every single store is out of windshield washer fluid...

GunsMadeAmericaFree

Golden Member
Jan 23, 2007
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379
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My reservoir ran out, and I've tried to find windshield washer fluid at 8 different stores on the way home, including Kroger, Wal-Mart and a couple of car parts stores. Every single store that I checked was out of EVERY single brand of windshield washer fluid.

Are you guys running into the same thing?
 

mindless1

Diamond Member
Aug 11, 2001
8,752
1,759
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Similar here, the local news has really pushed their "importance" to viewers, worried people about a probable upcoming ice storm (single day event), as if it's wise to get the fluid to GO OUT in it, as if they wouldn't have needed it for winter seasonal driving otherwise and gotten it a month or two ago.

Make your own. Mix any high proof alcohol you have (vodka, rubbing/isopropyl, methanol-drygas, etc, consider the % alcohol content of the source) with the amount of additional water acceptable to reach the freeze point tolerance needed in your climate, then add a half dozen drops of concentrated (the good stuff, (Ajax/Dawn/etc major brand, or else you'll need more for same effectiveness) dish detergent per gallon.

70% rubbing alcohol from the local drugstore or supermarket is probably the most cost effective alcohol to start with, unless covid drove up the price and increased the scarcity of it too. Used to be about $1 for 16oz, now maybe $2.

For example mixing 70% rubbing alcohol 50/50 with water will get you down to a 2.5F freeze point, or -20F if used straight with no added water.

 
Last edited:

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
100,265
17,901
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My reservoir ran out, and I've tried to find windshield washer fluid at 8 different stores on the way home, including Kroger, Wal-Mart and a couple of car parts stores. Every single store that I checked was out of EVERY single brand of windshield washer fluid.

Are you guys running into the same thing?

Nope. Plenty in every store I have been to.
 

pcgeek11

Lifer
Jun 12, 2005
22,352
4,973
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Maybe the OP lives in a frozen hellscape where the need is much greater. I just need it to clear to bugs splattered on the windshield.
 

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
100,265
17,901
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Here as well...and I think I have 4 gallons in the garage. 2 that are "all weather," 2 that are summer blend.

I keep 2 cases in the garage, so 8 gallon of winter ones. I don't bother with summer ones at all.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
136
Me too. I was smart enough to stock up this summer.
BUT, I was not smart enough to buy lots of salt. So I messed that one up.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: pcgeek11

GunsMadeAmericaFree

Golden Member
Jan 23, 2007
1,392
379
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Yep, that's my problem - I always buy 1 gallon when I need more, and have never stocked up. Now we have several vehicles, so it can disappear a lot faster than it used to.
 

Paperdoc

Platinum Member
Aug 17, 2006
2,498
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I live on the north shore of Lake Superior, so everyone here knows we will need lots of this windshield washer anti-freeze every winter - and that includes both users and stores that sell it. So we live prepared. I buy only the stuff pre-mixed for -40C (that's also -40F), or maybe -45C. Why? First, it almost never actually gets that cold here. Secondly, it appears to me that the small volume of antifreeze sitting in the very tips of the jets by the windshield evaporate some of their alcohol to get LESS alcohol content than when made, so poorer anti-freeze and it CAN freeze at a higher temp than specified. So -40C gives me insurance that it won't freeze around -30 to -35C. Usually the best deals are jugs of 4 l (about 4 Gal), and I have three cars in the family to maintain. So I stock up on 2 or three of those in the fall, keeping an eye out for sales, and replenish a bit as needed by mid-winter. This past fall the best deal happened to be on 1 Gal jugs, so I bought a couple cases of 4 of those.

Once spring is established and no freezing ahead, I pump the remaining antifreeze out of each car into an empty jug and store until next fall. Then fill with summer bug-wash solution. Reverse process in the fall.

On the rare occasion that the washer system freezes up, because I have it filled with strong anti-freeze, it is almost guaranteed that the ice plug is only in the little squirt tips. So I usually just clear away the nearby snow, then blow on them hard a few times to warm them and very quickly activate the squirt system to pump fresh antifreeze through. If that's not good enough, a hair dryer pistol can really heat them up and melt any ice in the jets, and that usually is enough.