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Does anyone have any homebrew type screenwash mix ups, which would be suitable for the present cold snap. As well as the cost some retailers seem to be running low and i had to try two fillings stations and a supermarket to stock up this evening.
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Isn't it alcohol that stops it freezing?? Maybe a little cheap hooch would do the trick.
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Good thought, there's some whisky in Aldi that's cheaper than screenwash. Could lead to an interesting few minutes if you were pulled over though. " Is that alcohol I can smell sir...."
;-)
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You can buy drums or bottles of ethanol or isopropanol from various places. These are the acohols I have seen listed on commercial screenwash.
You can work out the concentration required by searching the net, e.g.
www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ethanol-water-d_989.html
To that, you can add a dash of stardrops or dishwasher rinse aid.
Edited by Hamsafar on 08/01/2009 at 20:31
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Methylated spirit : Water.
1:4 should be ok to about -6, 1:1 to about -15.
Used neat will work to around -35 C, but is also extremely flammable if not diluted ;-)
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Thanks, I seem to be using around 20l a week with the present conditions so any savings would go a long way. Where can you buy ethenol etc. in volume? Also could anyone recommend antyhing to add for cleaning properties.
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what you doing - putting out fires with it?
I do 400m a week and get through about 4 litres at most
Edited by Webmaster on 09/01/2009 at 00:28
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I buy 5 liter bottles of Holts concentrate at Costco and dilute it 1:4, hasnt frozen yet in the car or during a test in my freezer. If you buy ready mixed screenwash you are buying mainly water.
Edited by Old Navy on 08/01/2009 at 21:12
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Don't tailgate!
Uses much less screenwash ;-)
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dieselbob... has the cold weather forced a pipe to come loose and you're therefore leaking screenwash. 20 litres in a week sounds wrong. Nearly 4.5 gallons of screen wash????
Or you drive on some very dirty roads. But almost 3 litres per day.??
Edited by rtj70 on 08/01/2009 at 22:05
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I do around 400 miles all told as well, but in the dark. My headlamp washers take a toll and i do like to see where im going. My partner also does quite a few miles a week and has a magic screen wash bottle which never runs out.
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My headlight washer only comes on one in three screen wash cycles and then only if the lights are on. 20 litres in a week still sounds like a problem to me.
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"I do 400m a week and get through about 4 litres at most"
Try chasing it with a swig of Coke, it makes it much more palatable.
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BBD - you're becoming native then ;-) I joke. But I knew a Polish friend in Manchester as a student.
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Rectified Spirit at 95% is popular here for those who like to mix and make their own fruity vodkas, I sampled plenty over Christmas - lethal if drunk neat of course but it doesn't stop some people.
Screen wash certified to -22 is about a quid for 4 litres here.
If you want -35 it leaps to 6 or 7 quid and smells quite awful
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A doctor who ended up very important in the NHS once told me of someone being admitted from drinking "ethanol" (is that right? it was the sort you mention)....
Iit was xmas time so the temporary fix for this poor soul was to dilute the "neat alcohol" with a bottle of whisky - the pharmacy was closed.. They were surprisingly happy as a homeless person with a nice bottle of whisky at Xmas (tragic that society put them in this position). The risk was not death but blindness.
I still cannot see how mass produced screen wash is more expensive than a "home brew" solution.
Edited by rtj70 on 08/01/2009 at 23:12
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Remember the Great Austrian White Wine Scandal ?
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Yep. Didn't the press call the added ingredient "anti-freeze"?
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The Austrian wine additive was ethylene glycol. The stuff sometimes used as engine antifreeze.
Adding methylated spirit to the washer bottle is probably the easiest for homebrew screenwash.
Kevin...
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I used this as a get me home on New Year's Day.
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Hair of the dog?
Kevin...
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Where can you buy ethenol etc. in volume?
You can get isopropanol from fibreglass suppliers. A 5l can should be around £10.
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And how much is 5l of screen wash ready to dilute from almost everywhere?
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You can get isopropanol from fibreglass suppliers. A 5l can should be around £10.
Thats about twice as expensive as screenwash concentrate, (see my post above).
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Have you tried using Rain-X (or similar) on the windscreen & windows etc. ?
It helps reduce the amount of fluid required and helps to keep windows cleaner for longer, also there is a version that can be added into the washer/water container thus enabling prolonged protection.
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Many years ago I always used to add methylated spirits to the screenwash during the winter months. Where I used to work at the time I could get hold of industrial meths, which is clear, not coloured the usual blue, and it was very effective in keeping the mixture from freezing and helping to clear the screen.
The other good thing about it was, because I used to take it from where I worked, it didn't cost me anything!
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The other good thing about it was because I used to take it from where I worked it didn't cost me anything!
Shame on you both for stealing it and for then bragging about it.
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I found that after I had added Meths (IMS) to my screenwash I soon got the distinctive smell of cats wee every time I cleaned the screen!
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With a moniker like that I'm not really sure if that's a complaint or a recommendation ;-)
Kevin...
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Have you tried using Rain-X (or similar) on the windscreen & windows etc. ?
That stuff is is either loved or hated in equal measure. I would rather pay for a new windscreen than have one that had been treated to it!
(Ducks behind the parapet!)
p
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I agree that RainX is horrible on the windscreen as with every wiper sweep millions of miniscule droplets of water are formed which look like condensation or steam instead of just a thin sheet of invisible damp.
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I loved RainX when I put it on my Polo windscreen.
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Where can you buy ethenol etc. in volume?
tinyurl.com/a6tcnw
Minimum order 20 litres. HM C&E duty £19.56 per litre plus VAT. I don't know what rate VAT is on ethanol. You can get it duty free if you qualify for a licence from HM C&E. Click on the link near the bottom of the web page.
I hope this helps ;-)
Edited by L'escargot on 09/01/2009 at 08:19
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Oh snaily. The dangers of indiscriminate googling.
Absolute ethanol is a very pure ethanol; of drinkable quality - hence the requirement to pay duty. (Best mixed with lots of cheap orange juice...)
Add a dash of methanol (just a tiny proportion (strictly actually wood naptha) and they will also supply you with it, sans duty. www.ethanol.co.uk/products3.html
The methanol is added to make it poisonous; the purple to make it unattractive. This means you won't drink it.
Phew.
Pre-mixed screenwash is mostly water - a very expensive way to buy it.
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Oh snaily. The dangers of indiscriminate googling. Absolute ethanol is a very pure ethanol; of drinkable quality - hence the requirement to pay duty.
I'm aware of that, but you can't expect me to point someone in the direction of inferior products which might damage either their car or their health. I was only trying to be helpful.
;-)
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Certainly when I was in Germany in the 70s drinkable vodka was cheaper than garage secreenwash. Halfords do 3 for 2 on screenwash and their concentrate is almost the same price as the concentrate which, as has been pointed out is at least 50% water. Even in the 90s Bols gin was £2.80 a litre, duty free.
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I'd be wary of anything that contained sugar, which might crystallize inside and cause blockages, or outside and cause paint damage.
Halfords' Super Concentrated is £1.60 a litre at the current multibuy rate. Why on earth would you faff about with anything else?
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Halfords' Super Concentrated is £1.60 a litre at the current multibuy rate. Why on earth would you faff about with anything else?
Lack of availability of the proper stuff round my way, rather than trying to save a few pence. Having said that I did manage to get some 'carplan' stuff yesterday, it says on the label to use undiluted for protection down to -10C or whatever, but then has a warning about not spilling undiluted fluid on the paintwork....
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The purple colour is for recognition. They also add pyridine to make it smell and taste so bad you will not be able to drink it.
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The purple colour is for recognition.........
>>
'Methylated spirit' can also have up to 5% Methanol in it, by the nature of its preparation and of course that alone would make it very dangerous to consume.
Denatured spirit has a blue dye (Crystal violet or Methyl Violet) and of course Pyridine, as you correctly said.
Some of my facts might be getting a little rusty now as I left my 37yrs, as an Analytical Chemist, behind me when made redundant in 1994
Edited by oldgit on 11/01/2009 at 14:36
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I bought 5 litres of Lidl's version, and very good it is too. About £4.
It claims to contain Glycol, which initially led me to think it was 'proper' anti-freeze, but it certainly works.
Edited by J Bonington Jagworth on 09/01/2009 at 13:49
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I agree, the LIDL's stuff is great. When neat it says protects to -70C so must be 90%+ alcohol which is higher than most makes.
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Stop press lads, get yourself round to Morrisons fuel station, they've got Car Plan 5 litres ready mix (i know i don't normally but) at £2.44 buy one get one free.
Remember you heard it first in the BR folks..;)
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Tesco yesterday pre-mix was £2.37 for 5 litres. Ripped off in a Costcutters whilst out on the road the other day 3.50p for a litre - I was desperate though.
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Sad but true, I always stock up on the stuff in November before it runs short. Bit like Autumn stacking logs really. Also, keep a roll of kitchen towel in the car. If all else fails, it's great for a quick clean down of windows and mirrors unlike a cloth which tends to smear them.
Must go and buy another anorack.....
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- I was desperate though.
And i feel for those who run out and find themselves at the mercy of the modern day highwayman.....the motorway service area.
EDIT Humph i keep an old 1 litre spray bottle of water with couple of drops of washing liquid, a soft hand brush and squeegy in the motor, spotless windows in seconds.
Edited by gordonbennet on 11/01/2009 at 14:46
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And to think we must both once have been attractive to women !
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SWMBO says I am still am in the dark.
Edited by Old Navy on 11/01/2009 at 16:13
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GB & HB. Are you friends, or just good friends? ;>)
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Never met BT. However, I think he'd be easy enough to spot. The giveaways would include the leather gaiters on his leaf springs or the steady drip of excess lubricants from the undertside of any vehicle he happened to turn up in. Any further doubts as to identity would be assuaged by the the uncannily clean windows. But it does all rather read a bit Kim and Aggie when you reprise the handy hints element of the thread I'll concede !
And for those who happen to notice the post time, fear not I am not a bat, just have an early start today but felt honour bound to clear up any misunderstandings.
Should just have time to pop out and polish the dash before I leave.......
;-)
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WAKE UP HUMPH !
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Shhh PU. Heck of an echo in this cave and what's more Robin's only just stopped snoring.......
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but felt honour bound to clear upany misunderstandings.
Old BT's taking a great interest, Tom sounds like you attended the right sort of school, (the meths wheeze gave a clue and brought a smile), mortar boards, cape's and the cane? 'sorely' missed and a good practitioner takes some 'beating' these days.
I've spent the last 24 hours trying to recall a time when wimin might have found one attractive, still no warmer on that front either.
;)
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I agree the LIDL's stuff is great. When neat it says protects to -70C so must be 90%+ alcohol which is higher than most makes.
Can you drink it ? rhetorical question ;-)
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Just bouught some value stuff in Wilkinsons. As 75p a litre I am not expecting much, but at that price I can afford to chuck it in neat. Dosent have a temp claim on the bottle - just says use 1:4 in winter
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I think all in all, i had better bite the bullet and buy in bulk in the off season as it were. Its a bit of a gamble as this is the first time for a few years that ive used as much as i have. The cold temperatures requiring high concentrations and the prolonged road gritting being the main problem. This has been not helped by having a car that washes the headlights every time i need to clear the windscreen in the dark . I was perhaps a bit optimistic in looking for a cheap easy alternative.
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This has been not helped by having a car that washes the headlights every
Ah thats the problem then DB, i used to have a truck like that and it could empty a huge washer reservior in a day.
I disconnected the headlamp washer pump, that cut the use back to normal.
I just kept a spray bottle of mildly soapy water for such things, still do.
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Yes headlamp washing is a bit annoying every time but couldn't do without completly as i make several long motorway trips in the dark a week. My old octavia did it as well and ive sort of got used to it now.
Edited by dieselbob on 11/01/2009 at 21:47
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Brother was in the RAF and stationed in Germany in the late 70s.
He and many others used Naafi vodka which was cheaper than screenwash.
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I once popped into a chemist for some meths for my washers - it was convenient!
The lady put the bottle in a brown paper bag. I said don't bother to wrap it, I'll drink it as it comes.
They refused to serve me.
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Available on the 19th. If I hadn't a couple of containers full in the workshop, I'd buy some more!
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I had to get out of my car twice at the weekend to clean my headlights with Evian as they had ceased to shed any light on the world!
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Mapmaker, LIDL's bottled water is far cheaper ;)
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Evian. Try reading it backwards... ;-)
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Evian. Try reading it backwards... ;-)
Very clever! I think that word applies to anyone who wastes their money on the bottled stuff.
I have always wondered why people need to walk around our town centres, especially, assuaging their imminent dehyration by swigging from bottles of water and other aqueous fluids - in our climate as well !!!!!!!!!!
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It's a "style" statement I believe. It is supposed to indicate that one is in the process of rehydrating after a long night of partying and that you are therefore an "interesting" person.
Similary, wandering around with your ear permanently pressed to a mobile phone or constantly peering at and stabbing at one is likewise meant to indicate that one has such a full social life as to have no other time to do it.
Some of the more backward Evian drinkers may even be convinced by such behaviour......
;-)
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I wonder how many of the dehydrated posers have tap water in their designer bottles?
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I wonder how many of the dehydrated posers have tap water in their designer bottles?
I can honestly say that I have never bought or felt the need to buy bottled water or have ever needed to drink water whilst out and about.
May be this indicates something about my lifestyle or age - but then again it does, as how many retirees/OAPs do you see carrying water bottles and talking on their mobile phones, (which many of us do have)?
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I know what they are doing. They are all receiving calls or texts from friends who have run out of screenwash. The subject of an energency alternative has been discussed and they are in the process of delivering it.
Mornington Crescent !
Phew...
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I was thirsty, and wanted something to drink with my lunch. At 65p for 2 litres (or 90p for 500ml) it wasn't very expensive. It was that or drink seawater...
And fortunately I had some left over in order to be able to perform a safety operation on the car later.
I agree, I only ever buy bottled water when there is no alternative when in the car, and the bottles are oft-refilled.
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May be this indicates something about my lifestyle or age
Mine too, as "old" features in both our forum names, I have seen a few youngsters embarrased when their phones have rung while having an imaginary "call". Have you noticed that everyones screenwash has stopped freezing?
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May be this indicates something about my lifestyle or age
Apart from the odd ice cream or lolly licked at the coast, I wouldn't dream of eating or consuming drinks whilst walking at least not while walking around shops and high streets of our towns and cities.
I have eaten while seated on benches if I were on a walk, say, in the countryside but that's all.
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71 posts on homebrew screenwash... when 5 litres can be yours from Lidl for about £3.50.
I was astonished to sit behind an old lady in church the other week, who persisted in taking swigs from her sports-cap water bottle.
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More likely Vodka, less distinctive odour for the 'discreet' tippler...
John R
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