Lidl Screen Wash

[gregoir]

£5.99 for 5 litres. And ,as before, suitable for fan jet washers and down to -60°C undiluted. And much cheaper than the VW stuff. Still does not smell like lemons to me.....

Just seen someone else has posted.... sorry

Edited 13 October, 2011 by gregoir

[weyland]

Cheers, i'll get some of this. You need to check on the Lidl website when this offer is in your area, this won't be in stock until 17th Oct. for me

[Nick P]

I got a couple of them from Sheffield yesterday.

[HWMBO - Mark]

I must admit I picked up some of the genuine Skoda/Seat/VW stuff y'day for £3 for a litre of concentrate. Your deal looks good but there isn't a Lidl nearby me & the Skoda grg is pretty close so they win on the balance of economics & me not being bothered to spend an 45-60mins to do a round trip to get something that might not be in stock. Well for you lot that did get some though.

Edited 14 October, 2011 by HWMBO - Mark

[Mute]

Wrecked my wiper blades last year. I have 1 and a half big jugs of the stuff free to a good home if anyone near motherwell's after some.

[gsp]

Wrecked my wiper blades last year. I have 1 and a half big jugs of the stuff free to a good home if anyone near motherwell's after some.

Was that using it neat or watered down?

[Mute]

Watered down 1 part concentrate to 3 parts water (~ -20 degrees protection).

[gsp]

Watered down 1 part concentrate to 3 parts water (~ -20 degrees protection).

What did it do to the blades, cause them to split, or soften the edge so they smear?

[Mute]

Made them go hard, lost all flex in the rubber, the alcohol dried the rubber out. Made them useless as wiper blades. Not had the same issues with the soapy type of winter screenwash rather than the cheaper methanol ones.

[VWD]

Made them go hard, lost all flex in the rubber, the alcohol dried the rubber out. Made them useless as wiper blades. Not had the same issues with the soapy type of winter screenwash rather than the cheaper methanol ones.

Personaly use Asda stuff but never tried the low temp stuff .I also add a dollop of the cheapest washing up liquid (cheap stuff on't foam as much but gets rid of greas/deisel on screen) .In the ol days I used to use Clearalex(double strenth) in water with meth to stop freezing .But although it was rally proved - no one seems to stock it now a day .( Just the obervations of an ol git from the wild & frozen wastes of Invernesshire with 45 years & afew million mile behind the wheel)

[Prof Yaffle]

Well, my local Lidl didn't have any even though it was advertised, so I don't get the chance to see if wrecks my wiper blades. The Halfords stuff is presumably safe for the jets now they dilute it to near-homoeopathic concentrations (even neat it's only good to -6C... dilute it, and it'd barely survive the 'fridge... wassapoint?). The VAG stuff seems like theft in a bottle (at even £3 a litre and 33% dilution it'll cost a fair few quid every time you refill the washer bottle... mine seems to be bottomless - 5+ litres, I think).

Soooo... suggestions? Anything actually worth trying that doesn't rot the rubber, cleans the windows, stays liquid down to typical (-10C or lower) winter temperatures and doesn't break the bank in the process?

[cheezemonkhai]

You do wish VAG did a 5L bottle of this, perhaps in 4 packs.

Sonax do one that's not bad, but I'm not sure it's any cheaper.

The old halfords stuff used to be good, but what with it now only good down to -2/-6 (whever) degrees it's a bit of a waste of time now.

[Golf-Fiend]

You do wish VAG did a 5L bottle of this, perhaps in 4 packs.

Sonax do one that's not bad, but I'm not sure it's any cheaper.

The old halfords stuff used to be good, but what with it now only good down to -2/-6 (whever) degrees it's a bit of a waste of time now.

Local VW dealer is selling proper VAG screen wash for 10 bottles for £27.00 or £3.60 per bottle incl VAT. I bought 3x bottles last night. Just need to run the exisiting fluid (Asda - eeuggh! Desperation) down to refill with the good juice. Even with warning light on it's taking ages to empty.

[gregoir]

Interesting experiences; but I'm on my original blades at over 40,000 miles despite using this product. Used 1;4 mix for normal winter weather and a higher concentration short term for last years big freeze.

So is the more expensive VW stuff ethanol based then? Lidl stuff just says alcohol.

Edited 18 October, 2011 by gregoir

[silver1011]

Even with warning light on it's taking ages to empty.

I don't think you need to empty it completely, if the light is on and you fill it up with the VAG screenwash the ASDA stuff will be diluted enough.

[Grizzle]

Lidl stuff ruined my wipers on my van and car last year absolute awful stuff, will be using the VAG screenwash i got never had a issue during the summer works brilliantly on bugs.

Also the Holts screenwash from Costco is fantastic, after emptying my van and car's washer bottles i made up a solution of the Holts and new wipers never had an issue.

[gregoir]

£3.60 per bottle incl VAT. So that's per litre/half litre as opposed to £5.99 for 5litres from Lidl? A big difference. I'd understand premature blade damage if the rubbers was continuously immersed in pure alcohol but there is usually plenty of rain around to wash everything down after a wash. I'll take the risk I might need to buy new wiper blades every few years and still be in pocket.

Edited 18 October, 2011 by gregoir

[Lou_O]

I'm sure it'll be fine.

Lidl sells massive amounts of product in Germany, if it wasn't up to standard they'd be out of business.

I picked some bargain roof bars whilst I was there. Under £30 for something that Thule want over £100 for.

[stupep]

Thanks for the tip-off - I've missed it when it's been on sale before, but this time managed to get a couple of bottles (in the local Chelmsford branch).

Having had to buy some Skoda stuff on ebay a few months ago, I've now got enough to keep me going a few years!

Concerning the ingredients, alcohol normally refers to the drinkable variety (which is ethanol), but could also refer to methanol, or lots of other substances ending in "ol". Methylated spirits (meths) is a mixture of ethanol and methanol (which is poisonous, to stop people drinking it), and as this is often recommended as an anti-freeze mixer in the wash bottle, I would have thought either would be OK in the screen wash. So I'm a bit surprised by the comments.

[Golf-Fiend]

I don't think you need to empty it completely, if the light is on and you fill it up with the VAG screenwash the ASDA stuff will be diluted enough.

As I'm quite anal about car stuff I'll probably let it run totally dry, rinse it out with warm water, and refill with the good stuff and then detail the engine bay whilst I'm at it

[toonfan66]

Just got some from Lidl in Grantham. Good for -60 when used neat, and -10 when mixed 1 part screenwash to 2 parts water; which works out as approx £0.40 per litre, complete bargain

They had quite a bit still in stock - although not quite as much as before I visited.

[Grizzle]

Whats the size of the washer bottle in the octavia with headlight washers? is it more than 5 litres?

[CEPi]

4.5L in my Scout with washers.

[Grizzle]

4.5L in my Scout with washers.

Cool thanks for that

[Mac1961]

Just bought some from Lidl in Newport and now testing it in the freezer to see how much dilution it'll take.

Mac