2 Ingredient Homemade Windshield De-Icer Recipes (2024)

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Thishomemade windshield de-icer recipe is one of those recipes that is so simple you are going to wonder why you ever purchased de-icer for you car. It takes about 20 seconds to make and it works GREAT!

2 Easy Homemade Windshield De-Icer Recipes

This one isn’t like some homemade cleaners where they only “sort of” work. It really does work! The best part is you can make it with ingredients you already have at home.

Mike and I made up at batch for the video and we tested on a window that had a thin film of ice and it took about 1 minute to dissolve it so if you have a thick sheet of ice, use a little more and let it sit for 5 minutes or so. You may need a second application is it’s REALLY thick. Again, spraying the homemade window de-icer on the night before makes it much easier in the morning.

You can spray this on locks, door handles, doors, or the bottom of garage doors to help loosen the ice. Having lived in Kansas, Idaho, Colorado and Wyoming, I can tell you this really comes in handy in the winter! I remember days, while growing up in Kansas, when the back door was just frozen shut. I think mom would have really appreciated this homemade de-icer! Right now we have 5 cars that we can’t park in the garage (our son is fixing up his crashed car) so scraping windshields in Colorado all the way into late April can be a chore!

These window de-icer recipes can make it much easier for you!

Homemade Windshield De-Icer Recipe #1

2 parts rubbing alcohol
1 part water

Pour the alcohol and water into a spray bottle. Spray on the windshield or other surface the night before to prevent a build up of ice or spray on 1-5 minutes before you would normally leave(depending on how thick the ice is) to make the cleanup easier. Then the ice will scrape right off.

Homemade Windshield De-Icer Recipe #2

3 parts vinegar
1 part water

Pour vinegarand water into a spray bottle. Spray on the night before or 1-5 minutes before leaving (depending on how thick the ice is). Then the ice will scrape right off.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

Grizzly Bear Mom
March 9, 2015 at 2:10 pm

Will it help melt the ice off it I spray it on my car and go to work for 9 hours? I park in a train commuting lot. Will the bottle freeze and burst in my car?
Reply
- Jill
  March 9, 2015 at 3:06 pm
  
  Alcohol doesn’t freeze like water. It needs to get to -127 to -87 degrees below before it will freeze. So no this won’t freeze in your car and I don’t know if it will keep the ice off for 9 hours but when you get back out to your car just give a couple of squirts and it will de ice it for you again.
  This is a little off of the subject but if ever you need to take something like water in your car in the winter, just fill the bottle up only 2/3 full and then if it freezes you won’t have to worry about the bottle bursting.
  Reply
- Chris
  October 1, 2017 at 1:56 pm
  
  You don’t really need to spray the alcohol/water version in advance. It works very well and very quickly. I’ve been using it for years. I usually spray the windshield until the ice looks wet. Wait about a minute. Either scrape the ice if it is really thick or run the windshield wipers (making sure they are free to move!). Spray again if there are spots that didn’t melt enough.
  Reply
  - Michael and Jennifer Gruber
    December 31, 2023 at 1:05 pm
    
    Will it leave a film on windows?
    Reply
    - Jill
      January 2, 2024 at 10:38 am
      
      They shouldn’t and most people seem to really like the way it works.
      Reply
Grizzly Bear Mom
March 10, 2015 at 8:05 am

Thanks. I had just read the 2nd or vinegar recipe. It can’t hurt to try it. Sorry I didn’t have it last week. It took me 45 minutes to chip enough off of my car to make it safe to drive at 9 pm when few were on the road. It would have taken longer if I had left earlier when more cars were driving. Too late this year, I hope!
Reply
Mevla Rama
December 14, 2015 at 6:52 pm

Does the alcohol damage the car?
Reply
- Jill
  December 14, 2015 at 7:14 pm
  
  No it doesn’t hurt it at all.
  Reply
Susan
January 11, 2016 at 9:50 am

Hey Jill,
Does spraying the vinegar and water on the front and back windshield help prevent ice built up or does it make it easier to scrap off? I’m going to try this tonite because this sounds great!
Susan
Reply
- Tawra
  January 11, 2016 at 12:52 pm
  
  Some people say it works but I’ve never tried it.
  Reply
xerxes
January 17, 2016 at 7:45 am

thank you for the windshield ice removal recipe
Reply
Victoria
January 23, 2016 at 12:43 am

Will the vinegar recipe make the metal contact points, such as door locks or parts of windshield wipers, rust?
Reply
- Jill
  January 23, 2016 at 10:18 am
  
  No it shouldn’t. I have used vinegar to wash my windows and different things in the house that have touched metal and I have never had problems with that.
  Reply
- Uncle Bob
  January 5, 2018 at 10:47 am
  
  Vinegar is naturally acidic. Be careful not to overdo the spraying and limit it to the glass! High acidity will eventually destroy paint and also will damage rubber wiper blades if you leave it on for long time. For these reasons, I’d never put it in my windshield washer tank. Just add a little bit of a brand name concentrated de-icing additive to the regular “blue” all season washer fluid. One quart bottle normally lasts me for several gallons of mix. Also, hand apply a thick layer of car wax (or such) to the paint before winter comes and it will help keep ice from sticking.
  Reply
Magdalen
January 31, 2017 at 9:10 am

After cleaning the bath with vinegar for a few months, I’ve found that he metal circle round the bath plug hole does show quite a lot of rust. I suppose I should have rinsed more thoroughly.
Reply
- Kathleen
  January 7, 2022 at 10:54 am
  
  I found that after using this solution, it is best to clean the tub, including the shower walls,, with Dawn. I squirt Dawn on a wet rag, scrub and rinse well. I got a scrubber at Dollar General that extends, making it easier and the scrubbing head rotates. I just but the wet cleaning rag the scrubber as well and tie it to the head with rubber bands. The rag cleans a more extended area than just the brush. After it dries, you can apply clear car wax to metal parts to protect them.
  Reply
Christine Mann
October 3, 2017 at 10:13 am

Can we put this solution in the windshield washer compartment in the car? Just turn on the windshield wipers and spray that way? Thank you :)
Reply
- Jill
  October 3, 2017 at 7:07 pm
  
  I am not sure you can put it in the windshield washer compartment especially with new cars. I suppose you could ask your mechanic if it would work and see what he says.
  Reply
Nancy
November 8, 2017 at 9:32 am

thanks for sharing, I’m going to make a batch for my husband to use in the mornings. it will be a time saver for him this fall/winter
Reply
Jen
December 20, 2017 at 4:14 pm

What kind of alcohol works better…hydrogen perixode whuch is rubbing alochol or isopropyl alcohol which alot of website say. Whuch one worrks better?
Reply
- Jill
  December 22, 2017 at 7:00 pm
  
  Jen alcohol and hydrogen peroxide are 2 totally different things. For this recipe you need to use rubbing alcohol.
  Reply
Kate
December 21, 2017 at 10:55 am

I got in the habit of laying an old yoga mat across the windshield. The wiper blades hold it in place along with the stickiness of the mat itself. It will blow off in strong winds tough.
Reply
- Jill
  December 22, 2017 at 6:56 pm
  
  Great idea Kate thanks
  Reply
- mrsjdt
  February 8, 2019 at 11:46 pm
  
  I cover a piece of cardboard with the heavy plastic bags (dog food) that would normally be recycled, using good tape to hold it. place it on the windshield, with wipers up, to hold in place. It’s a great ice protector and the “wet” slides right off.
  Reply
Susanna Sheppard
July 25, 2018 at 6:24 am

I have tried the vinegar recipe up in Northern Canada in -45… it just seems to add to the ice on the windshield.
Someone should spray the vinegar recipe on half the windshield and the #1 on the other half. Let us know the results!
Iam looking ‘forward’ to trying the alcohol mixture.
Reply
- Jill
  July 25, 2018 at 7:47 am
  
  We do put up vinegar recipes for our readers because they ask us for them. I personally have found that vinegar isn’t as great and wonderful to use for everything myself. The alcohol recipe I think would work better but personally I think a good old ice scraper or better yet to put a card board or something on your windshield is even better.
  Reply
Marlo
December 7, 2018 at 9:25 am

Will the rubbing alcohol or the vinegar hurt the paint if it drips onto the car?
Reply
- Jill
  December 8, 2018 at 7:43 am
  
  You know Marlo you might google it and see because I don’t want to consider myself an expert on car paint. I have had no problems but that may just be me and my car
  Reply
Kasey Keyes
January 21, 2019 at 11:17 am

I can confirm that the vinegar/water mixture works within minutes on frozen car doors, It was below zero temps overnite after rain/snow, so car was encased with layer of ice. Sprayed the mixture around the driver door frame [the door lock worked but door wouldnt open] and let it set for about 4-5 minutes, then the door opened. I like this better than using the alcohol mixture. Used only an 8 oz equasion and that was enough! Thanks!!
Reply
Mike
August 3, 2019 at 6:53 pm

Is a 70% concentration of rubbing alchol sufficient to melt the ice or do you recommend the 90+% concentration? The 70% concentration is easy to find here; plentiful and cheap. There are places that sell the 90+% concentration of rubbing alcohol but it’s considerably more money.
Reply
- Jill
  August 5, 2019 at 8:40 am
  
  Yes you can use 70%
  Reply
Nell Watson
October 27, 2020 at 5:54 am

Is this apple cider or white distilled vinegar that you use??
Reply
- Jill
  October 27, 2020 at 9:00 am
  
  White distilled usually when a recipe is for a cleaning product or something like that it is for white distilled. Hope that helps.
  Reply
jerry mander
December 14, 2020 at 10:19 pm

Put a little bit of dish soap into the de-icer to work better.
Reply
Pam
February 18, 2021 at 12:42 pm

Grandmother said in 30s to 50s they sliced onion & used juice to keep windshield from icing. Any info as to why this would work & still be a usable alternative?
Reply
- Jill
  February 18, 2021 at 1:28 pm
  
  This does still work Pam. Not totally sure of all the ins and outs why it works but has some thing to do with the sugar or that type of thing in the onion
  Reply
Annette
December 17, 2023 at 3:33 pm

If one does not have a spray bottle handy, could the solution be poured over the windshield the night before (pre-freezing so that the temperature change does not crack the glass)? If utilized this way, would it need to be wiped after or could it just be poured over the glass?
Reply
- Jill
  December 18, 2023 at 3:35 pm
  
  I do not know we have not tried it like that before.
  Reply
James W
January 9, 2024 at 9:47 am

Additional winter car help – for exterior mirrors, get LARGE, HEAVY DUTY (cheap ones won’t last) FREEZER BAGS to go over the exterior mirrors before snow/ice. MUST BE freezer bags, not regular large bags, and a heavy duty zipper-bag helps to keep them on in windy conditions (flimsy zippered ones will just loosen and fly off)
Reply