Windshield Cover To Protect From Snow and Ice In Winter, Have You Used Something From Around The House That Was Handy and Worked?

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
Location
USA
I know they sell these, some have magnets and some have flaps that fit inside the front doors to keep it in place. I'm thinking of something simple to use from something I have in the garage or house, like a piece of cardboard or??

Has anyone here used something simple that stayed in place in windy snowstorms? I take the dog on a walk daily almost every day of the year. I've been having to scrape the car windows sometimes when the ice is hard and stubborn, and it's hard to get a tiny spot started to work the scraper. Of course, I put on my defrosters and they help in getting the windows clear, but it takes some time. I usually shovel my walk and sidewalk, and maybe the neighbors while in this process.

This year I want to save myself some work and effort. I don't like the idea of liquid defrosters which can have caustic chemicals for me and the dog. The more natural formulas, which I've tried to use, do not work well enough to bother with. Any ideas that work?
 

@SeaBreeze This site has helpful info. It gives the details on using a towel or cardboard or homemade concoctions.

I once bought a windshield cover, but it was not quite long enough to be secured inside by the car doors and it was so lightweight that the wind would lift it up. Useless purchase from QVC.

Hope you find something on that site to help you this winter.
 
I've seen people use cardboard. I think the only time I used the windshield covers (always purchased), was to protect the car from getting too hot in the summer. I'd just turn on the heat if the windshield was covered with a lot of snow...then brush the snow as it started to melt off.
 
SeaBreeze said:
I imagine a rug would get pretty heavy with a foot or more of snow on it in the morning. How did you keep them in place? What kind of rugs?
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The rugs I am speaking of are light weight kitchen type rugs. They would not work in a blizzard but in general they work in a pinch. Just lay them across the windshield. To add: I have also used old wool military blankets.

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Oldpop,
I've tried those here in Indiana. The problem here is we get 1/2 snow & 1/2 freezing rain. The rain would go through those rugs in time. Then they "froze" to the windshield. So you had to turn on the car & defrosters & wait till it got warm to peel it off.
I think the best choice is to buy one of the windshield covers just for your car. They are the right size & when you pull on them they stretch from the passenger's side mirror over to the driver's side & there are magnets embedded in the covers at the top.

Remember to raise the windshield wiper straight out or they will freeze to the cover.
 
Tom 86 said:
Oldpop,
I've tried those here in Indiana. The problem here is we get 1/2 snow & 1/2 freezing rain. The rain would go through those rugs in time. Then they "froze" to the windshield. So you had to turn on the car & defrosters & wait till it got warm to peel it off.
I think the best choice is to buy one of the windshield covers just for your car. They are the right size & when you pull on them they stretch from the passenger's side mirror over to the driver's side & there are magnets embedded in the covers at the top.

Remember to raise the windshield wiper straight out or they will freeze to the cover.
Click to expand...
Where I am from an inch of snow shuts down the whole area. I have never had to deal with a very large amount of snow in a four wheeled vehicle.
 
horseless carriage said:
It might seem like the obvious, SeaBreeze, but if the car was in the garage you wouldn't need a cover.
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I already have a vehicle in the garage. It's a two car garage, but we have work tables along one wall and shelf units along another wall. There are other items and tools in our garage so there is no room for two vehicles. Yes, that was obvious. ;)
 
Aunt Bea said:
Nope!

I used to start the car and let it warm up while I finished my coffee.

For a coating of ice, a good alcohol based window washer fluid is helpful.
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Back when I was still working, I used to go out and start the car before I was ready to leave, and left it running in the driveway. Car thefts started happening in my state and they made a 'no puffer' law, whee you can't leave your vehicle unattended or you would get ticketed and fined. So I stopped doing that.
 
I tried various types of covers, when I was working, and had to park outdoors during a snow storm, and never had much luck with them, It seemed I always had to wind up doing some scraping, and just let the vehicle warm up enough for the wipers to work. Perhaps in the past few years someone has come up with a worthwhile cover, but I haven't needed any since I retired. Now, the vehicles sit in the garage, and if snow is forecasted, we stay home.
 
I'll tell you what doesn't work - hot, hot water! Once in a blue moon I could catch a ride to Jr High with friend & his mom on the really cold mornings. He was sent out to warm up the car and scrape the windshield. His idea to clear the ice was to start a sauce pan heating water. Yep, brought it out and splashed it on the WS. I sat in amazement when the whole WS completely cracked into the coolest spiderweb you've ever seen.

We walked to school that morning.
 
SeaBreeze said:
Back when I was still working, I used to go out and start the car before I was ready to leave, and left it running in the driveway. Car thefts started happening in my state and they made a 'no puffer' law, whee you can't leave your vehicle unattended or you would get ticketed and fined. So I stopped doing that.
Click to expand...
We have something similar here but it is rarely enforced when someone is on their own property.

Most often it's used to discourage people from leaving a running vehicle unattended at a convenience store or in some other public place.
 
Tom 86 said:
he problem here is we get 1/2 snow & 1/2 freezing rain. The rain would go through those rugs in time. Then they "froze" to the windshield.
Click to expand...

Tom 86 said:
raise the windshield wiper straight out or they will freeze to the cover.
Click to expand...

Gosh, wouldn't both of these problematic things likely happen to any rug or fabric used? o_O:confused:

We get a lot of mixed precip, here too, or very heavy wet snow. :cautious::unsure:
 
Tom 86 said:
Oldpop,
I've tried those here in Indiana. The problem here is we get 1/2 snow & 1/2 freezing rain. The rain would go through those rugs in time. Then they "froze" to the windshield. So you had to turn on the car & defrosters & wait till it got warm to peel it off.
I think the best choice is to buy one of the windshield covers just for your car. They are the right size & when you pull on them they stretch from the passenger's side mirror over to the driver's side & there are magnets embedded in the covers at the top.

Remember to raise the windshield wiper straight out or they will freeze to the cover.
Click to expand...
Same with cardboard-it can freeze to the windshield
 
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