Homemade windshield washer fluid is easy to make, inexpensive, and all-natural. Ditch the commercial stuff, save money, and make your own!
Are you ready for a little disclosure? I have a secret obsession with car washes. Although you wouldn’t know it by looking at my dirty car, I’m always scoping out car wash locations with the best coupons/prices, the best pre-wash, the coolest scrubbies, the friendliest employees, free vacuums, and a guy at the end who buffs your car dry at no extra charge.
My family noticed this obsession long before I was willing to admit I had a problem.
I’m in recovery now, so I try to focus just on my windshield. (Ok, not true, but I had to segue into the windshield issue at some point.)
Lately, we’ve been running out of windshield fluid in our cars every few weeks. In the South, we have a perpetual layer of yellow dust all over our cars.
I’ve recently been informed that the area we moved to has one of the country’s most consistently high pollen counts. True or not, I look like I’m leaving a trail of magic fairy dust behind every time I drive away.
Since I need to be able to see the road when I’m dusting the town with my special fairy blend, I make my windshield washer fluid. It is cheap, non-toxic, and can be used to clean other things.
Homemade Windshield Washer Fluid: Non-Toxic
Ingredients
- 1 empty and clean gallon jug
- 8 ounces 99% isopropyl rubbing alcohol (double this amount in extremely cold weather)
- 1 ounce liquid castile soap
- 4 drops blue food coloring (optional)
Instructions
- Pour the rubbing alcohol into the empty jug then fill the jug with water, leaving room for the soap.
- Slowly add the soap and optional food coloring to the jug.
- Cap the jug and gently tip upside down a few times to mix ingredients.
- Pour windshield wiper fluid into the correct compartment under your car hood.
Video
Notes
Homemade Windshield Washer Fluid Tips
- Use this wiper fluid to clean the rest of the windows in your car or your home.
- It also works great to clean countertops and shine faucets!
- Always remember to label your homemade concoctions.
- The alcohol will keep this from freezing, for stronger anti-freeze protection in severe cold weather, add more alcohol.
- Old gallon jugs from vinegar make the perfect container for storing your homemade windshield formula.
A Note on Car Wax
Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol is used to remove car wax at a ratio of 1:1 (1 part water to 1 part alcohol). This homemade windshield washer fluid calls for a dilution of 16:1 (and 8:1 in extreme cold), so it should not have any effects on the wax. That said, we recommend testing this on a small area before pouring solution in washer reservoir and using.Why Make Homemade Windshield Washer Fluid?
- Commercial windshield washer fluid is poisonous – They make it with methanol, which the National Institute of Health lists as poisonous alcohol that can cause significant damage even in small amounts.
- Homemade is much less expensive – Stores in our area list a 16 oz. bottle of rubbing alcohol at $0.88, a 32 oz. bottle of Dr. Bronner’s castile soap at $13.00, and a gallon of commercial windshield washer at $3.16 per gallon. This calculates to a cost per gallon of around $0.90 for our recipe versus $3.16 for the commercial brands, a savings of more than 350%.
- What are your reasons? Don’t limit this to my imagination, leave a comment with other creative reasons to make your own.
After you make this maybe you should try to learn how to make liquid soap.
How did you like making homemade windshield washer fluid?
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References and Resources
- Dangerous methanol in commercial windshield washer fluid on National Library of Medicine.
- Methanol poisoning on National Library of Medicine.
Natural Homemade Windshield Washer Fluid Recipe was written by Betsy Jabs.
* This article was originally published here
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