Overstreet Garage
All of our new homes in the Chicago suburbs have garages, so no deicing or defrosting time is necessary. Check out our quick move-in homes, including this home in Ashwood Park with a 3-car garage.