Every motorist knows that the main condition for any car trip is safety. Of great importance is visibility and clean glass.
At first, engineers came up with wipers for cleaning, and used water as a working fluid. However, if in the summer the water still worked somehow, then in winter, drivers faced the problem of ice. Only after years did they begin to produce special preparations under the general name "glass washer fluid." Its task is high-quality cleaning of the windshield. Manufacturers divide modern means into two classes. Distinguish between winter and summer compositions. The main difference between them is alcohol in the composition of the drug for winter.
Water as a summer washer fluid
In summer, many motorists do not consider it necessary to use special means and replace these special compounds with ordinary tap water. But this is fundamentally wrong. The fact is that in water, even clean, contains a lot of elements that can react with air. Air , in turn, also contains a huge number of elements of the periodic table.
Due to extraneous impurities, water can contribute to the formation of various oxides and salts that clog nozzles.
Also, water can cause other technical problems in the windshield system. It often happens that a gear motor fails, the system can work unstably. Often the wiper blades also fail.
Summer windshield washer fluid
In the composition of such preparations there are often only two main components having detergent properties. This is the so-called solvent and surfactants. A good liquid also contains various neutralizers, which are designed to eliminate the oxidation of the solution, corrosion inhibitors, as well as flavorings.
Ethyl or methyl, isopropyl alcohols are used as solvents. They serve to combat various pollution. Surfactants best clean the glass surface from greasy or petroleum-based contaminants. Any glass washer fluid should be neutral to coatings, as well as to rubber and rubber seals.
Varieties of summer remedies
Car glass shampoo summer, unlike winter, has a lower concentration of alcohol in the composition. But in winter, it is better not to use such products - they freeze, and very quickly. All-season compositions can also be distinguished.
Rules for choosing a summer liquid
The main criterion for choosing these drugs is, oddly enough, its smell.
Yes exactly. The thing here is that there are many manufacturers, and all products have different smells. A good, respected production of glass washer fluid and the brand itself, whose name is known and associated with high quality, always uses only the most safe components and fragrances for human health.
Here you can give only one piece of advice - when buying, you should pay attention not only to affordable prices, but also to the quality of the products. Specialists do not recommend purchasing a pungent drug. Such a tool can harm both health and the paintwork.
Test review of summer fluids
12 samples took part in the samples. These products were simply found in stores in the spring. Three drugs were already completely ready for use, the rest were concentrates. To test the washing ability, the organizers applied a typical road dirt to the glass. Water was also used in the test - it failed all the tests. It makes no sense to talk about all the fluids, descriptions deserve only the best.
BBF - summer addition to the washer reservoir
Of the 12 representatives, these products of Khimpromproekt CJSC deserved the first place. This is a concentrate. The product comes in 250 ml bottles. Its price is 50 rubles. One bottle is designed to prepare 50 liters of solution.
The properties that this washer fluid has are fantastic.
Perfectly clean glass exists, and at the same time at an affordable price. But it is not known whether this composition is suitable for plastic optics.
Next Lavr Insect Cleaner
This drug is in a decent second place. This composition is being produced at the facilities of NPO Polikom. The concentrate bottle has a capacity of 330 ml and is designed for 13 l of solution.
What is special about this glass washer fluid? Its composition was developed by specialists from the South Ural University and they managed to create a truly unique composition that copes well with any pollution.
In the production of this mixture, imported components are used.
Summer shampoo in the washer fluid reservoir from Liqui Moly
These are imported German products. The volume of the bottle is only 50 ml, but if you dilute the product, you should get 5 l of solution. The drug smells nice like lemon, it can be used for any type of glass. Detergents are at their best.
Winter windshield washer fluid
At a time when the temperature overboard drops below zero, other compounds are used that do not freeze in the cold. At the same time, solutions ideally solve the main problem - cleaning the glass surface.
These liquids are classified by the type of alcohol that the manufacturer used in production. Today, these preparations may consist of methyl, ethyl or isopropyl alcohol. In rare cases, non-freezing glass washer fluid based on monoethylene glycol is proposed.
The critical temperatures at which crystallization processes take place are different for each of the preparations. Only two factors influence this indicator: the type of alcohol and its proportion in the solution.
Winter liquids with ethyl alcohol
In Russia, these drugs are difficult to find on the shelves of car dealerships. All because of the high price of ethyl alcohol. But manufacturers are still producing such formulations. You can buy them at luxury stores or dealerships. Prices are about 1,500 rubles.
Experts claim that these compounds are of the highest quality among all that is provided on the market. These products are unrivaled, and there are two reasons for this. So, ethanol gives the product better thermal stability, and mixtures based on it are completely harmless to humans.
Methanol preparations
By technical characteristics, methyl alcohol is slightly inferior to ethyl alcohol.
Due to the moral decline in society, the production of these funds in Russia has stopped, but illegal products at affordable prices can be found on store shelves. Experts believe that such a glass washer fluid is completely harmless if used for its intended purpose.
Isopropyl alcohol based products
This is a legal and inexpensive option. Technical specifications are significantly lower than those of the above formulations. In addition, these liquids are inferior in all respects to any other means. You can identify them by the smell, which is interrupted only by expensive and high-quality flavors.
How to choose a washer fluid for winter
The most affordable and legal products are still compositions based on isopropyl alcohol.
These liquids are distributed wherever possible. The price can range from 400 to 1500 rubles. The price is affected by the quality of the alcohol and the cleaning agent, the amount of alcohol in the solution, the price of the dye and flavor, and the minimum
critical temperature.Drugs, the price of which is from 400 to 750 rubles, are not of high quality. Manufacturers in this case are trying to save on everything. Alcohol is not refilled, cheap dyes are used. In addition, these funds can harm the car.
There are those who come across such a glass washer fluid. The reviews are mostly negative - nozzles get clogged, pollution is poorly cleaned, the drug leaves traces on the paintwork of the car.
Non-freezing liquid with methyl alcohol is cheap, and its quality is not inferior to expensive compounds based on isopropanol. You can buy this drug from 100 to 200 rubles. Drivers buy these funds at a great risk. On the territory of Russia it is forbidden to use and transport any substances based on methanol.
Do it yourself
Windshield washer fluid can be made independently, but it will not be of high quality. Many drivers try, but in the end they get only damaged plastic cleaner lines. It is best to use industrial compounds tested by time and motorists. They are quite effective, harmless and affordable.