Cold wintertime temperatures can be hard on automobile glass. You need to be careful over the coming weeks to avoid damaging or weakening your windshield and automobile window glass through bad maintenance and usage habits. Cold weather doesn’t have to detract from the condition of your automobile glass. By avoiding the following six auto glass mistakes, you can be sure to prevent unnecessary auto glass repair and replacement needs.
1. Removing Snow With a Shovel
Motorists who don’t have a scraper specifically designed for removing snow from a windshield may be tempted to use their snow shovel to clear off their auto glass. Unfortunately, a shovel can be cumbersome to maneuver over vehicle glass, and often motorists end up accidentally scratching their windshields. You should have a scraper available to you for removing snow and ice from your vehicle so that you don’t accidentally damage your windshield when you’re in a hurry to get your vehicle on the road after a snowstorm.
2. Failing to Get Chips and Cracks Repaired
Motorists should always get windshield damage repaired right away to prevent it from worsening and becoming more expensive to repair. However, it’s especially important to repair windshield damage in the winter months. Chips and cracks in your windshield can easily expand during the winter when water gets into them and expands while freezing. This will make windshield damage worse. Cracks in your windshield can also detract from the efficiency of your vehicle’s heater and make it more difficult to keep your vehicle at a comfortable temperature while you’re driving in winter weather.
3. Washing Off Snow and Ice
When you’re in a hurry, you might feel that the best way to clear snow off of your vehicle is to hose off your windshield. However, this is a bad idea because water that’s left on your vehicle after you do this can freeze over and create problems by expanding slightly as it freezes. Water will quickly freeze onto your vehicle in cold weather. You need to be patient and take the time to let your vehicle heat up so that you can clear snow and ice off after it starts to melt away. This way, you won’t have to deal with a cumbersome layer of ice forming over your windshield that can increase the risk of windshield cracks and scratches.
4. Putting Boiling Water on Cold Glass
Motorists sometimes have the idea of dumping boiling or hot water over cold auto glass to quickly melt ice away. However, this will thermally shock your windshield glass. Shocking windshield glass with an extreme temperature change can, in some situations, cause your windshield to completely shatter.
5. Overusing Windshield Cleaner
You shouldn’t get carried away with using windshield cleaner on your automobile windshield when you’re driving in extremely cold temperatures. Windshield cleaner can freeze onto your windshield if it’s too cold, speeding up the development of cracks and chips.
6. Using Icy Wipers
When you’re in a hurry to get to work in the morning, you may be tempted to use your windshield wipers even when they are icy. Dragging icy wipers across your windshield is obviously likely to lead to scratches and chips. Again, take your time and let your vehicle heat up a little so that you can run your windshield wipers after all the snow and ice has melted off of them. If you’re in need of auto glass repair or replacement services, contact Martin Glass Co. With several locations in Illinois and Missouri, Martin Glass Co. offers a wide variety of automobile and residential glass services, including large vehicle and vintage automobile glass servicing.