"Saving this idea for the Cold Days ahead! Hate scraping off ice! Ice Proofing the Car Windows with 2/3 Vinegar 1/3 water! Just spray on windows and ice will melt away! Totally making a bottle of this for this winter!"
This was a request from a friend, who wanted to know how true this pin was. Because honestly who doesn't hate having to take an extra 30 minutes in the winter to shovel your way out, scrape ice, warm up your car. Ick. That's an extra 30 minutes I could have spent in my nice warm bed.
I was hoping to be able to test this out myself before posting about it, but here in the Pac Northwest we seem to be keeping a steady 40 degrees and rain, so I haven't been able to test it out. However due to science and numbers, I can say this is most likely false.
Why? Well first off, the pin states "spray your windows and watch the ice melt away!" I've also seen the same idea that says if you put it on your windows before it snows or becomes icy it will prevent ice from building up on the windows. But vinegar (one of the biggest go to miracle items of pinterest - its up there with magic erasers and coconut oil go to Cure Alls) has a freezing point of 28°F. That is only a few degrees lower than water. So if you're outside and it's 31°F and you happen to keep this vinegar mix inside meaning it's room temperature this MIGHT work. It's not going to cause the ice to just melt away though. And if you apply it before night to prevent ice, you're going to wake up to a smelly frozen vinegar water snow ice mix you get to scrape off. On the other hand, the freezing point of sodium chloride (aka: Salt) is around -6°F, you stand a better chance at getting results with salt water than you do vinegar.
Now I'm not a car person, but a few forum posts about this also brought up the issue vinegar is an acid by nature, so too much vinegar on your car's metal or chrome trim and detailing might just damage it.
All in all, this one is a bad idea. Not to mention a time waster, since you're still going to have to scrap that ice once the vinegar failed to melt the ice away. Alcohol based DIY deicers might work better as would windshield fluid designed for winter use.
But what CAN you do to help cut back time in the morning scraping ice? An amazingly simple item you probably have in your home can in fact prevent snow and ice from clogging up your windshield. Cardboard. Simply cover your windshield with cardboard, holding it in place with the wipers If that's a little too unsightly for you, you can also buy covers
made just for this purpose.
made just for this purpose.