With the weather getting colder and wetter, the hindrance of getting in our cars first thing in the morning with frozen fogged-up windows is upon us. This isn’t great when you’re late for work. So what can you do to stop your car windows from fogging up?
First things first, clear the frost on the outside of the windscreen, if any. This will increase the temperature slightly of your screen.
If you do this job with the engine running, great, but I have to emphasize that you should not turn your car’s heating on as soon as you start the car. The heat you get from your heaters is drawn from the engine’s cooling system. (Confused yet?) If you turn on your fans straight away, you’ll be taking away the little heat the car has generated and actually be cooling the engine. Don’t turn your heaters on for a good five or ten minutes; after that, you can blast the heaters and clear your screen a lot quicker than if you had them running from startup.
As described earlier, fogging occurs when different temperature air meet and form condensation on the windshield. During the scorching summers in India, there is nothing like escaping into an air-conditioned car. However, when the hot air from outside meets the cooled surface of the glass windows and windshield of the car, it immediately condenses and creates a layer of fog which forms on the outside of the windshield. Normally, the fogging that occurs in the summer is a lot easier to remove and here are some tricks you can use.
Although the cool air inside the car might feel exquisite in summer, it can be quite dangerous while driving. If you want to reduce the amount of fogging on your windshield, try and reduce the power of the air conditioning. When the temperature is increased inside the car, the air will begin to match the air outside and stop fogging quickly. What you can also do to stop your car from fogging up is to open a window a little bit to allow the outside air into the car. This will not only balance the temperatures quicker, but it will also allow you to keep enjoying your cool breeze.
OK, this step may not sort out a steamed windscreen if there’s a problem, but it may get you on your way quicker.
If your car steams up no matter what you do, then here are a few things you should do to prevent excess moisture building up and to maybe eliminate some causes of that.
- If you are always in a hurry and wipe the windscreen on the inside with a mitt or tissue, this could be one of your problems. Doing this makes the windscreen dirty and oily, making it easier for the moisture to build up, so no sooner have you wiped it than it steams up again. Try to avoid wiping your windscreen.
- Get some good window cleaner, like 5-star rated Invisible Glass Cleaner. Rain-X does a windscreen repellent for the outside which I can not rate high enough; this stuff is excellent. It dramatically increases visibility on those journeys when your windows wiper can’t keep up. By cleaning your windows, you should dramatically reduce the moisture buildup.