How to keep your car windscreen clear when it rains

There’s plenty of good advice out there about driving in the rain, but it’s not much use if you can’t see where you’re going.

Here are some tips to make sure you can see clearly when the rain has come.

Demisting

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Windows love fogging up on cold, humid or rainy days and many people still drive while rubbing the windscreen with their forearm not knowing they can quickly get rid of the condensation at the touch of a button.

The reason your windows fog up is that your warm breath reacts with the cold air on the outside of the glass. Turning your heater on is like breathing even harder, so your windscreen continues to fog up.

When trying to demist your windscreen, turn the air-conditioner button on – even on a cold day. Air-conditioning pumps out dry air, which in summer takes away water vapour from the air and cools things down. Use it with the heater and you get a dry heat which removes water vapour from the air and quickly stops the reaction that causes fog.

If you have condensation on a warm day there’s no need to have the heat turned up.

Wipers

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Windscreen wipers don’t just deteriorate from use, but also from sunlight, road grime and hot and cold weather conditions – so it pays to replace them every six months, 10,000kms or when they leave streaking across the windscreen or judder and screech.

Windscreen wipers are reasonably easy to change yourself. You can buy them from any auto accessories store, but be mindful that there are many different types depending on your car. If you’re not sure, ask the staff for help.

You might be able to just change the wiper blade or the wiper assembly which includes the blade and the frame that connects it to the car’s wiper arm. If you haven’t replaced your wipers for some time it’s probably best to change the assembly.

Windscreen wash

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Wiper fluid is important in places where it gets really cold as it not only acts as a cleaning agent, but also stops the water from freezing. Of course, freezing isn’t a huge problem in most parts of Australia, but water in the washer reservoir could breed harmful bacteria, such as Legionella, which could end up in your air vents.

Putting that aside, we do have our fair share of bugs and bird mess hitting our windscreens, so it’s a good idea to have something in the water to help your wipers perform at their best.

Finally, wash your windscreen manually whenever you get fuel so your wipers won’t have to work too hard when you flick them on.