How to Make Windshield Washer Fluid

Windshield washer fluid is important to keep your glass clean, and for safe driving too. Imagine your car's windshield being dirty! It may seem like a mere inconvenience in summer, but during the winters it can prove dangerous. Since, during the winters, your car glass is likely to be covered with a layer of ice or frost due to the fall in temperature. Dangerous! Indeed dangerous! It is very important to keep the reservoirs of windshield fluid full, to ensure safe driving. Now, if you use the washer fluid in abundance or need to replace it quite often, then you must prepare it on your own at home. This will not only save money but also help you keep a track of what goes in the fluid, ultimately in your car components. The ingredients needed to prepare this washer fluid are easily available in your home, and for the others that are not available at home, you may find them at the supermarket easily. Well, given below are a few homemade windshield washer fluid recipes.

How to Make Windshield Washer Fluid at Home

Formula #1
You will need

• 1 gallon water
• 4 cups of cleaning solution
• ½ cup white vinegar
• ½ cup of antifreeze solution
• Funnel

Mix 4 cups of cleaning solution in 1 gallon water. To it, add white vinegar and the antifreeze solution. Now, with the help of the funnel, pour the mixture in your windshield wiper tank. Vinegar in the fluid helps keep the windshield ice and frost-free. An antifreeze solution is available at any supermarket.

● Make sure you use the antifreeze solution, since eliminating the use of it would make the fluid in your car freeze, and then it would only produce a costly repair bill.

Formula #2
You will need

• 1 gallon water
• Liquid soap
• ½ cup ammonia
• 1 spoon baking soda
• Menthol or antifreeze agent

Mix all the above ingredients together and pour in your windshield wiper tank. Ammonia used here is to maintain the shine and clarity of the glass. In this case, if you do not have menthol or an antifreezing solution, you can also use ethanol or ethylene glycol, since both work the same as menthol.

● Menthol is a coolant that would prevent your windshield water fluid from freezing. Remember to increase the menthol content in the fluid as the temperature goes down. The menthol:water proportion in normal climatic conditions should be 1:2, but as the temperature decreases, the proportion should ideally be 2:3.

There are also many issues regarding the environmental aspects of using the washer fluids. The use of washer fluids including various chemicals, which amounts to millions of liters each year, can lead to serious air and water pollution. Moreover, there are a few other ingredients like strong acids, alcohol, and so on, added in commercially prepared washer fluids, that can have corrosive effects on the paint, plastic and other components of the car. The solution to all these problems is the homemade recipes of windshield washer fluid, since you know what goes into the car fluid.

Make your own washer fluid, to maintain the mechanics and finesse of your car.