Searches for Homemade Windshield Washer Fluids are quite prevalent of late. I decided to help come up with a method for deciding how much methanol, ethanol, or White-Vinegar, etc. to mix with water for custom designing your own solutions. First of all, methanol is the most common anti-freeze liquid used in windshield wiper fluids today. Common 'Rain-X Ice-X, TM' is made with a 20% methanol, 80% (Water and other stuff). Other 'stuff' is for quick removal of window crud, (Di-Butyoxyethalene). Only a teaspoon of Di-Butyoxyethalene is needed, however a small amount of surfactant (dish soap) will do in the case that you can't locate any (it is a little more difficult to find).
Water and soap are the main ingredients for cleaning road grime (especially guts) off your windows that you will encounter in the winter. In the summer however, is when bugs come out, at which time putting in a sparing amount of Vinegar in with the water will more than suffice for green (and other color) guts that you might see splattered on the windshield. Vinegar is not much better than water as far as freezing properties go, so it's pointless to use Vinegar in the winter (rather than pure water) IMHO (In my humble opinion).
Why did they use 20% methanol instead of 100% or just 5% you ask? Well, here is a chart about Methanol with some key information which I will briefly explain.
Keep designed concentrations well within the temperatures of your working environment if you don't want the solution to freeze, or worse, explode. This comment will be explained a little further on.
Methanol (METHYL ALCOHOL) Conc.
Vol.% ---Freezing Point,F ---Flash Point,F
What is a 'flash point'/freezing point?
- A 'flash point' is a temperature at which a particular liquid changes from liquid, to steam. For instance (from the above chart), if one mixes 24 parts Methanol with 76 parts water, then the liquid will freeze at 0 degrees Fahrenheit, and start turning to steam at 110 degrees Fahrenheit. So with the above mentioned mixture at a temperature of 110 degrees Fahrenheit, some of the Methanol will turn into steam and thus be liable to combustion (blowing up) if it is introduced to a spark or open flame, etc. So if you love your face, (or even if you don't really care for your face) you should make sure that the mixtures you use will coincide with natural temperatures of the environment in which the liquid will be stored (don't forget about engine heat too if that could be a problem).
For instance, in Arizona in the summer you could probably do with just water and dish soap or detergent in your windshield wiper reservoir. For cold snaps that get down to say, 20 Fahrenheit in Arizona, just use a 13% solution, but remember to dilute the solution before you get up above 130 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer otherwise the fumes produced may burn at a most inopportune time.
If you were in Alaska (as I am), you would be okay with a 65% solution in the winter which will give not freeze before -71 Celsius (-95 Fahrenheit), but at the same time won't start flashing to steam until 70 Fahrenheit. Such a solution would give you plenty of time to lower the solution down to less than say 35% Methanol concentration for the summer weather (-15 Fahrenheit-Freezing, 95 Fahrenheit Flash).
The reason you would want to 'do-it-yourself' for naysayers is so that you have a reliable mixture to clean your windows during any bad weather that you might encounter. I have to travel 45 miles on some of the nastiest mud/salt highway mixture in the world Monday through Friday on my work commute. Seeing is a necessity. If you buy over the counter remedies sometimes they don't work...often they freeze. So I rely on myself to design my own. By the way you can often buy methanol at a nearby race-track (its used in race cars and go-carts). Just make sure that you mark your canister well because you don't want someone to mistake Methanol for Gasoline.
Here is a link to another blog that does a good job ( and that I referenced to get some of my information).
http://madscientistmatt.blogspot.com/2006/02/homemade-windshield-washer-fluid.html
For warmer climates there are other cheap options such as;
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_make_homemade_windshield_washer_fluid
But such solutions as (windex mixed with dish soap and water do not take cold into account) and so in my opinion defeat the purpose of windshield washer cleaner because it is cheaper (or at least close to the same price to just buy it from the store if you don't care if it freezes).
I hope this helped.
Methanol (METHYL ALCOHOL) Conc.
Vol.% ---Freezing Point,F ---Flash Point,F
0----------32f--------No Flash
13---------20f --------130f
24---------0f ---------110f
35---------15f---------95f
46 --------40f---------85f
56---------65f---------75f
66---------95f---------70f
75---------115f--------60f
83---------125f--------55f
92---------130f--------55f
100--------144f--------55f
What is a 'flash point'/freezing point?
- A 'flash point' is a temperature at which a particular liquid changes from liquid, to steam. For instance (from the above chart), if one mixes 24 parts Methanol with 76 parts water, then the liquid will freeze at 0 degrees Fahrenheit, and start turning to steam at 110 degrees Fahrenheit. So with the above mentioned mixture at a temperature of 110 degrees Fahrenheit, some of the Methanol will turn into steam and thus be liable to combustion (blowing up) if it is introduced to a spark or open flame, etc. So if you love your face, (or even if you don't really care for your face) you should make sure that the mixtures you use will coincide with natural temperatures of the environment in which the liquid will be stored (don't forget about engine heat too if that could be a problem).
For instance, in Arizona in the summer you could probably do with just water and dish soap or detergent in your windshield wiper reservoir. For cold snaps that get down to say, 20 Fahrenheit in Arizona, just use a 13% solution, but remember to dilute the solution before you get up above 130 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer otherwise the fumes produced may burn at a most inopportune time.
If you were in Alaska (as I am), you would be okay with a 65% solution in the winter which will give not freeze before -71 Celsius (-95 Fahrenheit), but at the same time won't start flashing to steam until 70 Fahrenheit. Such a solution would give you plenty of time to lower the solution down to less than say 35% Methanol concentration for the summer weather (-15 Fahrenheit-Freezing, 95 Fahrenheit Flash).
The reason you would want to 'do-it-yourself' for naysayers is so that you have a reliable mixture to clean your windows during any bad weather that you might encounter. I have to travel 45 miles on some of the nastiest mud/salt highway mixture in the world Monday through Friday on my work commute. Seeing is a necessity. If you buy over the counter remedies sometimes they don't work...often they freeze. So I rely on myself to design my own. By the way you can often buy methanol at a nearby race-track (its used in race cars and go-carts). Just make sure that you mark your canister well because you don't want someone to mistake Methanol for Gasoline.
Here is a link to another blog that does a good job ( and that I referenced to get some of my information).
http://madscientistmatt.blogspot.com/2006/02/homemade-windshield-washer-fluid.html
For warmer climates there are other cheap options such as;
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_make_homemade_windshield_washer_fluid
But such solutions as (windex mixed with dish soap and water do not take cold into account) and so in my opinion defeat the purpose of windshield washer cleaner because it is cheaper (or at least close to the same price to just buy it from the store if you don't care if it freezes).
I hope this helped.
GREAT INFORMATION !!!!!
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