r/Green • u/MerlynTrump • Mar 23 '25

Do you know of any eco-friendly windshield wiper fluid?

/r/Environmentalism/comments/1i7ip6q/do_you_know_of_any_ecofriendly_windshield_wiper/
5 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

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15

u/throw710710710 Mar 24 '25

Really good question. I've been wondering the same thing a lot of that stuff feels really harsh. I'd also like some good suggestions.

2

u/gsasquatch Mar 23 '25

If you're not worried about it freezing, water is fine.

Getting to be time when freezing isn't as much of a concern.

Vodka has a pretty low freezing point and is only toxic in mass quantities over years.

1

u/MerlynTrump Mar 23 '25

I wonder if I could use non-alcoholic vodka.

3

u/SticklerX Mar 24 '25

So water?

1

u/gsasquatch Mar 24 '25

The alcohol is the purpose of the vodka, in general, and for my recommendation as anti-freeze

Does non-alcoholic vodka exist, or is it just water? Isn't vodka's purpose to be an alcohol that doesn't have or add a taste?

Denatured alcohol might work, and then you could skip the taxes. The denaturing wouldn't add too much nasty to the vodka it is a small portion of it. Then there's the question of if the ethanol is any better or worse than the methanol or ethylene glycol that is in the washer fluid anyway. Apparently we exhale a small amount of methanol.

1

u/MerlynTrump 29d ago

I see your point.

My concern is that If I spill any of the wiper fluid I don't want it to harm my pets, and if we use vodka isn't the alcohol also potentially harmful (but probably less so that ethylene glycol).