When the snow falls and the ice grips, Des Walsh turns to booze. Guinness to be precise but he doesn’t drink it. He just pours it on his car windscreen to remove the ice.
No fancy shop bought de-icers for Des. He prefers his home-made method.
Des, from Co Mayo, has made a video showing how it works. “Is there anything more annoying,” he says, “than getting up in the morning to a frozen windscreen.”
Des then goes on to explain how he came up with this novel method. “A friend of mine came up with a brilliant idea. He suggested rubbing in alcohol on the windscreen and then mix with water.
“So, you just pour the Guinness on the windscreen. Then you just rub it in and see how the ice comes off. Then mix some water with it and voila…
“That’s actually a really brilliant idea. Rub in alcohol and water.”
How does it work? Alcohol has freezing point of about -114 °C; −173 °F depending on atmospheric pressure. That’s much lower than water, which is why it can melt ice.
So Guinness can actually work, but isn’t it also a bit of a waste?
If you prefer to hold on to your drink and keep your hands warm at the same time, you might prefer the water bag approach put forward by Daniel Harris.
He’s produced a video showing how it works. He says: “Hot water in a food bag and bam you’ve got a de icer and a hand warmer. Works a treat, and it’s fast!
“I used warm tap water so I could safely hold it and lower the risk of cracking my screen.”
Anyone using this method would do well to heed Darren’s warning about not using water that’s too hot as it could cause damage.
Or to be totally safe and get a clear windscreen, you might prefer to pop to your local car accessory shop and get some de-icer…or just start the car and set the blowers at full blast. That should clear it in a few minutes…and you can save the Guinness for a relaxing drink after you get home from work later that evening.
Take a look at Des Walsh’s video below.
Check out Daniel Harris’ method below.