To think pouring water on your icy car is just selfish?

[7hup]

Just fell on my face outside a neighbour who must have done this early morning.

So a stream of ice running across the pavement to the road which I didn't see

I fell hard. Am OK but if I were elderly or more fragile I could have bad injuries.

At least salt the pavement after!

I've had more problems with di-icer than anything else. I just put the engine on with the heater on full, then walk around the car scraping.

Takes 5 minutes tops, and thats with 'short person problems' of having to climb on my bonnet to reach the middle of my windscreen xD

So underneath the car, not on the pavement?
Depends on where you car is. Some folks are on a drive and it will flow out onto the pavement.
Other folks will be at the kerbside, but the water will slowly flow to the gutters and/or further down the road.

Then those who pour in on their doors to melt the ice there, that will often land on the kerb...

But the way warm water dissipates heat is by spreading to the cold snow / ice. It spreads out like a ripples, so a cup of water poured onto snow will melt a large radius. The radius will depend on the difference in temperature and volume of water. So it can travel up a kerb.

Heat always travels from hot to cold, not the other way around, so it spreads out.

Does it also have magnets, Kitty?

Sorry, just saw this. There are tiny magnets on the top and bottom that meets the front windscreen, to stop it flapping.

I am probably being thick here but how does pouring water over your windscreen cause ice on the pavement? Cars are parked on road, water is poured over windscreen, how does it get on the pavement?

Cars are parked on road

Not all of them. Many people have driveways, which are usually sloped slightly towards the pavement,

Slanted DRIVEWAYS I assume.

Slanted driveways, cambered roads... and as I've mentioned, the way warm water interacts with snow... the warmth spreads out (and travels up a kerb)

Bad enough I have to teach my DC to cross roads between parked cars (there is rarely a car free stretch of pavement round our way) without the gutters and cambers being full of sheet ice.

@Kazzyhoward hot water should not be used, I think it can crack your window!

My pet peeve, hot water to de-ice your car. Are people bloody mental?
How about a scraper, it's one or two minutes, no nasty surprises for your neighbours and gives a bit of a workout on a cold morning so you don't get into the car frozen over.

As a pp said the paths are usually blocked with cars, at times you have to detour onto the road, usually between park cars to cross, when there is a sheet of ice between the park cars it is very dangerous, at least on the footpath the ice is slightly more visible.

PickAChew try it. It may completely defrost a relatively small area, but it softens most of the windscreen, so it clears completely with a swish of the wipers.

NB it goes on the dash, not the glass.

Thanks to this thread I tried the hot water bottle trick this morning. (Not that I use water for defrosting, I just wanted to see what better methods there are to scraping). I put two bottles on the dash and after 15 minutes there was just the area directly above them defrosted so not the most effective method but still works.
I took the cover off one bottle and ran it down the outside of the window and it immediately melted it. So now I will be using a hot water bottle instead of a scraper. Just wipe it around like you would a cloth and poof! The ice is gone. Cheers MNers.

Just put the warm (not piping hot) hot water bottles on the actual windscreen outside the car... they will clear in 2 minutes

When I put the water bottles on the dash I never bother with the covers. It completely clears a space near the hotties and softens everything else meaning the wipers can wipe the ice off. It's easy and safe. Works for me!

@PyongyangKipperbang

"Except it doesn't and it's not stupid and it can't be 'very very likely' because, well, it doesn't. HTH"

Where is your evidence for that? Given that there have been several examples on this thread alone?

Gotta love some selective quoting, eh?

For completeness, this was what I was responding to (which I quoted, to make that clear) and my comment:

""What I dont understand is why anyone would do it when it is very very likely to cause you a cracked windscreen. Going from ice cold to hot to cold again in such a short space of time is a really fucking stupid thing to do"

Except it doesn't and it's not stupid and it can't be 'very very likely' because, well, it doesn't. HTH"

How can I provide 'evidence' of something that doesn't happen?

A 7 page thread and only one person has given a first hand account of it happening - one other has said the deicer cracked their windscreen, yet loads of people say they do it. So, it can't really be 'very very likely' can it - on the 'evidence'.

I've also read this sort of thread about a million times in the past and it's always split about 50/50 with people who do it and people who say don't do it, it cracks your windscreen, yet it's very uncommon to see anyone say it had cracked their windscreen.

You also say:

And why do you consider it to be "fine" when the OP's question was about the water refreezing, something I notice you havent commented on.

I was not aware of the rule that one has to respond to ONLY the OP comments, and ALL the comments in the thread in order to be able to post. I missed that memo (as did you, it seems, as you have also chosen what to respond to).

So, for clarity, I was ONLY commenting on the post I quoted when I posted my comment.

Using water to deice the windscreen is fine for the windscreen in my opinion.

I totally agree it's a stupid and selfish thing to do if people are going to walk on the area where the water falls and it's still cold enough for that water to freeze.

I don't tend to do it myself, mainly because I can't be bothered with the faff of going in at out of the house at that time in the morning, so I do a combination of scraping (which, unlike it seems to for some other people, does NOT warm me up, it leaves me frozen, especially my hands) and waiting in the car for it to warm up and the screen and windscreen wipers warm enough to be able to wipe the ice away. This morning, I started the engine, then went back in and sorted my lunch, coat and shoes (about 4 mins) and when I came back it was more or less clear - my car is on my driveway before anyone bleats about idling being illegal on the road, which it is).

Wow these people must be using a lot of water for it to run all the way down their drive onto the pavement. I still can't understand this. I will look out for it on the walk to school tomorrow, I can't say I've ever noticed that this is a problem.

Exactly bobs. People are making out like we are using a hosepipe or a bath full of water. You only need a small amount. And those who've had a cracked windscreen aren't doing it right. You need warm NOT hot water!

Our dick neighbour washes his car faithfully twice a week in all weather.

Cue the slick of ice across the whole width of the road.

A small jug is enough to do defrost all windows including the windscreen. And the water is lukewarm not hot of course. I do it on a flat drive and as it’s such a small amount of water, very little ends up on the floor.

Yes it's a result of your neighbour being bone idle.

A small jug is enough to do defrost all windows including the windscreen. And the water is lukewarm not hot of course. I do it on a flat drive and as it’s such a small amount of water, very little ends up on the floor.

Where do you think it goes then?

Bizarre thing to do .

I’ve never heard of anyone doing this in Canada where it is regularly freezing. Get a scraper or wait a few minutes for your car to warm up.

@plabom same. Hadn’t thought about the excess water, although my driveway slopes backwards so don’t think it would be an issue. Will get out earlier and scrape instead of pour water in future just in case.