Windshield washer fluid, summer blend

RenegadeT

RenegadeT

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When did this happen? Wife was at walmart, asked if I needed anything, so I said sure pick me up a gallon of windshield washer juice. What's the deal with summer blend, never seen it before. Probably just blue water, maybe a dab of alcohol for good measure.
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The winter ones will be rated for -40/-25/0F etc. What pisses me off is when they say its "rated to 0 C".
 
RenegadeT said:
When did this happen? Wife was at walmart, asked if I needed anything, so I said sure pick me up a gallon of windshield washer juice. What's the deal with summer blend, never seen it before. Probably just blue water, maybe a dab of alcohol for good measure.
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Summer formula is a little lighter on the taste buds. More refreshing and cleaner finish. The Octoberfest washer solvent is more hoppy with a hint of pumpkin and wheat. For the holidays, they have one with a bigger spice note and is darker and more satisfying. Pairs well with game birds and wild boar. In the spring time, they bring out the citrus and rye for a lighter more airy windshield washer solvent.
 
I actually dont like the rainx washer fluid.
 
It's cool @drkelly, I recently bought the rain X stuff and wasn't impressed either. We can start our own country and make 0K rated washer fluid.
 
RatLabGuy said:
you must be a communist. Do you hate America?
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It seemed to leave greasy streaks on my windshield. I was surprised. I had used the old school stuff in a bottle years ago that you wipe on the windshield with a paper towel. It worked great, which is why I bought the washer fluid. I thought it would work the same.
 
drkelly said:
It seemed to leave greasy streaks on my windshield. I was surprised. I had used the old school stuff in a bottle years ago that you wipe on the windshield with a paper towel. It worked great, which is why I bought the washer fluid. I thought it would work the same.
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I had the same thing in mine (I like to top mine off any time I pop the hood). When my wife's van needed a re-fill (hers was BONE DRY), I used up the rest of the bottle on hers. Worked great. I'm wondering if it doesn't mix well with other washer solvent and when added to other fluid, it gets streaky. Not willing to buy another jug just to test, but it's my theory.
 
I didn't realize anyone actually really bought that stuff.

I just use water, a little bit of dawn detergent, and a little alcohol or glycol in the winter to keep it from freezing. Seems to work good.
 
drkelly said:
It seemed to leave greasy streaks on my windshield. I was surprised. I had used the old school stuff in a bottle years ago that you wipe on the windshield with a paper towel. It worked great, which is why I bought the washer fluid. I thought it would work the same.
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Sounds like user error.
 
rockcity said:
I didn't realize anyone actually really bought that stuff.

I just use water, a little bit of dawn detergent, and a little alcohol or glycol in the winter to keep it from freezing. Seems to work good.
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That sounds like too much work, LOL.
 
ManglerYJ said:
I had the same thing in mine (I like to top mine off any time I pop the hood). When my wife's van needed a re-fill (hers was BONE DRY), I used up the rest of the bottle on hers. Worked great. I'm wondering if it doesn't mix well with other washer solvent and when added to other fluid, it gets streaky. Not willing to buy another jug just to test, but it's my theory.
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Bingo. It's basically a thin film of oil. That's why water doesn't stick to the windshield. So I'm sure that mixing it w/ other normal mostly-water stuff will not turn out well.
 
Film-forming polymer I think, some form of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) most likely. Well, at least that's what's in the original windshield sealant. Some waterborne version is probably in the wiper fluid, or methanol-borne.
 
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drkelly said:
It seemed to leave greasy streaks on my windshield. I was surprised. I had used the old school stuff in a bottle years ago that you wipe on the windshield with a paper towel. It worked great, which is why I bought the washer fluid. I thought it would work the same.
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I bought a jug and put some in my wife's xB. First squirt left it almost undriveable if you were heading into the sun. There was no good way to get it out, so I had to cut the line where it ran under the fender, attach an extension, and run the washer motor until it ran itself out into a bottle. I trashed the rest and won't go back. She has good wipers for when it rains. They work. I don't want something in her car that is that easy to screw up. If she's out somewhere and just grabs a bottle of whatever to fill it up, I don't want her to have to deal with the dangerous streaks. KISS theory.
 
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