The winter can take a toll on your car and your patience. If you made sure to keep up with seasonal maintenance, but are still having issues with your car, these tips can help you overcome them.

Use These Car Hacks to Prevent Winter Annoyances

During the winter, the cold temperatures and inclement weather can make it hard to get anywhere in your car. Even if you've performed all the car maintenance needed, there are some conditions that make the winter frustrating. With these tips, you'll have an easier time making it through the winter with minor annoyances.

Take Care of Your Windshield

You need to be able to see out of your windshield in order to stay safe on the road. During the winter, this can be harder than ever thanks to the weather. From fogging to freezing, these tips can help you take care of it all. If your windshield tends to freeze overnight, mornings can be a real struggle. If you don't have an ice scraper handy, then a frozen windshield can be hard to deal with. Avoid throwing warm water on this since this will only cause your windshield to crack. Before you panic, grab a credit card out of your wallet and use this scrape the ice away. If you don't have an old card you can use for this, a spatula will do the job. Use a plastic spatula since a metal one will scratch your windshield. Another frustration you may have to deal with is your windshield wipers freezing onto your windshield. All it takes to prevent this is an old pair of socks and a good memory. Before heading inside for the night, prop up your windshield wipers and cover the blades in socks. In the morning, these will be good to go. Finally, if a foggy windshield is what you most dread, this is easy enough to prevent. Simply head into your bathroom and grab a can of shaving cream. Cover the inside of your windshield with a thin layer of shaving cream and then carefully clean it off. This may sound crazy, but this simple act will prevent your windshield from fogging. This is because commercial defoggers and shaving cream share some ingredients. Give your car a synthetic oil change in Wichita to keep your car running strong all winter long. Click here to purchase AMSOIL's Signature Series 0W-40 Synthetic Motor Oil which can keep your engine healthy and strong no matter how cold it gets. If you need help finding the right oil for your car, contact the friendly oil pros at Hartmans Inc. To learn more about their products or to place your order, contact them at (316) 686-1069. Check out their online shop for a full range of their products.

Avoid Frozen Mirrors

When you go out to your car in the morning you may not notice your side mirrors are frozen. It's not until you start pulling out of your driveway that you realize you have to do something to defrost them. To avoid this annoyance, especially if you're often rushing in the morning, all you need are a couple of plastic bags. Grab two plastic grocery bags from your kitchen and leave them in your car. Once you've used your car for the last time and are parking it in your driveway, pull out the plastic bags and place them over your side mirrors. Tie them tightly around the mirrors and leave them overnight. In the morning, pull them off the mirrors and these should good to go.

Keep Your Key from Sticking

This is something you may not know is possible, but your car key can actually get stuck in the keyhole on a cold morning. Since the keyhole can freeze overnight, sticking your key in there in the morning can lead to serious frustration. The easiest way to prevent this is by putting hand sanitizer or rubbing alcohol on your key. The alcohol will cause the ice to melt in the keyhole so that your key doesn't stick. Another thing you can do is to heat up your key with lighter before putting it into the keyhole.

Prepare Your Car for Winter With a Synthetic Oil Change in Wichita

A synthetic oil change in Wichita during the winter can help your car run at its best. To find a great synthetic oil for your car, contact the friendly oil pros at Hartmans Inc. To learn more, give them a call at (316) 686-1069. They'll be happy to help you find the products you're after.