How to demist your car quickly
When autumn comes rolling in, and those early mornings start getting darker and colder, it’s not just your sunny disposition that will change – your car will also feel the effects, most notably with condensation.
Having to demist your car in the morning (or evening) becomes commonplace once the temperatures dip below a certain level, and dawn starts to break later.
However, there are various methods to demisting your car that will make the whole process so much easier and more effective so you can get away in no time at all.
How does your car mist up?
For anyone wondering why this all happens in the first place, it’s down to the fact that, with the weather turning, it means your windows get colder than the dew point inside of the car itself.
This then causes any moisture to condense onto the cold glass, and leads to them misting up.
3 quick methods to demist your car quickly
- Hit the demist button(s)
This is your first point of call when starting up your car – there will likely be a button for the front demister and one for the rear – it’s important not to start wiping the windows with a cloth or pad.
Pressing the button for the front demister will put your heating blowers on at full speed, and possibly at a high temperature.
However – it is wise to ensure that your heater’s temperature is placed no higher than 20 degrees celsius, as high temps will only lead to your windscreen and windows fogging up even more so.
Also make sure that your side vents are aimed up at the driver and passenger windows for the best effectiveness.
- Make sure the AC is on
If your car has air con, then now is the time to pop that on – this will keep the atmosphere within the car’s cabin moisture-free and halt any further condensation forming.
Don’t have air con? Then, if you can bear it, wind the windows down at least a little to allow some of the cool, dry outside air into the cabin.
- Gradually increase the temperature
After about half a minute of pushing cool air against the glass of your windows, it’s time to start ever-so-gradually turning up the heat.
Every 10 seconds or so, bring the temperature up by a degree, but no more as this will slow down your demisting efforts – it’s important to have patience at this point in the process.
Over the next couple of minutes, you should hopefully start to see some results in so much that you can now see out of your windows and windscreen, and the demisting process has been successful.
Car demisting FAQs
What are demisters in a car?
The front demister is a feature that will focus concentrated blasts of air onto your windscreen to help clear the condensation.
This is all part of your car’s heating and cooling system for the cabin of the vehicle, and you will likely use its more day-to-day features quite regularly.
At the rear, meanwhile, there will likely be copper wire built into the glass that will heat and clear the condensation gradually on its own.
How to demist a car without air con?
All is not lost if you don’t have air con – just lower the windows down to let in cool air from the outside, and while this won’t be quite as effective as air con, it will be better than nothing in your aim to demist your car.
Should I use a demister pad?
Initially, no – going straight to your windows and windscreen with a cloth or demister pad will only make things worse.
It is much more effective to try and clear the condensation with the demisting features of your car’s heating unit first.
However, once the condensation has cleared, and you feel your windscreen needs a bit of a clean, then using a demister pad or microfiber cloth is fine to be used at this point.