You open the front door and everything is covered in a white substance that did not come from Colombia.
Last time I scraped ice off a windshield was almost 40 years ago and used clear half of cassette box. It usually worked better than the tools designed for the chore.
I am afraid the diet is gonna take a hit. It seems the body does not consider salad a proper winter food and is letting me know it.
And yes, I expect thicker “shipments” of the white shit in the coming months. You don’t have to rub it in.
I do need thicker socks.
If it makes you feel better,consider that the cold wipes out some bugs and pests so when summer comes back fewer pests come with it.
Miguel, get yourself some real wool socks. I highly recommend the Carhartt brand wool socks.
Very comfortable and they will keep your toesies warm.
Don’t bother scraping that type of ice.
Get a bottle of ethanol, the stuff that was being sold as sanitizer just a few months ago.
Put it in a spray bottle, spritz it on the window. Melts that light frost with no effort.
Having a goodly supply of 99% isopropyl alcohol on hand, I tend to use a little of that on frosty windshields.
I also use it to spike the windshield washer fluid during the cold months. (And for removing flux from circuit boards, cleaning up 3D printing photoresin, etc.)
Get a bottle of ethanol, mix with orange juice, drink the mixture, watch TV in the nice warm house, wait for the sun to melt the frost.
I just run out and fire up the truck. Put it on defrost n go have a vat of coffee..
I pour a gallon of water out of a rinsed milk jug. Drizzle from the top just above the glass.
No, it doesn’t crack the windshield. I’ve been doing it in Ohio winters for decades. I’m sure your windshield will survive the shock in Tennessee.
As for scrapers, avoid the little ones. The ones that come with a foot or more handle tend to be much better. But for frost and ice, you might want to get a specific scraper — one that has a piece of sheet brass as the blade rather than a plastic edge. The brass won’t scratch glass but it does a great job on ice. The plastic ones are best for snow.
here, let me help you:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Super-Tech-Windshield-De-Icer-Aerosol-11-fl-oz/21950096?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=2075&&adid=22222222227027762705&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=537828068604&wl4=pla-347474590941&wl5=9033152&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=21950096&veh=sem&gclid=Cj0KCQjwrJOMBhCZARIsAGEd4VHIZs_Esb2v4uBBg-XCNTHGY3yggpDBfl50kgostphfY8XV7s41F24aAu8WEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
especially useful for those mornings with thick ice where you can’t take the time to scrape a peep hole for a half an hour.
That stuff is great for hard ice but expensive. I got alcohol sanitizer from Ollie’s for $5.99 in a spray bottle that’s lasted over a year on 2 cars.
For lighter frost (not solid ice from the snowmelt that refroze overnight why yes I lived in Montana 29 years and am now in eastern Washington is it obvious?), emergency scraper is your driver’s license or some other stiffer plastic card that you don’t care about getting chewed up a bit.
Miguel,
My secrets to staying warm in MN? Flannel Lined Jeans, and a heavy weight lined zip up hoody under the coat. The hoody doesn’t mess up the hair, blocks the wind, and when it is really cold, you wear it over the hat.
Wear Gloves to keep your hands from drying out and cracking in the cold wind. Light work gloves for under 50 degrees, and heavier ski gloves for below zero.
You should have a pickup. *grin* As was stated above, get a good scraper with a good handle on it.
My preferred scraper is on a telescoping handle. One end has a brush that can be rotated 90 degrees and locks in place. This means you can use it as a push/pull brush or as a sweep brush, depending on what you need.
On the ice scraper side, make sure your plastic scraper has “support” ribs on the back side. Like this one has: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71KSzpWg6bL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
Those ribs are actually ice cutters. You put them into the ice on your windows and push and it cuts groves in the ice down to the glass but won’t scratch the glass.
If it isn’t to bad, you can then flip it over and use the flat scrapper to pop the rows off. If it is bad, use the ice cutters to cut across the original cuts so you have nice little squares of ice still attached to the glass. Now the flat side will pop the ice off.
Once I learned that little trick, clearing ice off the truck went from a 30 minute nasty arse job to 10 minutes. Just enough time for the truck to warm up.
Hopefully you saved some old winter clothes from your time up here in SoDak