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Winter is a rough time for drivers in cold climates. You have to deal with things like driving a car in snowy and icy road conditions, the challenge of starting a car in cold weather, and ice on the windshield. However, you don’t have to be empty-handed in the battle against Old Man Winter. Use cat litter to help your car beat the winter blues. 

Cat litter improves traction for cars on snowy and icy roads during the winter

Car stuck in the snow during the winter and a cat in a cat litter pan
Car covered in snow and a cat in a cat litter pan | Erik Mclean via Unsplash; Auscape/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

One of the most dangerous aspects of winter driving is snowy and icy roads. If you don’t drive carefully when encountering snowy and icy conditions, you might make a quick visit to the ditch. However, with cat litter, you can improve the traction of your car. 

Cat litter improves traction in two different ways. First, you can put boxes of cat litter in the rear cargo area or the trunk of the car. This helps ground the vehicle, providing greater contact of the wheels with the road in snowy and icy conditions.

The second way that you can use cat litter to improve traction is when your car gets stuck on a snowy or icy patch. To do this, open the box of cat litter and then sprinkle the cat litter around the tires. The granular nature of cat litter provides more grip for your tires, and soon you’ll be on your way.

Use cat litter to prevent ice from forming on the windshield and windows of a car

Another challenging aspect of winter driving is ice or frost forming on the windshield and windows of a car. This includes both on the outside and inside of the car. The primary cause of an icy windshield and windows inside of a car is moisture, as detailed by It Still Runs. In the winter, moisture evaporates, turns to water vapor — and when coming into contact with cold air, it supercools and forms ice on the inside of the windshield and windows.

The obvious remedy to this problem is to reduce the moisture inside of a car. This is where cat little comes into play. Cat litter is very effective at sucking up moisture. To reduce moisture in a car, load a sock up with cat litter and tie the sock off with rope, string, or tape. Place the cat litter sock on the windshield anytime that you park your car.

As far as the best cat litter to use, you should get either the non-clumping or crystal litter versions. In addition to reducing ice on the inside of a car’s windshield and windows during the winter, a cat litter sock can be used to reduce fog on a windshield and windows any time of the year.

Park facing East to reduce the ice on a windshield

Another way to reduce the ice on a car windshield in the winter, particularly if you leave your car outside of a garage, is to park facing East. Ice typically forms on a windshield overnight as the temperature drops and water vapor turns into ice. When you park your car facing East — in the morning, as the sun rises, it will melt and loosen up some if not all of the ice on the windshield.

Don’t let the winter blues keep you from hitting the road. Use cat litter as an effective tool for your car this winter.

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