August 17, 2017

8 tips to defog the glasses of the car

Continuing with the theme of water and rain, one of the most uncomfortable sensations when driving is when the glasses begin to fog, especially if it is raining, making it impossible to see what is beyond our noses.

The problem is that in addition to being uncomfortable is dangerous, precisely because it reduces visibility, preventing us to react adequately to the incidences of the road and the risk of accident increases.

Before going on to talk about solutions it is important to know why the crystals fog. The explanation is simple, first because it accumulates humidity inside the car and second because the glasses are at very low temperature. This difference in temperature and humidity between indoor and outdoor air is what causes the mist layer to form in the windows.

Glasses are cold because they are in contact with the external environment, while the passenger compartment of the car is hot and damp by breathing and perspiration of the passengers when that air comes into contact with the glasses, moisture is released as condensation.

The final solution to prevent the glasses from fogging up would be for the occupants of the car to stop breathing, but given the impossibility of applying it, we are going to give you some tips that will help us to solve the problem and avoid or diminish its effects.

Open the windows. It is not necessary to open them completely and that we will flood the car with the rain and we remain like pallets, only a few centimeters to allow the cold air of the outside enters and mix with the interior to diminish the condensation.

Cold or hot air. Either one serves, but with the cold, the process of defrosting is a little more time consuming or we return to the situation of staying as pallets. For the hot, we turn on the heating directing the air towards the crystals and closing the other exits, thus drying the moisture accumulated in the glasses.

For the cold, we turn on the air conditioning and if we do not have it, the fan, so we change the characteristics of the interior air to equal the existing temperature difference, because a compressor sucks the air from the cabin of the car until the steam happens to state Liquid and the water is removed before returning to the environment.

Prevent condensation from occurring

With this, we solve the problem when it has already happened, but also we have some tips to avoid that the glasses fog. They are not magic remedies and we do not guarantee they will work at 100%, but at least they will help lessen that uncomfortable condensation.

Vinegar. We must mix one part of white vinegar and two parts of water and apply it to the glass with a moistened paper and then dry it with a cloth. As this solution will protect us for a day, it is best to keep a spray with this combination in the car and use it on those days we know we will need it.

Potato: Take a raw potato (not the creoles, the others) and cut it in half, then rub it inside and outside the glasses before setting off. The starch that has the potato forms a layer that prevents the water from condensing on the glass.

Alcohol. Using 100 milliliters of alcohol, 20 milliliters of detergent and 380 milliliters of water, we prepare a solution that we then pass with a sponge on the inside and the outside of the glass and then dry it with a newspaper, so the fog will take longer to appear.

Silica gel. Those sachets that come in most women’s wallets have silica gel spheres, also some cat sands contain this element. So we can go to a pet store or a drugstore, or empty all the bags we found in the house and fill an old stocking (with no holes) with this product and put it under the driver’s seat. This product prevents moisture from affecting and condensing in the car’s glass.

Shampoo. We can mix water and shampoo and rub the crystals inside and out with this solution, then remove the remains with a dry cloth, this way will form a layer that repels moisture and prevents the glass from fogging for a while, in addition, leaves a delicious aroma.

Bar soap. We can take a bar of soap and scrub it through the glass until it leaves a very thick layer, then we pass an absorbent cloth until the crystals look shiny, so we will have them without tarnish for some time.