How to make your Own Washer Fluid

[moribundman]

Google images: CW 1:100

Its washer fluid concentrate. In Europe it's sold as a Dr Wack product. In the US it's sold under the Porsche label. Cleans like crazy.

 

[Drew2000]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Doesn't Home Depot sell a one gallon container of the concentrated window cleaner? I think it sells for under $10/gallon, and you dilute it to turn it into normal window cleaner.

Wouldn't this be suitable for use as washer fluid in the summer or year round (if your area does not experience below freezing temperatures)?


Yes...I get either the Zep or Windex Commercial Line concentrate and mix for summer use. (Windex works better). In the winter I add a "glug" to the anti-freeze blue stuff, really helps to cut the grime.

Dead of winter though, I spring for the Prestone De-icer washer fluid. Works best on ice when it's really cold.

Drew

 

[Jim 5]

Originally Posted By: moribundman
I dunno, Wan, I use Dr Wack's CW 1:100 concentrate. A 250 ml bottle makes 50 liters solution. Cost is about $7 at any Porsche dealer or online.


It seems like a good deal to me in either case, but wouldn't a 250ml bottle @ 1:100 give 25L?

 

[bustednutz]

Amonia, car wash soap and water should hook you up for the summer.

 

[moribundman]

Originally Posted By: Jim 5
Originally Posted By: moribundman
I dunno, Wan, I use Dr Wack's CW 1:100 concentrate. A 250 ml bottle makes 50 liters solution. Cost is about $7 at any Porsche dealer or online.


It seems like a good deal to me in either case, but wouldn't a 250ml bottle @ 1:100 give 25L?



The product can be diluted to 1:200. That makes then 50 liters. If you got a lot of dried bug guts on your windshield, you may want to increase the strength of the solution.

http://www.wackchem.com/cw-1100-english/index.html

 

[newtoncd8]

How about the windshield washer tablet from 303 products? I use them and they work great. If you are in a climate where it doesn't freeze, just add the tablet to a gallon of water. In the product, you purchase 5 tablets at a time, so you have five gallons of fluid ready to go at a moment's notice. I live in Colorado (read: it can get real cold), thus I add them to the cheap blue stuff and it works great.

Here is the info on the product:

"Super-concentrated and especially formulated to completely remove road film, dirt and grime leaving windshields sparkling clean. Non-toxic, biodegradable and engineered safe for rubber and paint.

Each summer 100 million empty gallon bottles of windshield cleaner are trashed, cluttering up our nation's landfills. 303 Instant Windshield Washer Tablets mean no plastic bottles to dispose of. Each super-concentrated tablet will give you up to a gallon of unbelievable cleaner power.

Formulated to completely remove bugs and road film, "303" tablets can even be used in the winter months with any anti-freeze windshield solvent to ADD cleaning power those products lack. Stores in your glove box. 303 Instant Windshield Washer Tablets... we supply the cleaning power, you add the water."

 

[Carmudgeon]

Originally Posted By: moribundman

http://www.wackchem.com/cw-1100-english/index.html


That looks suspiciously like the P21S windshield wash, and the site has a P21 section. I assume they're identical, or at least made by the same parent company?

I've always wanted to try the P21S stuff but never got around to ordering it.

Würth has a similar concentrate called Blitz. It works well enough, but it's expensive.

 

[moribundman]

I'm sorry, but I can't confirm if CW:100 and P21s are one and the same product. More then ten years ago I used to buy one or the other and they worked equally well as far as I remember. That both products come in the same type bottle with a measuring feature isn't surprising.

As for Würth, in Germany I never saw their washer fluid concentrate or their automotive paint. Würth is a huge company that operates in dozens of countries around the world. In Germany I saw a lot of their construction materials like bolts, dowels and tools at home improvement centers, which is also where I used to buy washer fluid concentrate.

 

[97prizm]

Thriftyfun.com seemed to have a few suggestions on how to make your own washer fluid. Some people seemed to have better luck than others. One recipe seemed promising http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf883828.tip.html
1 OZ of dish washing detergent
1/3 of a bottle of 70% isopropyl OR 1/4 bottle 90%
The rest water.
Yes, eyeballing is ok, but watch it with the soap!

 

[gto78]

Holy cow, 1 OZ of dish soap...! I put like two drops into a gallon and it was impossible to fill the container because of all the suds overflowing.

I haven't needed to refill mine again yet, but the new experimental formula will have laundry detergent instead since it has very low suds and is mild enough to leave the wax alone. As for a streak free additive, I'm wanting to use distilled white vinegar, but unsure what that does to wax. The rest will be distilled water. The distilled water has no minerals to harden into droplets which stain the window and paint in the intense sunlight/heated surface.

That's the plan for now, I'll keep ya updated if things change.

 

[oilyriser]

The soaps designed for front loading washing machines are supposed to be non-foaming, and they contain enzymes to digest starch and protein stains. These might work on bug splats. I'm not sure if there would be corrosion problems. Adding 15% alcohol of some kind should work as a biocide to keep the microbes from digesting all the fancy detergents and enzymes in the diluted mixture.

I just had this idea now, and have never tried it.

 

[JHZR2]

my curiosity is that for cars with headlight sprayers, will the alcohol degrade the anti-uv/anti-yellowing coatings that are put on the new plastic headlights.

JMH

 

[ludey]

Rubbing alcohol- no
Ammonia-Yes

 

[RacerE7773]

I just buy 2 or 3 bottles at a time and keep one in each car trunk. I've bought every color out there over the years and won't buy the blue stuff anymore. I like Advance's purple/pinkish Best fluid and Rain X orange most.

 

[Saturn_Fan]

The fact that this product would help to save the use of more plastic jugs in landfills makes this something I would buy. Imagine how 100 million windshield washer jugs would look if they were all in one place. And I never even gave this any thought as I would buy them half a dozen at a time from Wal Mart.

 

[benjamming]

Originally Posted By: moribundman
Mix

16 oz isopropyl alcohol
6 oz methanol
12 oz water

to make ~1 liter/~1 quart washer fluid.



What alcohol purity? Is that 16 oz. of a 50% solution or 16 oz of pure (99%) IPA?

 

[moribundman]

Try a 70% solution.

 

[AHC]

Originally Posted By: RacerE7773
I just buy 2 or 3 bottles at a time and keep one in each car trunk.


I also buy several jugs at a time but why do you haul it around? Seems like you could fill up at home if you run out on your commute and save gas?

I fill up or check it before a long haul.

 

[Shannow]

Down here, we just use water, and a product like Bars Bugs.

Less than a cup of Bars Bugs, and 2-3 litres of water.

 

[RacerE7773]

Originally Posted By: AHC
Originally Posted By: RacerE7773
I just buy 2 or 3 bottles at a time and keep one in each car trunk.


I also buy several jugs at a time but why do you haul it around? Seems like you could fill up at home if you run out on your commute and save gas?

I fill up or check it before a long haul.
I put only one jug in each car. when I used to live elsewhere I did have to carry it around since a nameless relative would see it and since it wasn't his it was fair game. Even when I had it locked up in a cabinet.