Why Cold Weather Can Crack your Windshield and How to Prevent it

Normal temperature is best to maintain your windshield safety. Winter cold or red hot summer jeopardizes the integrity of your windshield making it prone to chips and cracks that may require global installation.

Brace up, today we're facing cold weather…

Let's face it, you won't see a windshield shattering in broad daylight because of extremely cold weather (won't happen in extremely hot weather either), rather, cold weather magnifies its spoil possibilities.

Such as a chip that's overlooked in summer will escalate to major cracks in Winter due to the contracting effect of the cold.

​The best way to keep your classes safe is prevention and care. In this article, you'll discover why cold weather can crack your windshield and how to prevent it.

Why Cold Weather Can Crack Your Windshield

Cold weather is only a magnifying effect. Reasons why cold weather can crack your windshield depend on causing factors that include:
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#1. Ice: Ice collecting on your screen can crack your windshield in unthinkable ways. Its first attack is forming a frost mask over your windshield, where you'll be tempted to use an ice scraper; the best you attempt hot water to dissolve the ice but bruh, you're in all shades of wrong.
Ice scrapers(especially metal) leave scratches and hot water causes sudden shifts in temperature and aggressive expansion both are a sure way to experience major cracks or shattered glass.

#2. Road Salt: Road salts melt snow on the road, prevent drifting, and are harmful to your windshield. Road salt jumping on your windshield from oncoming vehicles can cause an immediate chip due to craters flying at full speed at varying ends. Road salt weakens the durability and integrity of your windshield when not whipped immediately, take note.

#3. Hail: We know Winter to be hail-bound. Hail lands with just enough velocity to cause instant cracks or weak spots on your car's windshield. Either condition is perfect for the cold to contract the cracks in major damage.

#4. Bad Wiper: Picture yourself wiping your face with sandpaper–ouch! That hurts right?
Now, you're hurting your car windshield by wiping the glass with a roughened wiper. This leaves deep cut scratches that'll later turn into major cracks requiring that you spend for total replacement.

#5. Frozen Wiper Fluid: Wiper fluids are ideal for more temperate weather because of is possible to freeze however, there are winter-friendly windshield wiper fluid​s. Using wiper fluids. that freezes easily results in localized stress on the windshield, which could turn into cracks over time.

#6. Temperature Fluctuations: Cold temperature retracts; hot temperature expands; a sudden transition from one to the other poses a significant threat to the windshield which oftentimes leads to cracks on the screen that'll lead to other cracks. This threat level worsens if your windshield is already chipped–just expect nothing good now.

How to Prevent Cold Weather from Cracking Your Windshield

Now we've uncovered the main cause of why cold weather can crack your windshield. How about you learn how to prevent it from happening until you don't?

 —Here's how to prevent the worst from striking:

 #1. Ensure windshield wipers are good: You're already aware of the horrors of wiping your windshield with bad or roughened windshield wipers, it's similar to brushing over your face with sandpaper. You end up with a scratched screen that's prone to major cracks like your face ends up in a scar. Protip, replace your windscreen wipers once a year.
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#2. Hot water is a no-no: Say with me; "hot water expands–cold water retracts." Now you know. Awesome. A sudden change from one to the other put the windshield in an unsettling condition to crack waiting to get worse by the cold. Therefore, using hot water on the windshield to battle frost is a no-no, instead, turn on the car defrost system.

#3. Park inside a garage: The best place to find your car is inside the garage. Garages regulate temperature and combat cold weather protecting the windshield from elements that may escalate windshield cracking.

#4. Avoid door slamming: Years back, for the excitement of getting a brush from Daddy's Jetta, I slammed the boot so hard that the left brake light jumped off. Slamming the front door of your car causes a vibration that weakens the windshield for further elements to act on it. Be a gentleman and close with just enough pressure.
Conclusion
Car windshields are silent life savers, save it and they'll save you later. What I forgot to mention is that windshield covers are great at keeping the ice away, you deal with the frost later.

If you must scrap, choose scrapers designed for windshields. Avoid using plasters and metal scraps they can wound your windshield so badly that the only solution is a replacement.

 The problem isn't just cutting costs and saving more, but also, it's saving your life.