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I seem to be going through litres of screenwash at the moment. Any recommendations for good stuff?
The supermarket stuff seems to make the windscreen worse. I had some VW/VAG stuff after a service and this seemed to last for ages, although it was in the summer.
(Will be replacing the wiper blades too as I think they are on their way out)
Standard answer is Prestone. It's yellow and works really well so you use less of it.
Thanks
works really well so you use less of it
I think this is why the VW/VAG stuff lasted so long too
Prestone.
New blades.
Clean the screen properly inside and out with degreaser. Modern dashboards evaporate plasticizer over time which ends up coating the inside of the screen making it look grubby and fog up easier. And the outside gets covered in diesel, tree sap, bugs, and a million other things that window cleaner spray won't shift, roughing up the wiper blades and smearing everything.
Then rain-x on the outside so nothing sticks to it in the first place.
ECP usually does the 5l Prestone for pretty cheap
Exciting thread!
I use Rain-X Screenwash cos it works good.
No, don't treat the outside with any repellent, it will be a wax or a silicon and your new blades won't sweep off the water cleanly but will leave a smear until the stuff wears out. It's one reason why I stopped using the £3 hand car wash - they finish by spraying the car with a water repellent.
You need new blades every 6-9 months and especially after a summer of rubbing against dry grit and being baked in the sun. Clean off the plasticiser film using a cloth wetted with water and detergent then polish with a dry cloth. It's amazing how many drivers you see with clouded windscreens, struggling to see through the glare of oncoming headlights.
I've been trying to cut down on unnecessary plastic and found these screenwash tablets on ebay.
The 5 tablets are supposed to make 20 litres of eco-friendly screenwash. It seems ok - as good as any supermarket stuff certainly. The only thing is my washer bottle has a mesh to stop bits getting in so you can't drop the tablet in as the instructions suggest so I had to dissolve it in a bottle of water first.
I was using Prestone for years but everywhere I usually bought from seems to have stopped selling it. The green Halfords stuff seems ok as an alternative though although there hasn't really been the winter to test it*
*there. I said it - you can blame me when it takes you 18hrs to get home from work and another Scottish transport minister gets fired this time next week
austin
Member
I’ve been trying to cut down on unnecessary plastic and found these screenwash tablets on ebay.
These look good, although no information on how cold it'll go before they freeze up.
I currently use the Halfords one that smells of Berry. Seems to clean Ok & lasts a decent amount of time...
I go through loads of it, mainly cos my civic has scooshers on the headlights too, which seem to fire out loads of the stuff. Considered making my own, but may try those tabs.
Prestone
Tesco sell it so if I'm running low I just add it to my grocery delivery.
The 2 litre concentrated one can be diluted 20:1 in the summer and it works down to -18 neat
Prestone blue concentrated stuff seems to work well - 5l for not very much money from Costco.
We went skiing in Aviemore once when the temperature dropped to minus 24c. Going up the A9 was comical; every layby was full of people including Police stopped and wiping their windscreens as everything had frozen but the road was still wet so salty spray was covering everybody's windscreens. We emptied a bottle of spray deicer into the bottle but all that happened was that blue slush came out of the nozzles and froze. Next morning the car only just groaned into life and we got static belts off it as we waded through powder dry snow and touched the handles. That was a proper winter. Must have been 1996 or 97, I guess.
Prestone blue concentrated stuff seems to work well – 5l for not very much money from Costco.
This.
But... make sure when you get the car serviced that it's topped up and they don't need to add their own stuff.
If you mix some brands, you end up with a gel-like mush in the bottle which eventually gets in the pump and then it's new pump time...
No, don’t treat the outside with any repellent, it will be a wax or a silicon and your new blades won’t sweep off the water cleanly but will leave a smear until the stuff wears out. It’s one reason why I stopped using the £3 hand car wash – they finish by spraying the car with a water repellent.
Dunno what's in rain-x, but it's nothing like that. The water just hits the screen, beads and gets blow off the top. Comes in a small bottle and you have to polish it on though, not a spray.
Another +1 for Prestone.
Also, a cautionary tale. A few years back, my windscreen washers stopped working. Fired into the garage who came back with "what the hell have you put in it?" Uh, whatever was on offer at the supermarket. They told me that the whole system was clogged up with some sort of gel.
A bit of digging on t'Internet, it turns out that different types of screenwash can interact with each other and turn jelly-like. Who knew? So if you're switching from whatever you're currently using to something else, run it dry before you do.
If you mix some brands, you end up with a gel-like mush in the bottle which eventually gets in the pump and then it’s new pump time…
Damn it!
Could be that some brands contain a surfactant (detergent) and others contain salt. Salt is used to thicken surfactants like dishwash liquid and shampoo.
I usually use rain x on the sides and rear window of my saloon (no rear wiper). I have only once used it on my windscreen after a plastic washer snapped and rendered the wipers in-active - The AA wiped it down with the rainx to get me another 40 miles to my destination. It worked.
You do need to re-apply it often, and I usually forget, so don't bother. It needs to be more regular on the windscreen than sides for it to work properly.
Dunno what’s in rain-x, but it’s nothing like that. The water just hits the screen, beads and gets blow off the top. Comes in a small bottle and you have to polish it on though, not a spray.
They do a screenwash too. Which is kind-of a spray.
https://www.halfords.com/motoring/engine-oils-fluids/screenwash-de-icer/rain-x-windscreen-washer-additive-500ml
Haven't tried this one though, which was the first search result...
https://www.halfords.com/motoring/engine-oils-fluids/screenwash-de-icer/rain-x-5l-ready-to-use-screen-wash
Standard answer is Prestone.
There's a Standard Answer?
What a time to be alive!
Clean the screen properly inside and out with degreaser. Modern dashboards evaporate plasticizer over time which ends up coating the inside of the screen making it look grubby and fog up easier.
Really? That explains a lot!
Prestone here too. The concentrated yellow stuff in 2 litres from Tesco. Was £3.50 last time I think.
This time of year I dilute it 50:50 so that I can be smug on icy morning with working washers. Only problem is that when it's not freezing cold and there's that wet spray everywhere that dries as soon as it hits your screen. I wince everytime I have to waste my posh screenwash when all I need is the water element of it. I could do with a second set of washers linked up to very dilute stuff for the long motorway trips.
anyone got any experience with these 'wipe on products' and the various safety systems that now rely on a sensor inside the windscreen?
Which screen wash for my lane assist system?
I have my right hand wiper blade set to “Exotic Chemicals” and the left on “Tap Water”.
The plasticisers used in car interiors are of extremely low volatility to resist heat but I'd imagine that, if they can settle on the insides of the windows, they will also accumulate in your lungs unless you keep the car well ventilated. Something else for drivers to worry about.
The plasticisers used in car interiors are of extremely low volatility to resist heat but I’d imagine that, if they can settle on the insides of the windows, they will also accumulate in your lungs unless you keep the car well ventilated. Something else for drivers to worry about.
I presume it's more likely to happen when the car's an 80C greenhouse in a car park than when you're driving along with the AC on/windows open.
Prestone in the Winter, Sonax Xtreme 250ml Nano Pro Screenwash in the Summer- both work very well, the Sonax is diluted 100:1.
What triggers the change of fluid - strict calendar? Weather?
What if there's a sudden cold snap after you've switched?
Is anyone else annoyed when they see pre-mixed screenwash? Carting pallets full of mostly water around seems a tragic waste of resources. Any retailer selling concentrate should have to supply tap water just in case too.
What triggers the change of fluid
weather once spring is definitely here you don't need the anti-freeze function of winter screenwash.
Is anyone else annoyed when they see pre-mixed screenwash
Yup, mostly water, which is a waste, and also designed to rip people off as you are getting very little for your money.
Last time I got a new car, I waited for the stuff already in the car to run out, then ran a litre of water through it to flush it out before filling up with the Halford Berry screen wash.
Have used Rain X in the past and there was a level of smearing after wiping before the screen was crystal clear again, ok during the day, but a little distracting at night. Ok for the side windows though.
@Tinas @globalti or when you're driving around in a 10 year old greenhouse on wheels decked out in the cheapest French plastics available.
I've yet to find a better explanation of why my windows are filthy from doing sod all. Properly water repelling filthy too.
anyone got any experience with these ‘wipe on products’ and the various safety systems that now rely on a sensor inside the windscreen?
Can’t imagine that there would be any effect, the coatings are transparent after all. The various sensors are just small cameras* that have to be able to function when all kinds of crap is being sprayed onto the screen by other vehicles, so an invisible coating will have zero effect.
*There can be as many as four on some cars. Replacing a screen can take two hours or more, because the system needs recalibrating.
Blimey. Some serious thinking going into this. I just put a squirt of Fairy liquid in my bottle.
It literally works fine. Can't say that seeing through it is ever a problem.
Any fantastically effective product or way to get the inside clean?
I’ve tried all sorts of cleaning products and methods and none seem particularly good.
Have you tried....glass cleaner? 😉
kayak23
Blimey. Some serious thinking going into this. I just put a squirt of Fairy liquid in my bottle.
It literally works fine. Can’t say that seeing through it is ever a problem.
It works fine until the temperature drops a bit and you are on a motorway being sprayed with murky sludge that hits your windscreen & dries, but you can't clear it because your dilute washing-up liquid mix has frozen....
True enough, but then the engine heat gets the washer moving pretty quick. Point taken mind.
A 1/4 Isopropanol Alcohol mixed with water and a dash of fairy liquid for lubrication works pretty well, leave out the IPA in summer.
True enough, but then the engine heat gets the washer moving pretty quick. Point taken mind.
Nope, still freezes. Made the mistake a few times of not having the full strength screenwash in winter and driving up the motorway it would freeze in the jets.
Nope, still freezes. Made the mistake a few times of not having the full strength screenwash in winter and driving up the motorway it would freeze in the jets.
its a ford thing that - they put the washer bottle in rediculous places - it would freeze while driving , I used to think it was the jets too ....
since i stopped driving fords it stopped being an issue.
Umm... don't Fords have heated jets? I know my old Focus did (not actually checked on the new C-Max)
Screwfix sell that Prestone stuff and their on 5l bottles of "No Nonsense" concentrated screenwash which seems to ve very good.
don’t Fords have heated jets?
can heat the jets till the cows come home.
the pumps in the washer bottle - which on all my old fords was located down between the wheel well and front bumper and frozen solid with anything less than 100% concentrate screenwash
When my car was serviced last they must have put a complete bottle of screenwash in. The result was a foaming mess. It was like driving Kujo.
Any fantastically effective product or way to get the inside clean?
I’ve tried all sorts of cleaning products and methods and none seem particularly good.
Elbow grease and paper. The trouble with 'products' in some of it always gets left on the screen and evaporates and its the residue of that and any gunk dissolved in it that shows up as smears
Use some sort of cleaner if you have real filth to remove but in any event you need to finish off by polishing the glass clean with dry paper (blue roll is ok - newspaper is best) not wiping cleaner around it with a cloth.
Best way to do it is work in lighting conditions that would be the worst for driving in - low sun in winter - or with bright lights ahead in the dark. So that might not be on your front drive. You need to see what you're cleaning - or rather what you're leaving behind so you need to the lighting conditions to flair on any marks left behind. So I usually clean my windscreen facing the floodlights in supermarket carparks in the evening or in a layby when on trips and the sun is low.
Then..... don't touch it. Don't stick pay and display tickets on it, don't wipe it with your sleeve when its fogged up in the morning. Don't touch the inside of the screen at all until its time to clean it again. Your windscreen can actually get quite grimy again but it won't be apparent if that grime is even - as soon as you smudge it around its a problem again.
Depending on the age/milage of the car sometime the screen can just be shot - 1000s of miles of being pecked by flying grit can mean you've got loads of tiny little chips that will catch the light and glare no matter how clean everything is.
I just put a squirt of Fairy liquid in my bottle.
Many years ago, I thought "I'm not paying for expensive car shampoo, I'll just use Fairy liquid." It took the gloss finish off the paint, turned it a matt red.
For hands that do Daewoos?
I just put a squirt of Fairy liquid in my bottle.
+1. In 40odd years it's never taken the paint off.
Was it a vauxhall that went Matt?
I'm not sure if there's a joke there that I'm missing, but it was a mk3 Ford Escort.
B&M sell RAC label stuff and it's the best I've ever used. Only £3 a bottle
The stuff from Halfords that looks like Predator blood. Doesn't freeze and cleans the screen brilliantly. Use it in my VW Caddy, because it's shit. Takes about an hour to get any heat from the engine and a good fifteen minutes to demist on a damp morning. But the neon green screenwash is excellent.
No joke but red vauxhalls up until a few years back all faded over time...so the matt finish might not have been caused by the screenwash.
It's that time of year.... anyone seen any good deals on winter screenwash?
Eurocarparts have Prestone 5l - 18 for £8.49, perhaps less with the constant discount codes..
Was just about to post the same as above ^,
thanks
Just reserved a bottle of that, timely reminder as I'm running low! Their current offer is on brakes and suspension so it doesn't work on screenwash. Still a bargain though!
-10 stuff is only a fiver, not often we get that temp up here.
Cheaper on carparts4less, apologies!!
Tesco is usually good for Prestone stuff around here
its a ford thing that – they put the washer bottle in rediculous places – it would freeze while driving , I used to think it was the jets too ….
It’s set down inside the offside of the front bumper, rather odd shape with a very long neck - as it happens we have a couple of Fords sans front bumper at work, so you can see exactly where it is. Sadly, Fords don’t match my old Octavia for washer capacity, that took an entire 5 litre container of washer fluid!
Now I’ve got a Ford, at least I won’t have to spend ten minutes at 6am scraping the ice off my screen, which will be a blessing, and it seems to heat up much quicker than the Octy did, too.
Here’s the Puma we have with its front taken off, you can see where the washer bottle is quite clearly on the offside in front of the wheel...
Ford quickclear windscreens are one of those things in life where you don't see the value until you have to use it.
Bluecol 3in1 as it has a Rain-X type thing in it and can be found quite concentrated for cold conditions or just watering down lots.
Ford quickclear windscreens are one of those things in life where you don’t see the value until you have to use it.
And you don't think about until bits start failing. Still bloody brilliant though.
ten minutes at 6am scraping the ice off my screen,
Just 6 minutes doing all the side windows