Many motorists make this gesture when their windshield is frozen, without knowing that it is risky.
Each winter, icy temperatures put motorists to the test, and many are those who adopt bad habits without realizing it. Between cold starts or the unsuitable use of wipers when it frosts, these repeated errors can damage certain parts of the car in the long term. This is particularly the case with a very common reflex among those who are quite pressed in the morning. Besides, who has never experienced this situation? It’s in the morning, you are about to go to work and you realize that the windshield of your vehicle is completely frozen. Nothing very practical, especially knowing that precious minutes will be lost to scratch it. So what to do in this case to save time?
If most drivers know the risks of this practice, some continue to pour hot water directly on the windshield and the windows to be able to defrost them more quickly. At the time, it’s radical: the frost disappears in just a few seconds, except that this gesture, which seems trivial, can actually cause big damage on glazing. When the external temperatures are negative, put hot water on a windshield or frozen windows causes brutal thermal shock. This can lead to dilation of the material, which contracts at the moment.
However, glass, especially when it is already weakened by microfissers invisible to the naked eye, does not support these temperature variations. Result: cracks can appear instantly, or even within hours, compromising the solidity of the windshield. In addition, if the outside temperature is still very low, the hot water flowing on the body can cool quickly and form a thin layer of additional ice on other parts of the vehicle, making the situation even more dangerous.
To avoid these risks, it is better to opt for more suitable solutions such as the use of a scraper, a specific defrost or even light the interior heating of your vehicle a few minutes before hitting the road. In any case, when the weather lends itself to it, it is best to leave a little earlier to be sure to have time to defrost your vehicle!