It's no secret that defrosting a car windscreen early in the morning is one of life's painful annoyances. You're cold, the car is cold and nine times out of 10, you didn't allow the extra time to scrape the ice away. There are endless hacks online which claim to be "genius" and speed this process up. But the AA has warned this is not always the case. "There are a lot of videos out there claiming to have genius ways to defrost your car. But most of the methods don't work or could even cause you extra problems," it says.
The road firm has suggested against putting hot water into a sealed sandwich bag. It says: "We wouldn't recommend trying this because the melted ice could refreeze and cause your windscreen wipers or even door handles to stick." Another hack, more bizarrely, suggests rubbing half a potato onto the inside of windows to prevent them steaming up. "We wouldn't recommend rubbing anything onto your windows that could smear them and impair your ability to see the road clearly," the AA added.
Instead, it recommends you leave it to your car's technology to help speed up the process of defrosting your car's windows. Some newer model cars allow you to control the heating from your phone, which means you can do this from the comfort of your home - and it will give you a helping hand in getting the windscreen clear more quickly.
The AA added: "Many manufacturers offer remote heating and defrosting, with some letting you use an app to turn on the heaters. Many plug-in hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles have a clever pre-heat function that heats the vehicle electrically while it’s plugged in. That means a toasty, frost-free car without running down the battery and reducing the car's electric range."
Other more simple tactics include making use of a garage if you have one, or parking your car on a driveway so the car can benefit from some heat in your house. It also says to use a windshield if you have one, or a piece of cardboard. Finally, the AA warns against "portholing", which is the process of clearing a small part of your windscreen and using that as your only road visibility. "Not everyone bothers to clear all the ice off before they drive off, instead leaving just enough of a window to see through. This is known as 'portholing' and could get you in trouble with the police if you're caught driving dangerously."