Tips and Tricks for Women: Winter-Proof Your Car

If you live in an area similar to mine (Michigan... Midwest) or maybe even the East coast, some of these tricks from Woman's World may come in handy. I'll be trying some of these myself, because there is nothing worse than your locks freezing causing you to be late for work.

**Keep your headlights clear with car wax

• The wax contains special water repellents that will prevent the messy gunk from accumulating on your lights. This technique lasts for weeks.

**Ice-proof your windows with vinegar

• Mix 3 parts vinegar with 1 part water and spritz on your car windows at night. Vinegar contains acetic acid which raises the melting point of water- preventing water from freezing on your windshield.

**Prevent car doors from freezing shut with cooking spray

• Spritz cooking spray on the rubber seals around car doors and rub it in with a paper towel. Oils in cooking spray prevent water from melting into the rubber.

**Fog-proof your windshield with shaving cream

• Shaving cream creates a protective film on the glass that prevents fogging. Spray some on the inside of your windshield and wipe it off with paper towels. The cream has many of the same ingredients found in commercial defoggers.

**Get unstuck from the snow with your floor mat

• Stick the rubber side of one of your floor mats under the spinning tire. It provides the grip you need to get going.

**De-ice your lock in seconds with hand sanitizer

• Put the hand sanitizer gel on both the key and lock. It contains alcohol, the main ingredient in most commercial de-icers. The sanitizer must be at least 60% alcohol, otherwise it's ineffective.

**Squeak-proof your wipers with rubbing alcohol

• Wipe them with a cloth saturated with rubbing alcohol or ammonia. This can cut the buildup of grease and grime, the main culprit that prevents wipers from working.