after buying this little can of window de-icer for $3 i was wondering if anyone has used just plain rubbing alcohol in a squirt bottle? does it work? will it mess up paint?

the Prestone stuff i bought contains methyl alcohol 67-65-1 and ethylene glycol 107-21-1.

rubbing alcohol from wikepedia:In the United States, rubbing alcohol, U.S.P. and all preparations coming under the classification of Rubbing Alcohols must be manufactured in accordance with the requirements of the US Treasury Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, using Formula 23-H (8 parts by volume of acetone, 1.5 parts by volume of methyl isobutyl ketone, and 100 parts by volume of ethyl alcohol). It contains 68.5-71.5% by volume of absolute ethyl alcohol, the remainder consisting of water and the denaturants, with or without colour additives, and perfume oils. Rubbing Alcohol contains in each 100 mL not less than 355 mg of sucrose octaacetate or not less than 1.40 mg of denatonium benzoate. The preparation may be coloured with one or more colour additives. A suitable stabilizer may also be added.

now ethylene glycol is anti-freeze right? so could you mix the two and make your own de-icer?

I kinda wonder about cost/ benifits? I use the premix, usualy just under $1/gal. How much does the canned stuff cost, and how much deicer does it make? A long time ago a pump jocky filled my washer bottle with Antifreze, what a streakey mess.
The regular old premix doesn't freeze, but it doesn't exactly melt the ice on the windsheild too well either. Got to wonder what they use for Aircraft, they seem to be pretty generous when they spray down a plane. The big boys are always looking at the bottom line, so's I'd expect a certain degree of efficiency. Sorry I wish I could have been more help.

------------------
Ol' Paint, 88 Base coupe auto.
Turning white on top, like owner.
Leaks a little, like owner.
Doesn't smoke, unlike owner

the prestone ice melt stuff was $3 for an 11 oz pressurized can. even comes with a little ice scraper on it. it really melts the stuff off.

i started using the ice-melt windshield washer fluid this winter and it does help. i wonder if i could just put that in a spray trigger bottle? the windshields aren't that big a problem but the side windows and mirrors where the defroster doesn't hit can be pretty tough to get the ice off. i'd rather apply some kind of chemical ice melt to them and then scrap it off as opposed to just using the scraper. i've done some minor dmg to cars from hacking away with the scraper and have broken several of the scrapers.

the airplane stuff is interesting. the way they blow that stuff on in those trucks, can't be that expensive.

We use alcohol in our air lines to keep the condensation build up from freezing. It is not labled rubbing alcohol but heck, it might be. I think though I am not positive, that it is isopropyl alcohol. We use it straight, not mixed. It is stored the same and does not freeze. I can not imagine why you would need to mix anti freeze in it. Maybe consumer deicer has so much water in it......???
I do not think alcohol can hurt automotive paint or clear coats. Wax is probably a different story. Maybe why consumer deicer maybe has water in it. Alcohol will not hurt plastics.
I am too far south to appreciate the severety of the de icing you face much less de icing of any type but on rare occassions. If I had to I would try spounging it on for initial clearing. I would also experiment with a plain water/alcohol mix in a container outside. If it did not freeze I would put it in my windshield washer resevoir.
Plain alcohol is cheap. I am thinking the convienience of use and of mind is what costs $3.00.

Scrape first before you apply any type of deicer with the teeth. Just put some scratches in the ice so it can get in the ice.

Just spraying the deicer on smooth ice works but if you put some scratches in the ice it gives the deicer someplace to grab, and sink into the ice better than just spraying it on.

Then if the ice is still thick, scrap it again and spray it again.

------------------
Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't.
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

I have never seen rubbing alcohol made of ethanol... 99% of the time it's isopropyl alcohol.

Yes you wax airplanes. Bare metal and painted. In the Air Force they mixed wax into the water when they washed them, sort of like the coin op car washes. On my planes, ive used an aircraft liquid wax pretty much like used on cars. Wipe on, wipe off. Also do Rain-X on windows.