By: Kelli Whitman

Every year I always vow that I will prepare my car the night before a big snow. But every year I am always left at 7 a.m. scraping and brushing off my car in negative degree weather. With just a few changes, you can cut this time in half and save your toes and fingers from freezing. Here are a few winter car tips and tricks!

1.   Raise your windshield wipers.
Raising your windshield wipers at night prevents the wipers from freezing to your windshield. This saves time trying to dig them out, and also saves the wipers themselves from ripping and tearing because of the ice. To be even more efficient, you can put long socks over your wipers to prevent any ice from freezing to them.

2.   NEVER pour hot water on your windshield.
This can cause the glass to immediately shatter and that’s a horrible way to start the morning. Who has time to sit and let the vents take what seems like forever? You can try placing a sheet over the windshield the night before. There will never be ice on your windshield again.

3.    Buy a great ice scraper.
Nothing is worse than not being able to reach an area on your window because you are too short and so is your ice scraper. I recommend using an extendable ice scraper. One end has the scraper and the other side has a brush and squeegee. All parts come in handy and you can make it longer or shorter to suit your arm length. It also keeps your clothes and feet clear of falling snow and ice. I bought mine for a reasonable price at Lowe’s years ago and it still works like a charm.

4.    Let nature do some of the work.
The sun rises in the East so try facing your car in that direction overnight, out of the way of trees and shade. As the sun rises, its heat will already get a head start on defrosting, which leaves less work for you!

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