Homemade windshield washer fluid?

[seton89]

Any Freeper have a recipe for homemade windshield washer fluid?

I have concerns about damaging pump seals and hoses.

Freezing is not a problem now but come December ...

[ErnBatavia]

Wifey and I just completed a full month of driving around the entire lower one-third of the U.S. a few weeks ago. While packing up the trunk, I thought it'd be a good idea to shove a bottle of windex in the corner along with my chamois.

Good damn thing....we hit central Florida smack in the middle of Love Bug season. Those little bastards do NOT squeegee off with just the gas station's water; they dry like super glue....but a spritz of the windex got us across from Cape Coral to Fort Pierce with only six window-wiping stops. Whew.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Some things aren't worth doing yourself.

I love the Rain-X brand. $3 a gallon at Walmart.

Automatically coats your windshield with Rain-X. That stuff is great while driving in a rainstorm. You don't even need your windshield wipers.

[charmedone]

How about RV plumbing anti-freeze? Should work OK and you could add a bit of dish soap too.

[HiTech RedNeck]

1 Tablespoon? I’d suggest testing this at home with garden hose handy to wash away the almost certain mess. A scant quarter teaspoon would be more like it. I tried a strong rubbing alcohol mix during mid-teens winter temperatures once, and got instant Jack Frost on the windshield. Stuff evaporates so well that it encourages ice formation.

[omega4179]

1.29 at Walmart or so.

[Never2baCrat]

When I was in Germany, vodka was the thing to use. Never ever froze!

[cripplecreek]

Honey.

[american_ranger]

In the General/Chat forum, on a thread titled Homemade windshield washer fluid?, HiTech RedNeck wrote:

At one time, methanol used to be sold in little cans as “windshield washer fluid concentrate.” Then someone in marketing wised up and realized they could make far more money selling gallon bottles of pre-mix.

Yesterday I saw pre-mixed 2-cycle engine gasoline for sale. $3.99 per quart.

For you zero followers that works out to just under $16/gallon.

Come to my house and I'll sell t to you for half that price.

[rockabyebaby]

9 c water
1 c isopropyl alcohol
1 T liquid dish soap

Directions: Combine and store in a plastic jug and use to refill windshield washer receptacle in your car.

****NOTE****: MAKE A SMALL BATCH AND PUT IN FREEZER OVERNITE, IF IT FREEZES DO NOT USE THIS IN COLD WEATHER!

Next recipe:

•White vinegar
•Water
•An empty milk jug or container
•A funnel

What You Do:
Combine equal parts white vinegar and water. Then, use the solution to fill your car's windshield washer fluid resevoir.

Why This Works:
The acetic acid in vinegar dissolves grime, bugs, sap and other windshield nuisances.

Benefits of Making Your Own Windshield Washer Fluid:
•inexpensive
•effective grime and bug remover
•environmentally-friendly
•helps to keep windows frost-free in the winter

****NOTE**** SEE NOTE ABOVE!

[HiTech RedNeck]

Vinegar “might” be OK in the summer time. My brother had a stupid idea once and put vinegar water in an old car’s radiator to try to clean out the cooling system on the cheap. Result: heater hose promptly busted.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

In most parts of California, you cannot buy the stuff with methanol in it for freeze protection. The juice with methanol in it is available only in the mountains during winter. Part of the air pollution control effort.

When I go to the mountains to ski, I add ~40% methanol to the commercial juice in the reservoir before I leave the Bay Area.

[NautiNurse]

LOL—we simply avoid going anywhere in FL more than 5 miles inland during love bug season. A game you can play while driving: Search for single love bugs. Yell, “LOSER!” Repeat.

[Dumpster Baby]

In a pinch I’ve just dumped a bottle of rubbing alcohol in and filled up the rest of the way with tap water. The 70/30 alcohol/water mix gets diluted down by the extra water but still has enough alcohol to prevent freezing. That would get me through enough winter driving to have time to get to a store for the real stuff.

[Kirkwood]

Make your own? Urine.

[Krankor]

I would move to a warm weather climate, sell my car and ride a bike- nude.

[bigbob]

Make love not windshield wiper fluid!

[ErnBatavia]

I'd never even heard of 'em......but coming down I-75 from Tampa to get to Cape Coral we started to see these weird 'coupled' buglets splatting all over the windshield. Once done there, it got really, really gooey going across state. I was hoping it wouldn't rain, because they hardened so much that I figured it'd do even more damage to the wipers.

Stopping to squeegee off, others were talking about all the home remedies such as rubbing your car down with Emotion Lotion or PAM to avoid paint damage.

What I hated was that the bastards would NOT rub off, like our soft little California flutterbies.

[bert]

one gallon methanol, one gallon water, one tablespoon joy one teaspoon blue food coloring

[cyclotic]

I was just going to post about the Rain-X brand. I’ve gone 50 miles at a time in driving rain with no wipers. Well worth the money

I have a friend who’a an amateur chemist. He tried making his own once and stripped the paint off his roof.

[humblegunner]

Dollar-Store window cleaner cut 50/50 with water.

Get the big "refill" size, no sprayer.