Everyone needs a little extra care during harsh winters, and your car’s windshield is no different. Cold can cause damage to your vehicle while you drive or even while it is parked outside in the winter.
More freezing temperatures often lead to more chips and cracks in windshields too, and it can force a small break to become a much bigger problem.
How to Properly Take Care of Auto Glass in Winter
If you park your vehicle outside, you might find that you are in a rush in the morning to scrape away the ice and get on the road. While there are quick solutions, these are often the wrong ones and may damage your windshield.
Consider the following when you need to remove ice, debris, and frost this season:
Never Pour Hot Water On Your Windshield– You see the ice, and you need it to melt faster than your defroster can handle. Therefore, you assume that pouring hot water over the frost would melt it quick enough for you to get on your way. Unfortunately, this is the wrong way to melt your ice. Doing so will cause your glass to expand in the cold temperatures, which forces cracks that you might not even know exist to expand too; thus, forcing you to now replace the windshield on your car.
Never Scrape Too Hard – The right way to remove ice and frost is your defroster as well as the ice scraper. However, you should not push too hard, or you might add chips to your windshield. Small chips can eventually turn into more significant holes or even big cracks, which force you also to repair.
Hit Defrost and be Patient – While you might be in a hurry, the best thing you can do for your windshield is to wait and defrost it. That might mean getting up a few minutes early and giving your car the time it needs. Never drive while your windshield is still covered in frost and ice. Also, never scrape right away. Instead, let the defroster loosen and melt some of that ice so that you can scrape it away easily and avoid causing cracks and chips in the process.
If you have a crack or chip in your windshield, you should have it repaired as soon as possible. A small break might be something that you can have fixed so that you do not have to worry about a full replacement.
From minor repairs to full replacements, bring your car in to All-West Glass. Our team can help you find a cost-effective solution to your windshield problem, and we offer replacements and repairs all year long.