Steering You Right with Sharon Peters: Wiper Freeze
Q: Know of any products that you can spray or wipe on that keeps windshield wipers from freezing to the windshield overnight? This has been an awful winter. It’s usually only two or three times a winter that this is a problem, but this year it’s almost constant.
A: I don’t know of any products that will do what you want. I went to a couple of car merchandise stores and they also came up with nothing.
There’s a trick that people have been using for years: make sure the wiper blades are dry when you park (wipe them with a wash cloth or something), then stick a long sock on each blade. That’ll work fine as long as you don’t get wet snow overnight, because if you do, the sock will get drenched and, if it’s cold enough, the sock and the wiper will freeze to the window (and the sock will probably freeze to the wiper, too).
Popping the wipers up off the windshield will prevent the frozen-sock-against-the-windshield problem (though not necessarily the frozen-sock-on-wiper problem, depending on how wet the snowfall and how cold it is). But some argue this weakens the wiper mechanism and can be really risky if the wind gets intense.
Here’s something that sounds promising that was offered up on an online forum: Buy a piece of vinyl lay-flat discharge hose; cut it to the length of each of the wipers blades (stapling one end shut), slip one on each wiper and you’re done.
The man who shared this said it won’t freeze to the windshield. I can’t vouch for that. In the part of Colorado where I live we’ve received no snow – none – so far this winter. Scary.
If you try this, please let me know if it works!
Q: We were going to buy an electric car this spring, but we can’t figure out if the incentives were killed in that tax bill.
A: The tax credit ($2,500 to $7,500) remained for plug-in electric vehicles, the Electric Drive Transportation Association says.
Carmakers lobbied hard to keep it in, fearing that if the credit was repealed, sales of electric cars would plummet because they’re more expensive than conventional vehicles. The credit brings them a little closer in price.
What’s your question? Sharon Peters would like to hear about what’s on your mind when it comes to caring for, driving and repairing your vehicle. Email Sharon@ctwfeatures.com.
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