Scirocco Central

De-icer? Warm water? I'm guessing the former is going to mess up my new Scirocco's paint?

I once used de-icer many years ago on my first car, I read the the side of the can which stated "avoid contact with paint and rubber" so I've never used it since!

Warm water does the trick - I've also seen some people spray on a mixture of water and vinegar.

Today however, I just pressed the button for my thermal windscreen* and watched it just melt away

*loving my new QashQai!

You should absolutely not use warm water!!!! If you use water then use COLD water..... or you risk cracking your windscreen.

De-icer is fine to use on glass. It may damage rubbers if you soak them and leave them time and time again but normally you are fine... It's just mainly Isopropyl Alcohol which is the main ingredient which is fine on paint and glass so long as you don't leave it on there.. on a factory paint job it will be fine.
It may degrade waxes or sealant coats ever so slightly but again everything is a compromise.

If you treat your glass with a coating such as Car Pro FlyBy40 or Gtechniq G1 then the ice will not stick as easily anyway so be easier to clear.

You can also put on a treatment before you go to bed which will prevent the frost from setting on your windscreen.

I have a water bottle I fill with hot tap water and that's fine. Never cracked any glass in years. Obviously kettle hot is going to crack it.

I've used de-icer sprays for years and years and never seen any issues with paint or rubber. I figure it streams off as soon as you start driving anyway and anything that runs to the bottom of the screen gets diluted by water doing the same.

I'm not a fan of de-icer or water if I can help it.. so, with the gf's xr3i in the garage I resorted to a towel haha - worked a treat.

the xr3i is 25 years old and has a heated windscreen - Damn you ford and your patents!

Still miss my black XR3i and heated screen and ease of maintenance - one of the last ones built. Did 150k with no problems, just changed the shockers for bilsteins after a couple of years. Never use de-icer or warm water just cover the windscreen or put it in the garage if I get home first!!

its the gf's really. I just bought it for her so I could get back into the ford scene. I miss my old xr2i the most, was such a littler fighter of a car, just kept going through thick and thin!

mini thread hijack (sorry!)- our 3i

Sorry about the hijack too. Mine was an H reg. Yours looks in really good nick. Like the bonnet louvre vents - from an RS?

its very clean cheers yup from an rs - its got a 1.8 zvh too love an old ford.

A 10 litre watering can full of luke warm water has worked for me for +50 years and never any cracked glass, even at minus 15.
Poured as slowly as possible over windscreen so the glass heats up a bit, that way it doesn't re-freeze when you move off.
Dave.

Fill the kettle up from the cold tap and pour away. If you can get in your car before hand, start the engine first and whack the crappy front windscreen heater on too, at least you get an extra minutes worth of it taking forever to help