Snow Removal Question

Personally, I never use an ice scraper on my car's painted surfaces.

But I'll use a brush, a broom or my arm to remove snow and loose ice.

 

My personal feeling is that only glass should be scraped. Just leave the snow on the rest of the car. Brush off what you can so you can see out. The rest will melt off.

 

Yes, I'd never use a scraper on my actual car finish....and I'm talking about a 93 Honda. Even with windows I only keep a scraper in the automobile for emergency situations that I might encounter. But if I'm at home starting out? I find with a pre-treatment of Rain-X, coupled with just a little heat from the cars own window defroster, usually at least for "Urban Oregon" levels of Snow and Ice, I can clear my windows without using any abrasive tools beyond just my gloved hands.

 

Well it did get down to 54 last night, really cold!

The year I left Vermont we had 48 below, that is why I am here in SD to stay!

 

Maggie, I know from posts from the summer that you Zaino'ed your Prius. So the finish with clearcoat and your extra protection should be in good shape. I don't quite understand why you feel you have to "remove" the snow and ice from the body? Outside of just maybe brushing the bulk of the snow off roofs, fenders and other areas....which you can just use an arm or hand...

Personally just having clear visibility and the automobile "clean" enough that I can drive it without "pieces" falling off and bothering others is all I maintain during a winter spell. Eventually warmth from either the enviroment or the auto itself will remove the snow and ice from the finish, and that's probably the safest way to ensure no damage.

I think maybe what you really want is snow and ice avoidance, inwhich case either a garage or a car cover is your best bet.

 

I always use one of these:

Snow Broom or Sno Brum - Non-Scratching Auto Snow Removal: CozyWinters

It clears snow quickly, and without scratching. I always clear off all the snow I can and wish everyone else did too - I hate seeing a car driving down the road with the windshield cleared only by the wipers, and the rear window with only a small hole from a quick brush by hand.

In NJ it's the law that all snow and ice has to be cleared from the roof of cars and trucks, to avoid accidents and blinding the car behind you with the trailing plume or flying ice chunks.

 

Just for the record, yes, it's a pet peeve of mine. I do hand remove all the major layer of snow from my car. I HATE following someone or trying to follow someone who hasn't removed huge amounts of snow from their car. It's bad enough when the snow has stopped but then you get pelted by a artificial storm from the automobile ahead because they were too lazy to remove the 4 inches of snow from their roof. Arrgh....I don't know if it's a law in Oregon but I wish it was, seems like some people LIKE to keep as much snow on their car as possible as long as possible here, like a mobile moving snowman. (we just had a very minor storm...so these realities are fresh)

 

I use the Snow Broom too. It's going to come in handy over the next few days as we get 6+ inches of snow. If there's a layer of ice on the car under the snow I try to keep the broom on top of the ice so the ice doesn't get pushed and possibly scratch my Zaino job!

Didn't MA adopt a law last year like NJ's about clearing the roof? or did they do the usual - talk about it and never get around to passing it?! oh well..

 

Happy New Year MaggieMay!

That Snow Broom/Sno Brum does look good ... I'm going to put it on my Christmas list next year.

But to answer your initial question, I just don't see how the bristles from your typical combo snow brush/ice scraper or the bristles from any brush or broom would tend to scratch your paint or scratch it more than that Snow Broom/Sno Brum.

 

if you have 3+inches of snow on your car, I use a snow brush BUT do not touch the paint. Make sure the bristles are about a 1/2 inch from surface and off the paint. If there is ice stuck on the paint .... LEAVE it there. Let it melt. Get as much as you can off without trying to break the ice with you hands or especially the handle of the snow brush.

 

No problem here with locking the car with a gloved hand. Maybe depends on the thickness of the glove? Have not tried with ski mitts.

 

I induced first scratches on my windshield and windows by using a regular plastic snow brush. I have driven less than 100 miles, and hate to see scratches. Will the Sno-Brum avoid scratches on glass also or anything better?

Re. clearing snow from the top and areas not necessary, whether it is a law or not, I try to remove as much snow from the car as possible. Else, the weight of the snow is going to cost you mileage.

 

I have a car wash type brush that I use to remove snow from the top of the car and side. If you have a powder snow, an easy way to remove it from the sides of the car is to just open the car door and close it with a little more force than you normally would. Snow falls right off every time. No issues with the sensor on the door handle here either. It actually was comical when it continually locked/unlocked just by the brush touching it when I was clearing the snow off. I'd go over it one way, and it would unlock, then back the other way and it was locked again. Soft bristles won't really affect the car at all. Just make sure you don't use one of those regular, cheap floor brooms with the really stiff bristles.

 

I will brush snow if possible. (NEVER use a scraper on your paint) If I want the car better than a snow brush, I either go to a do-it-yourself car wash or a regular PDQ car wash and get their $5 special. My car never goes more than 4 days without a wash, and if it is dirty after our weekly cruise on every Saturday, that we put on a minimum 300 hundred miles, it goes to the wash again. (I can't stand a dirty car)
**** By the way, in case you are wondering, I live near Green Bay in Appleton, and we have done day trips (round trips) on our Saturdays to Upper and Lower Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Saint Louis, Indiana, and once into Ohio.****

 

yea, i gotta get a new brush with soft bristles. more often, i'm faced with using the back side of the snow brush to scrape off the frozen snow on the windshield. do these scratch the glasses? if i have to use defrost, it would take a long time.

 

I decided to try the California PopTop to see how it would be as far as keeping snow off the glass.

Car Cover, Car Sun Shade - California PopTop
It works quite well, actually. Now, all I do is sweep the worse of the snow off the cover, pull the top off then clear snow off the hood. All the glass stays ice/snow free.
It also keeps the frost off the glass over those cold coastal Maine nights.