As if driving in winter weren’t bad enough, sometimes you can’t even get into your vehicle without a struggle. Fortunately, we’ve rounded up some helpful winter car tips to get you through the winter months. Learn how to unfreeze locked doors, keep your wipers clean, and many more winter car tips and tricks!
Good To Know Winter Car Tips
1. Raise your windshield wipers
Raise your windshield wipers before the snow comes. There’s nothing worse than trying to unstick wipers from your windshield or digging them out from under a blanket of snow and ice. You can’t keep your windshield washer fluid to be ice-free, it may actually turn into ice during winter days, make sure to regularly check your windshield-washer reservoir too.
2. Insert tube socks on wiper blades
Aside from your windshield wiper fluid, you need to pay attention to your wiper blades. Put tube socks over your wiper blades to keep them ice-free. Keeping you from any accidents while driving too.
3. Sprinkle cat litter around winter tires
Cat litter can help your tires gain traction in snowy and icy conditions. To do this, open the box of kitty litter and then sprinkle the cat litter around your snow tires. The granular nature of cat litter provides more grip for your tires, and soon you’ll be on your way. Keep some in your trunk.
4. Put A Ziplock Bag Over Your Car Mirror
Put Ziploc bags over your side mirrors, headlights, and or exterior light to prevent ice from covering them during the night. The plastic covering will keep most of the ice and snow from sticking, making those frigid mornings way less frustrating.
5. A sock of cat litter for steamy windows
A sock full of cat litter pulls moisture out of the air in your car, making foggy windows a thing of the past. All you’re going to need is a pair of socks and cat litter. Fill one sock with kitty litter and then tie off the end. Then pull the other sock over it for extra protection. This hack is very useful and helps you get better visibility of your destination all the time!
6. Adding sandbags in your car trunk to increase traction
If you drive a rear-wheel drive or a four-wheel-drive vehicle then this literally works! Add sand or sandbags (or anything heavy) to the truck bed or the trunk of the car to help with traction.
Car Tricks & Tips for Winter
7. DIY Ice melter for your windshield
Make your own de-icer using rubbing alcohol, dish soap, and water. It probably won’t work on a thick layer of ice, but it should work when the windows are merely frosty.
8. Keep an emergency winter first-aid car kit at all times
Keep a winter emergency first-aid kit in your car with a blanket, warm clothing, warm weather accessories, hand warmers, medications, flashlight, snacks, bottled water, extra batteries, charger, rubber compounds for the tires, extra coolant, and more. You never know when your car will break down or when you’ll get stuck on bad roads so this emergency kit is an extra hand!
9. Use a credit card as an ice scraper
Lost your ice scraper? A credit card works in a pinch. So do student ID cards and gift cards, for any college students out there.
10. Cooking sprays as a rubber seal
Apply cooking spray to the rubber seals on your car to keep them from sticking when the temperatures drop.
11. Use shaving cream to de-fog your windshield
Fog-proof your windshield with shaving cream. Get the cheap stuff; no need to spend much on it.
12. Hand sanitizer to unfreeze the lock
Put hand sanitizer on your key to unfreeze the lock. Bonus: It also helps prevent freezing in the future.
13. Know how to charge a car
Learn how to jump or charge a car. It’s so important, especially in cold weather! It’s important to have jumper cables on your car emergency tool kit to do this.
So, which of these winter car tips do you find useful? I bet all of them! Let us know in the comments!
