Windshield
Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 123
Once a week we’ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because the possibilities they inspire are new. Sign up here to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.
Cheap brass ice scraper
I bought the one I have now in 1982 at a gas station in Wisconsin. It’s such a superior scraper that I’ve been careful to make sure it transferred from disposed-of vehicle to replacement vehicle four times since then. The thin, stiff, but mildly conforming brass blade slides easily between ice and glass and does so without scratching because brass is softer than glass. Oh, yeah, it still costs $2. Important: don’t use it to hack at the ice because you may deform the brass blade, after which it won’t slide between ice and glass well at all. — Jeff Morrow
Brass blade is the real deal. I’ve given these to friends and family because they are so much better than the crappy plastic ones. Brass is soft enough to not damage the glass. The blade is thin and not really sharp to the touch, but is great on ice. The plastic scrapers get dull pretty quickly and then just skip over really tough ice. — Scott Christensen
Had one of these for years and it was the best I have ever used. You just have to be careful about hitting the rubber gasket with it – it will cut. That is the reason the blade is not as wide as the blade holder.— Jim Sheafer
Windshield clearing film
If you ever drive your car during rain and you haven’t discovered Rain-X, you are probably driving far less safely than you could. Rain-X is an exterior window (windshield, mirror, rear-window) treatment that causes water to shed from the surface rather than sheet. I don’t know the composition of the product, but it behaves like a silicone wax for glass. Water beads up and drips off.
Sheeting water on a glass surface, like a windshield, causes significant distortion in the light/images passing through the glass because it isn’t perfectly smooth. Rain-X causes the water to bead up so that spaces between the beads give you clear vision of what’s ahead. While this is clearly evident during rainstorms, it is UNBELIEVEABLY DIFFERENT during rainstorms at night. You can actually SEE!
During most rain, you can leave your wipers on intermittent when others are swiping furiously – and you will be able to see far better than they can even with the frenetic wiper activity. Better sight is better safety!
If you want a clear demonstration, put a bit of Rain-X on a 10″ square patch on your windshield just below the rear-view mirror (on the outside of the glass). The next time it rains, you won’t believe how well you can see out of this patch and how poorly your wipers are clearing the rest of the windshield.
I am very skeptical of “patent medicines” so when I try something that actually works I am very pleasantly surprised. This product has astonished me. I have been using it for many years and wouldn’t think of sending my kids out in a car without Rain-X.
(I think they are missing a bet by not offering their Rain-X “towelettes” as free samples over the Internet. They don’t even accept email on their site. Ah well, at least the product is great.) — Durwin Sharp
Applying Rain-X by hand is for people with entirely too much free time:) Take a gander at the windshield wiper fluid with rainx already added. I have been using this for at least three years now and I give gallons of it for xmas. it is a wonderful invention. Available from automotive stores. — Douglas F. Calvert
Removable windshield appliqué
Sticker Shield is a static adhesion sheet that surrounds a decal or sticker, making it easily removable and transferable from one surface to another. I’ve always had a problem with parking stickers. External stickers are easily scraped off during Chicago winters. Internal stickers are weatherproof, but can only be removed destructively from your windshield. Unlike the previously-reviewed Un-Du and Grip Solvent, which can ostensibly remove decals easily, Sticker Shield allows you to avoid the hassle altogether and preserves the sticker for re-use. The sheets are 4×6-inches, so if you’re using smaller decals, you just cut down the sheet and save the other half for another sticker. Often my partner and I switch cars, so now it’s much easier to swap stickers with each other before going to work. Or say a child has an awesome sticker he or she wants to put somewhere, but on a “permanent” basis. Whenever the time comes time to remove it, there’ll be no need to resort to solvents or scraping. — Joel Grossman
These are SENSATIONAL. The plastic holds up perfectly for years and it is impossible to see you’ve made your “permanent” sticker a temporary and easily movable item. I’ve been using Sticker Shields (it used to be named something else) for at least ten years: one for my auto registration sticker and one for my state inspection sticker, both on my front windshield. My daughter also uses one for her apartment parking sticker, and gives it to friends when she’s not around town. She did that in college, too, so her pals could park on campus when she was off. It’s really fun to use, sort of like magic. — Joseph Stirt
Quick retractable auto shade
Conventional car shades are unwieldy, prone to slipping off, and awkward to store.
The Shade requires careful installation, but thereafter takes only a second to put up or roll away. This makes one much more likely to use it regularly, resulting in fewer surprises when those clouds vanish midday. It is well built, sturdy, and reliable. The retraction mechanism on my original unit is as strong and smooth as on a new one; I know, because I’ve bought eight more of these shades over the years for friends and family. The glue for the mounting brackets is strong stuff, my right-hand brackets fell off this summer, but that was after six years of New Mexico sun. Replacement brackets were $5, and my Shade is now remounted and ready for another six years.
They are sized to fit different car models. — Ed Santiago
Super wide angle windshield view
I bought a souped-up Mini Cooper from a car-enthusiast friend. As I sat for the first time in the driver’s seat, I noticed what looked like an irregularity in the top of the windshield. Peering more closely, I saw it was a little Fresnel lens. “What’s that for?” I asked.
“It’s the coolest thing,” he said. “I found it on one of the Mini sites. It lets you see when the light turns green without having to crane your neck.”
Sure enough, it does. Another friend was riding with me a few weeks later became so enamored with the device, I peeled it off and gave it to him. While waiting for a replacement I had to bend my neck sideways and lean forward to see the light when I’m first in line. What a pain compared to just sitting back comfortably and waiting for that little red dot in the lens to go green.
The manufacturer says Light In Sight works for all kinds of vehicles and is “especially helpful for taller drivers, drivers in smaller cars, delivery vans and trucks, and drivers with a mobility problem, such as a neck or back problem.”
LightInSight is self-adhering (assisted with a wet paper towel), easily removable and reusable. It measures 7″ by 1-1/2.” — Steve Leveen
02/3/25
