Ways To Prevent Ice Build Up on Your Car When You Know a Storm is Coming

You wake up in the morning to find a thick coating of ice all over your car. It's no fun to spend all that time in the cold trying to crack through what mother nature deposited all over your ride hoping your ice scraper doesn't snap in half. If you know the storm is coming though, there are some ways to make the job of de-icing your car a lot easier.

Cover Your Car With a Tarp

I tried this several years back with my truck, pictured above, and it worked like a charm. Just make sure you have a big enough tarp to cover your vehicle and you anchor it down with some bungie cords so the wind won't blow it away.

After the storm was over, I lifted the tarp and the ice just broke off and fell away leaving my truck almost completely ice free. There was a little bit of frost build up on the windshield but it melted very quickly once the defroster was put to it.

Spray a Coating of Vinegar on Your Windshield

According to WikiHow, if you mix 3 parts vinegar with 1 part water in a spray bottle and coat your windshield with it the acid in the vinegar will eat away at the ice as it tries to build up. Just make sure you do a light coating to prevent the vinegar from eating into the windshield

Place a Towel Soaked in Salt Water on Your Windshield

Dissolve a tablespoon of salt in one quart of water and soak the towel in it. Ring it out enough so it doesn't drip, but still holds plenty of the salt water. Put it on your windshield and hold it down with your wipers. The salt lowers the freezing point of water making it difficult for it to freeze to the window.

Do you have any handy tips for keeping your car clear of ice during the winter? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter.