car care with snow

[johnnygee3]

This isn`t about detailing but I need some advice and opinions on removing snow safely from your car without marking it up. I want to stay away from those brush type things. Need something that`ll clear the hood, roof,trunk,and all glass. Any ideas? Tis the season :xyxthumbs :xyxthumbs :xyxthumbs

[acl99]

take a brush one and wrap it in a MF towel.

[explorer]

Maybe this is what you are looking for:D

[Quickstrike]

Originally posted by explorer

Maybe this is what you are looking for:D



Do you know where I can get one of these in Canada? Someone here posted a link to an online distributor that sold them, but they were located in Washington..





TIA,

-Quickstrike

[Jngrbrdman]

My neighbor gave me one of those a couple weeks ago. I am scared to death to use it. Honestly, I never will. Let me know if you can`t find one in Canada and you can have mine. You`ll probably have to find a pole to screw into it, but I`d send you the "broom" part. Hey, I`ve already lit up one car car product in punishment for damaging my finish. What do you think I`d do to this sucker if I saw the same thing? :lol No thank you. IMO the snow broom isn`t an Autopian tool.



The way I remove the snow is to brush off as much as I can with my gloved hand and leave the rest there. I never brush it off all the way to the paint because I hate ice swirls. I`ll just get enough off that I can see out of it and then let the drive blow the rest off.

[endus]

Originally posted by Acuracl98

take a brush one and wrap it in a MF towel.



Good idea!!!



I will still be going with the "some brushing and drive" method...but I would rather use something to reach...leaning with a jacket on is bad news...especially with thin Maxima fenders.

[togwt]

~One man’s opinion~



I’ve used both these products on trips to visit my daughter in PA (don’t have any use for them in FL) so my experience is short term, but I’ve never experienced any scratches that I’d attribute directly to them.

My ex used the Ice Dozer (on her car thankfully) to clear snow ~ well you can guess the rest



Quote:

Sno Brum’: uses a push-broom style to clear snow from the car /SUV. A non-aggressive foam head protects the cars paint finish. A much better alternative to a windshield brush / ice scraper to clear snow. The head measures 17� wide x 6� high and will clear even wet snow easily. The aluminium handle telescopes to 48�, long enough for most cars/SUVs. Available from www.herringtoncatalog.com P/N M280 $20



‘Ice Dozer’: is a rugged windshield de-icer. By applying pressure to the palm handle, the blade flexes to conform to the contours of the windshield, clearing a 7� swath. The front ‘plough’ pushes ice /snow ahead and away from you. With two different sets of ice-clearing teeth, able to pulverise even hard glare ice, and an economic handle provides a sturdy grip to enable you to clear the windshield in no time. www.herringtoncatalog.com P/N M121 $20





Experience unshared; is knowledge wasted…/



justadumbarchitect

[Spilchy]

Originally posted by TOGWT

~One man’s opinion~



I’ve used both these products on trips to visit my daughter in PA (don’t have any use for them in FL) so my experience is short term, but I’ve never experienced any scratches that I’d attribute directly to them.

My ex used the Ice Dozer (on her car thankfully) to clear snow ~ well you can guess the rest



Quote:

Sno Brum’: uses a push-broom style to clear snow from the car /SUV. A non-aggressive foam head protects the cars paint finish. A much better alternative to a windshield brush / ice scraper to clear snow. The head measures 17� wide x 6� high and will clear even wet snow easily. The aluminium handle telescopes to 48�, long enough for most cars/SUVs. Available from www.herringtoncatalog.com P/N M280 $20



‘Ice Dozer’: is a rugged windshield de-icer. By applying pressure to the palm handle, the blade flexes to conform to the contours of the windshield, clearing a 7� swath. The front ‘plough’ pushes ice /snow ahead and away from you. With two different sets of ice-clearing teeth, able to pulverise even hard glare ice, and an economic handle provides a sturdy grip to enable you to clear the windshield in no time. www.herringtoncatalog.com P/N M121 $20





Experience unshared; is knowledge wasted…/



justadumbarchitect



I use both items you mentioned (in fact I was the guy who originally posted the link in another thread) without any problems.



JNGR, you can push the snow an inch above the paint without hitting the surface. Plus it keeps your hands, gloves and coat dry!

[Jngrbrdman]

That may be true, but I`m not a gambling man. ;) I`ve lived my whole life without one of those and I`ve done just fine. I`ve got a brush on my ice scraper that can brush the snow off an inch above the paint too and I don`t have to put it back in the garage when I`m done. :D

[togwt]

JohnnyG - hope this helps

Jngrbrdman - whatever works for you

Spilchy - didn`t mean to steal your thunder

[johnnygee3]

Thanks so far for all the help, so far no snow here so maybe we`ll get some more ideas before the snow comes

[johnnygee3]

Originally posted by Jngrbrdman

That may be true, but I`m not a gambling man. ;) I`ve lived my whole life without one of those and I`ve done just fine. I`ve got a brush on my ice scraper that can brush the snow off an inch above the paint too and I don`t have to put it back in the garage when I`m done. :D





With all due respect my fellow autopian, you just may be more of a gambling man than you think. just clearing off "enough" snow and ice,may be asking for trouble. You`re driving a vehicle with obstructed vision. That is totally not safe no matter how you look at it. I`ve seen countless people driving, or trying to drive looking out a little peep hole on the windshield and a peephole on the window.Keep yourself safe this winter and try to find the time to physically clear or try to clear with defroster. Your family an friends may thank you for it. Sorry for the preachin`:o

[Accumulator]

I used the Sno Brum, VERY carefully, on the Volvo (soft single-stage) and yep, I got some marring. On THAT car, I wasn`t too upset, I just polished it again in the Spring. If there`s abrasive dirt in the snow, or between the snow and your paint, and you push it across your paint, you`re gonna mar the finish. The Volvo`s original owner would "wash" it in the winter by pushing the snow off, and some of the marring from THAT will only come out with a paint gun.



IMO, the only TRULY safe way to clear snow from painted surfaces is to leave a layer of snow ON the paint, so there`s no direct abrasion going on against your finish. Even then, when/if the snow melts and slides across the paint, well, that can mar it too.



For clearing windows, I got a scraper/brush combo from Stratmosphere (sorry, I don`t have a link handy). The brush`s bristles were boar`s hair, so if you accidentally touch the paint with them while clearing the glass you get a narrow margin of error, at least more than PLASTIC bristles give you.



Oh, and DO be careful when you clear your glass. SO many cars have scratched up windows from careless scraping.

[BlueDragonZ]

The only thing that I`ve used in the past is a scraper/brush combo. The only problem that I had with the scraper was, it scrtached my windshield. I usually just brush off the windows with my gloved hands and let the heater melt off the rest. I`m not taking chances on my new car this time. One other option that I was looking at are those canned deicers that melts the snow. I just don`t know if these are perfectly safe on the paint.

[johnnygee3]

I`ve used those cans of de-icer. They work pretty good on ice. I would not use it on snow covered windows. The spray is pretty narrow coming out of the can and you would really have to use a heck of alot to cover all the snow specifically. I also dont know how safe they are on paint and dont think I`ll use it this year on my new car.