Every vegetable you can defrost your car with - from potatoes to onions
Needing to leave time to defrost your car on winter mornings is the bane of many people's commute to work, and as the cold weather hits the time it will take to get rid of all the ice that has formed over your car windows and mirrors will only increase.
There are many dedicated products - like de-icing spray - available to you to help defrost your car quicker, and many vehicles even have in-built systems to speed the irritating process along, but these aren't the only way of tackling this problem. There are also some veggies sitting in your kitchen right now that can be handy when it comes to defrosting your car. You might not immediately think of vegetables when you are tackling the frosty car, but there is actually a whole host of them that can seriously move the process along, and they are all inexpensive options.
First up, the humble potato. It turns out it's not just a go-to for a delicious side dish, it can also prevent any frost from forming on your car windows altogether, as long as you get in there before a cold snap hits.
Cut a potato in half and wipe all over your windscreen and windows the night before cold weather is forecasted, and the sugar molecules present in spuds will mean that any frost is broken down as soon as it begins to form - leaving you with a frost-free morning, and a few minutes more in the morning for a lie in.
The onion works in a similar fashion, and the 12p veggie has been put to the test by the Mirror before - with excellent results. Writer Danni Scott explained "There was a clear difference between the area of the windscreen that I had onion-ified and the areas that I missed. Had the frost been worse, this definitely would have saved me from tedious scraping".
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Danni also noted: "I definitely would use this hack again, especially if I had to rush off in the morning. It's best to do this when you've already used onions, so have some scraps to hand."
But if you really "can't bear the thought of an onion smell in [your] car" Danni recommends you opt for the potato instead, because they work in such a similar way.
If you don't happen to have any potatoes or onions lying around, you've got another great option: the cucumber. The refreshing salad veggie will set you back a little more than an onion at 80p, but it's an incredibly effective way to minimise the time you spend defrosting your car, according to experts.
This is because it acts as a "natural moisture repellent" says Callum Butler at ALA Insurance. Butler explains that "Cucumber contains natural oils which create a hydrophobic surface when rubbed on glass or mirrors.
"The water-repellent properties of cucumber help to stop your windshield from condensing and forming a fog. Essentially, it's like giving your windshield a protective film that discourages condensation during the colder months."
Finally, there is the pumpkin, which experts have called a total "game-changer" when it comes to stopping frost forming on your car. "The secret lies in the starch content found in pumpkins. Make sure to chop up the skin and rub the inner layer on your windscreen for fast defrosting.
"Starch acts as a barrier between the ice and the glass, preventing it from refreezing quickly. This means you can spend less time in the cold, scraping away at your windscreen," experts from Motor Match have said previously.
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