Hit the recirculate button<\/p>\nNext, start the engine and direct the warm air blower to the windscreen, the rear window heater, and mirror heaters, if you have them. Wade said opening a window could also help.<\/p>\n
“Make sure you have your recirculate button on so you’re not drawing cold air from outside.”<\/p>\n
If your vehicle doesn’t have air conditioning, Wade recommends investing in some anti-freeze or de-icing spray.<\/p>\n
![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/man-scrapes-ice-off-his-car-windshield-WYDRJGCDSBBRLLP77AENNDNEGA.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
man scrapes ice off his car windshield (Source: istock.com)<\/p>\n
In the meantime, Wade said, you should use a soft brush to sweep off snow and then a scraper or de-icer to remove ice.<\/p>\n
“Remember to do the headlights too.”<\/p>\n
Once this is done, you can hop back in the car, but “don’t drive off until all the glass is clear”.<\/p>\n
He said pouring water on the windscreen and driving off was a bad idea, as it could refreeze while driving.<\/p>\n
Wade said it was best to “plan ahead” if you know your window will frost up.<\/p>\n
“If you can have time to sit and have a coffee, why can’t you sit in the car while you wait for the screen to defrost?<\/p>\n
“Put it in a takeaway cup, sit there, and have your coffee in the car.”<\/p>\n
Avoid quick-fixes<\/p>\n
He also said quick-fix hacks should be avoided, such as pouring vinegar on the windscreen or rubbing half a potato on the windows the night before.<\/p>\n
“Just stick to the known and proven things because anything you try could add problems to the situation.<\/p>\n
“You can end up scratching the screen, or using a product like vinegar could be pretty corrosive. If you don’t wash it away, you can do damage further down the vehicle.”<\/p>\n
For further advice, there’s a list of de-icing tips on AA’s website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As New Zealand plunges deeper into a chilly winter, icy windscreens in the morning have become a daily…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":559028,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69,112,3393],"class_list":["post-559027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-transport","tag-weather-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=559027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/559028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=559027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=559027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=559027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/an-icy-windscreen-file-image-SUE4YRJH3FHTZLRBTLEVSOMINU.jpg\")
<\/p>\n