Eli5: Why is it so hard to scrape ice off my windshield?

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Eli5: Why is it so hard to scrape ice off my windshield?

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3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Windshields aren’t smooth at the microscopic level, there are tiny pits and cracks in it. You park your warm car, ice forms but against the warm glass a layer of it melts and fills the cracks, then as the car cools the water expands as it re-freezes. The ice gets jammed into the glass.

Anonymous 0 Comments

You’re using the wrong tool. Use a brass edged scraper. The plastics ones don’t work very well for ice.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Likely your windshield is dirty and you haven’t used a hydrophobic coating like RainX or Aquapel.

If you clean it really well and add a coating, you’ll have an easier time. Similarly, you can coat your driver and passenger windows/mirrors.

You can also use something called gummi pflege on the inside rubber of your doors to repel moisture (ice) and allow your doors to open easier in the winter.