Windshields are much more important than they appear on first sight. Windshields are there to provide high safety level for passengers and they are of great importance since the first car was manufactured. Windshields can be damaged in many ways. What is important is to know what exactly windshield is.
Windshield is a “glass sandwich” made of two layers of laminated glass and one layer of plastics in between the laminated glass. The plastic between glass layers is providing flexibility and it makes significant difference when it comes to safety. It reduces the probability of glass shattering in accidents and therefore is very important.
How can a windshield be damaged?
Windshields have outer layers of glass and this glass can be easily damaged by debris, gravel, rocks and other objects you encounter while driving your vehicle. Depending on the speed you are driving, these objects can make minor or major damage. Starting from a scratch, over chip and finally, it can end with a crack in your windshield. Other things can damage the glass, such as branches falling on your car during a storm or similar. What you can do to prevent this damage is to adjust your speed of driving to type of road you are driving on. Keep distance between you and vehicle in front of you, avoid driving behind dump trailers and big trucks. Do not part car under older trees if you know there will be a storm during the day or night.
Another type of windshield damage is water damage. This can be divided in a few groups depending of the problem. Most common is water damage during winter. Water in chips gets frozen. It turns into ice and ice has higher volume than water in liquid state. Therefore, the ice will spread and cause cracking of the windshield.
If you have noticed water spots on your windshield, we have good news. There is a way to clean them. These water spots are result of some contaminate. It can either be a mixture of soap and water you washed your car with, it can be a consequence of acid rain. Water is polluted more or less and what cause these spots are chemicals in any shape. What you can do is use vinegar to get rid of them. By making a mixture of vinegar and water (50%-50%), you can make them disappear because acid in vinegar has the power to dissolve these stains. This vinegar mixture is highly effective with ice on windshield as well. Spray the mixture onto windshield and the ice will start dissolving immediately. What is even better from defrosting windshield fast is preventing the frosting at first place. You can do this with same mixture (vinegar: water 3:1 or 2:1) and using sponge apply the mixture onto glass.