Those of you in arid Southern states or tropical climes, read no further. This review is for those men who brave winter’s wrath. And rumor has it that the groundhog saw his shadow, so we’re in for a lot more of it. As GP’s man in the frozen north, I agreed to take one for the team and test out a new winter car care product from Prestone – the Ice and Frost Shield.
For those urban drivers who don’t have the good fortune (or an extra $500 a month in New York) to have a garage, winter mornings mean a cursed ritual of scraping car windows caked in ice and brushing snow before setting off to brave the gridlock. Over the years, I’ve tried to devise schemes for easing this activity – blankets on the windshield, pre-warming the car, etc. – but now there’s a new alternative, thanks to the chemists at Prestone. The Ice & Frost Shield promises that your scraping days are over, as long as you remember to spray it on your car windows the night before. I had to give it a try.
I set out for a winter camping night at a State Park an hour north of Minneapolis and packed a spray bottle of Ice & Frost Shield along. I parked my old Volvo where they stopped plowing the road and, after unloading my pack and skis, I sprayed all the windows with a quick mist from the bottle. I set off into the woods, my hopes for a scrape-free morning tinged with skepticism. It’s tough to sneak one past Old Man Winter.
The next morning, when I hiked out to my car, all windows were clear. Not having to scrape ice after a cold hike made me a believer. My only gripe was that the product seemed to leave a greasy film on the windows that collects road grime and smears, but I can live with that on those days when I can drive away free and clear while my neighbor is still chipping away with an ice ax.
Click here for a video demonstration.
Cost: $5