Most winter incidents come not from the ice on the road but from the road you cannot see. What follows takes an hour and changes the whole season.
1. Drain the summer washer fluid
This is the most skipped item going into winter, and the most expensive one. Summer washer fluid — and plain water in particular — freezes below zero. Frozen fluid expands, and it cracks the pump first, then the hoses and the reservoir. It happens overnight and costs thirty times what the fluid does.
Empty the reservoir before the first frosts and refill with a winter product containing antifreeze. With concentrates, respect the mixing ratio: over-diluted fluid freezes as readily as none at all.
2. Run a fingernail along the wiper blades
Wiper rubber hardens through a summer of heat and sunlight. Run a finger along the edge: cracking, stiffness or an uneven lip means it is time. Blades that streak, judder or squeak are telling you the same thing. Replace them before winter — dragging hardened rubber across an iced screen scratches the glass and strains the wiper arm.
3. Melt the ice, do not scrape it
Clearing ice with a card or a scraper leaves fine scratches in the glass, and those scratches flare under headlights at night, permanently degrading visibility. De-icer spray does the job in seconds without touching the surface. Keep it in the boot rather than the cabin — so it is not locked inside when the doors freeze. Never pour hot water: hot water on cold glass cracks it.
4. Stop fogging at the source
Fog forms when humid cabin air meets cold glass. The lasting fix is ventilation that actually works — which means a clean cabin filter. A clogged filter restricts airflow and demisting takes far longer. On top of that, an anti-fog treatment on the inside of the glass spreads moisture into a thin film instead of droplets. Snow and wet carried in on floor mats is another moisture source; rubber mats cut that load noticeably.
5. Make the rain slide off
A rain repellent applied to the outside of the glass makes water bead and run off. Above about 60 km/h the screen largely clears itself without the wipers. It also reduces the scatter of oncoming headlights in night rain.
The short list
- Replace washer fluid with a winter product; check the mixing ratio
- Check wiper rubber by hand and replace if hardened
- Keep de-icer spray in the boot
- Check the cabin filter — it is the basis of demisting
- Anti-fog inside the glass, rain repellent outside