If there’s anything worse than a back lane or street that hasn’t been plowed, making Winnipeg roads torturous, it’s not being able to get into your car in the first place.
We’re not talking about locking your keys in the car or forgetting them at the office after security locks up; instead we’re talking about that rather unfortunate where snow and ice have built up so much that you literally can’t open the door.
This is one of those cases where home remedies may be your best solution.
One of the tricks we always hear about is using a hot air dryer to melt the ice buildup. It’s pretty practical if it can be achieved, but that can be hard to do if you’re parked away from a power outlet or, you know, have a hot air dryer.
So we crawled the web in search of some other handy tips for opening your car, and here are a few home remedies for your frozen four-wheel.
1. Praise Lifehacker for this gem – hand sanitizer, which seemingly everyone carries these days, can be used as a lock de-icer.
2. WikiHow offers up five suggestions (including our aforementioned hot air dryyer), the simplest? Push on your car door to break the frozen seal.
3. Catalogs.com, appropriately, has a variety of methods listed. Heating a key with a lighter, if available, isn’t a bad step.
Of course, lock de-icer is still the best solution, but if you don’t have this at the ready, then you now have some more solutions in your back pocket.
Stay warm Winnipeg!