With winter fast approaching, it’s time to think about all the unique challenges that winter driving presents. With the snow, sleet and ice, plus the howling winds and blinding road conditions in this country, there are plenty of car safety hack tips to help you and your car survive winter.

You need to be prepared for winter driving, and in addition to these great winter car tips, get a maintenance check-up ahead of the first winter blast and keep a winter driving survival kit in your car in the event you run into trouble while on the road.

Staying safe on the road during the frigid winter months means staying alert, slowing down, and staying in control at all times. It’s important that you drive according to the road and weather condition with a two car space between you and the other guy.

If you have all-season tires, think about changing them over to winter tires instead. All season tires begin to lose their grip below +7 Celsius and not as effective in heavy snow or on ice as a set of performance winter tires for traction and safety.

So, let’s get to some of the super Winter Car Hacks for your winter survival:

Foggy Interior Windshields

The best method for being plagued with a foggy windshield is to roll down the window a bit to let fresh air get in while the “AC” is running to eliminate moisture. If that isn’t an option, keep a chalkboard eraser in your glove compartment to quickly clear fog without leaving a smudgy mess behind. Another trick is to apply some shaving cream on the inside windows and wipe it off. The ingredients in shaving cream have some commonalities with the ingredients in commercial defoggers. Lastly, fill a sock with kitty litter! This helps to absorb moisture in the car.

Put a Sock on Your Windshield Wipers

Now, this is a neat trick. Stash an extra pair of winter socks in your car’s glove-box. “Why,” you ask? They are used to put on OVER your shoes to give you better traction in the event your car has to be pushed over ice or walking in snow and ice for some reason. They make a great makeshift cloth, but the neatest trick using socks is to cover your wiper blade covers with them overnight. Slip them on after you raise the wiper blades off the windshield for an easier de-icing in the morning.

Preventing Frozen Keyholes and Doors

You’re all bundled up ready to head off to work, but your door is stuck frozen and won’t open. Before you find yourself in this situation, spray some WD-40 in the key hole ahead of the winter months to keep ice from forming inside. If this never crossed you mind in July and you find yourself with the problem in March, heat your key with a lighter and gently push the hot key into the keyhole to melt the ice. You can also rub your key or frozen door with hand sanitizer for a similar effect for melting ice because of the alcohol in the hand sanitizer. Lastly, and I know this sounds a bit strange, but spray the cracks of your doors and the rubber rims with cooking spray, like Pam. This will prevent them from freezing shut at night.

Face Your Car East to Naturally Defrost

Use Mother Nature’s sunshine to naturally defrost your car in the morning since the sun rises in the east. By doing so, you won’t get stuck with scraping ice in the bitter cold; however, if for some reason that isn’t possible, remember to invest in a good scraper to remove the ice. But, let’s say that you can’t park toward the east and you forgot to throw the scraper in the car. Now what? Fear not since you probably have a credit card in your wallet and it can be used as a scraper for removing frozen ice on the windshield.

Mother Nature Puts Us All to The Test

Winter is tough enough to get through without making your job any harder, but by following some of these simple winter car hack ideas, you can get through it a little easier, a little safer and a little happier.

If during this winter your vehicle gets into an accident this winter, Waterdown Collision offers various Vehicle Repair Services and we can even give you a no-obligation, free Online Estimate.