I used to buy my washer fluid in Lidl, it was German made and excellent. They stopped selling it a couple of years ago. Last Wednesday morning it was -2C and front and rear froze up, does anyone have suggestions for a quality washer fluid?

tinmar49 said:

I used to buy my washer fluid in Lidl, it was German made and excellent. They stopped selling it a couple of years ago. Last Wednesday morning it was -2C and front and rear froze up, does anyone have suggestions for a quality washer fluid?

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SAME strength..?

Only too easy to get 'readymix'
then dilute it by mistake/ habit..

Charlie

tinmar49 said:

I used to buy my washer fluid in Lidl, it was German made and excellent. They stopped selling it a couple of years ago. Last Wednesday morning it was -2C and front and rear froze up, does anyone have suggestions for a quality washer fluid?

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I've always found Halfords own brand, have a good deal. Just check the labels. You can buy 5 litres of concentrate or same quantity of ready mixed. The ready mix is good for at least -10 c.
Worth checking the current offering at your local branch.

The stuff I was using was supposed to be concentrated and was 50-50 diluted.

Most washer concentrate on sale in the UK is pretty poor. Problem is there is no performance standard to compare brands or even versions within a brand. I got fed up and started making my own. I buy > 99% methanol on ebay (25 litres seems a good quantity balnce for shipping costs. The biodiesel brewers have made it easy to get) Make it up to 50% water with a good squirt of cheap washing up liquid. I also add fluorseien to give a green colour, but only because I have it. Neat this has a freeze point of -40 deg C, mixed 1:1 with water its -15 an 1:2 its -10, good enough for most UK winters. The methanol costs about £1.50 a litre so concentrate is less than £1 a litre.
Note that methanol is flamable and toxic so take care. Commercial mixes use methanol, ethanol or isopropyl alcohol so are no better. An yes I know that washing up liquid "contains salt" but its an insignificant quantity compared to the road salt on the car. For spray de-icer make it up as 80% methanol 20% water an just a drop of washing up liquid an put it in a suitably marked spray bottle.

Robert G8RPI.

ECP still sell concentrate in 5 litre containers, made in Germany. Not sure if this is what you used to buy.
Making up your own sounds good, but I don't have the time or interest to go that route.

Sweetsixteen said:

ECP still sell concentrate in 5 litre containers, made in Germany. Not sure if this is what you used to buy.
Making up your own sounds good, but I don't have the time or interest to go that route.

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There's a world of difference between different brands of screenwash & the Panda is not a car I'd want to use anything in that might freeze; the washer jets are known to pop out in such circumstances and there's a current thread running about someone who had a reservoir split on an almost new car and is facing a £130 bill for its replacement.

Make up your own, put some in the freezer overnight as a test, and if it's not frozen solid, you're good for anything a UK winter will chuck at you.

Hi,
You can look up the freezing point here
http://www.methanol.org/Technical-I...on/FreezingPointsMethanol-WaterSolutions.aspx
There are similar charts for ethanol and IPA. I'm happy to share my homebrew screenwash with any local (North Cambridge) forum members.
I was in Germany years ago and the persion I was with was putting vodka in his washer bottle. apparently it was cheaper than screenwash. That just remined me of vet programme at the weekend where they gave a cat I.V. Smirnoff vodka for antifreeze poisoning. Glycol is toxic to cats, make sure you dispose of used coolant correctly.

Robert G8RPI.

I use Comma in winter.

I assume that ECP is euro car parts, I had forgotten them, there is one of their shops within two miles of me.

Love the tale about the Vodka!
I was in St Petersburg, and the Russians there used to slip over to Finland and smuggle Finnish vodka back to Russia. They told me never to buy Russian vodka, because the Finnish stuff was much better.
Put Russian vodka in the freezer, they said, and you will find that some of each bottle has frozen. Finnish vodka is purer and does not freeze under the same conditions.
Probably why they used Russian vodka as their screen wash.

Yep - ECP is Euro Car Parts.

tinmar49 said:

I used to buy my washer fluid in Lidl, it was German made and excellent. They stopped selling it a couple of years ago.

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I managed to get it last year, and this year its cheaper but ready mixed in Lidl rather than concentrate

i shop in lidl quite regularly and my local has a large pallet of readymix screenwash so id pop in and see if they have started selling it .

I usually just use this stuff . or buy halfords concentrated stuff in big bottles when its on buy one get one free .

I get Prestone screenwash from Tesco. £2.50 for a concentrate bottle, lasted me 6months between two small cars and got another bottle two weeks ago!

You can dilute it at different ratios depending on the level of freezing you want to protect against

Nice, but a strong smell each time it's used!

SB1500 said:

I get Prestone screenwash from Tesco. £2.50 for a concentrate bottle, lasted me 6months between two small cars and got another bottle two weeks ago!

You can dilute it at different ratios depending on the level of freezing you want to protect against

Nice, but a strong smell each time it's used!

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Yes I use the prestone from tesco myself in the summer months, and the lidl in the winter.