In this cold, snowy and icy winter, you might be tempted to put hot water on your car’s ice-coated windshield – don’t do it!
When hot water hits cold glass, the glass expands rapidly, but not evenly, causing cracks in windshields and windows. If you do not have an ice scrapper, a good way to de-ice your windshield starts with warming up the car with the vents blasting on defrost.
If your car is frozen shut and none of the doors will open, you can slowly pour warm (not boiling) water to loosen them up. You can even use a hairdryer, if you don’t have any legit de-icing agents laying around. You can prevent your car from freezing shut by rubbing simple cooking spray along the edge of your doors.
Read the article at Jalopnik.