Texas drivers are unknowingly making a $500 mistake when dealing with icy windshields—here’s what you need to know to avoid it

Texas drivers are getting some very important lessons about how to deal with their first real encounters with windscreen frost. A TikTok creator who just so happens to have relocated to New Hampshire has all the right answers, and her video is quickly going viral in Texas.

Contrary to what the current administration would prefer you to believe, the climate is changing. For many Texas residents, this is their first experience dealing with a frosted windscreen. But some people are already jumping the gun — pouring boiling hot water onto their windshields — and getting a very quick lesson in thermodynamics.

Whenever you pour piping hot water on a frosted windshield, there’s about a 50 percent chance the glass might crack, leaving you with at least a $500 bill, depending on the make of your car. And considering the rising costs in the auto industry these days, you’d better hope it’s on the lower end.

The scientific term for this is thermal shock. When your windscreen is frosted, it’s not just the outside that’s cold — the inside of the glass is too. When hot water is poured onto it, the exterior layer expands rapidly. Because glass is a poor conductor of heat, the interior remains frozen. That steep temperature gradient can cause the windscreen to crack.

For @certifiedchamita, growing up in New Hampshire meant living through many winters, and she knew a little more than the community she had been transplanted into. In her viral video, she explained, “You need to get in your car right now, turn it on, turn the heating on, and let it melt, ’cause it’s gonna keep snowing. The temperature’s gonna keep dropping, and everything is just gonna freeze on your car.”

One user in the comments added, “If you turn on your car and automatically turn on the heater, you’re damaging your car. You gotta let it run first for a couple minutes to heat up and then you turn on the heater. If not, you’re damaging your vehicle.” Other users suggested using warm water instead of boiling water. Another commenter offered a different solution entirely, writing, “Lowkey didn’t have this problem. Every other vehicle in my driveway was iced over. Waxed my vehicle with some water-repellent wax beforehand and it worked.”

Snow is still something rare in Texas — something residents expect every two to four years without ever knowing exactly when it will hit. Even politicians from the state keep getting flat-footed by it, sometimes shamefully choosing to “run off.” But according to Motor1, there are ways Texans can adapt to unpredictable snowstorms despite the lack of political will to invest in snowplows and salt trucks.

Three steps can make driving just a little easier during this season. First, don’t tailgate. You’ll need far more stopping distance than you’re probably used to. Second, do not pump your brakes — instead, apply steady pressure to avoid skidding. And finally, please don’t use a hair dryer on your locks or engine. That one should be self-explanatory. You might just cause a fire if you tried that.