Winter might mean more rain, slush and road dirt on your windscreen, but summer offers up its own set of visibility problems. From dust to dead insects, your windscreen goes through a lot, whatever the season — so you should always make sure your car is filled with premium screen wash. After all, it’s the law.

If you’re tempted to squirt a few drops of washing up liquid into your car’s screen wash reservoir, we wouldn’t recommend doing so. While household cleaners are great for cleaning up dirt and grime around the home, they’re not fit for use on cars, and contain harsh chemicals which can damage paintwork and other metallic surfaces. Not only that, but household cleaning products offer zero protection against freezing, leaving you without protection when the temperature drops. Prestone lab tests simulate seasonal driving experiences, but real life tests are conducted on the road in extreme conditions. Prestone works in any weather to keep your windscreen clean for safer driving.” It’s a legal requirement– that’s right, you could receive a fixed penalty notice if the police pull you over and discover you have no screen wash, especially when there’s reason to believe that reduced visibility has caused you to drive dangerously.

Plus, summer means the arrival of a sneaky danger — sun dazzle. Dazzle occurs when the sun’s rays shine on dirt and grime on a car’s windscreen, limiting visibility for the driver. If you keep your windscreen free of dirt and smears, then you’ll get better visibility and won’t have any nasty sun related surprises. Myth 2: Don’t use screen wash –water does the same thing At the summer mix ratio the cleaning performance was adequate, clearing the oil and leaving a small residue of glue, but no smearing. As we knew our freezer was measured at 18C, we mixed at a ratio of 1.5:1 which should have given us protection down to 19.5C. However, although there was some liquid evident in the syringe it was too frozen to squirt until it had been out of the freezer for a few minutes. Tesco Concentrated Screen Wash (& Tesco Ready To Use) Prestone Screen Wash contains powerful cleaning agents that remove tough deposits and ensure a streak-free finish. Combined with the optimum quantity of antifreeze, our windscreen washer fluid guarantees maximum protection and visibility in all driving conditions. As well as removing deposits and dirt fast, Prestone Extreme Performance Screen Wash also dries clear thanks to our new and improved streak-free formula.

It will dramatically reduce sun dazzle – sun dazzle is dangerous and can easily cause accidents any time of the year. Making sure the washer reservoir is kept topped up will ensure you can keep the windscreen free from smears and streaks which cause dazzle. The bottle of Wynns is the smallest here, yet it claims to be ‘Super Concentrated’ and offer protection down to -70C. In reality though, that headline figure of -70C is only if you use the Wynns neat, which is unlikely to be necessary in the UK. With the needle inserted, carefully adjust the nozzle so that the opening is directed at the windscreen. Then, remove the needle and test the spray. If it’s still not properly aligned, you may need to repeat the process. Tested both in the lab and on the road, our flagship screen wash offers guaranteed visibility in all driving conditions – bringing confidence and clarity to every journey. It will prevent freezing – make sure you use a high-quality screen wash with a low freeze rating. That way, on cold nights, the water in the reservoir won’t freeze solid and cause damage.As well as testing and our experience of using multiple screen washes, we also based our recommendations on the latest research and a number of factors. Some of the factors that we took into consideration included the formula’s type, seasonal use, freezing point, effectiveness and value for money. Conclusion

We tried seven different types, testing them for freeze resistance in winter conditions and cleaning ability at weaker summer concentrations.

What is Screen Wash?

There is little aroma, no foaming and the fluid turned to ice as soon as the temperature dipped below zero. In the cleaning test it left smears from the oil and had no more effect on the glue than plain water. Now that we’ve cleared things up and busted the myths of screen wash, it’s time to get serious and talk about why it’s so important. There are five very good reasons you should use high-quality screen wash, including: Below is a video we posted on our YouTube channel that shows us testing one of the screen washes. As you can see, it takes less than a minute to top up the screen wash and the bottle on this particular screen wash had an “easy-pour” spout that made pouring in the formula far easier and less messy. In summer this makes it seem good value compared to some ready-mix rivals, but the advantage disappears in winter. The great thing about Prestone Screen Wash is that it’s safe to mix with other products. That means you can add screen wash anytime without worrying about contamination and a drop in cleaning performance. How does Prestone Screen Wash work?