Best Ice Scrapers: Ice, Ice, Baby

Top 8 Best Ice Scrapers

It’s January, meaning wide swaths of the country are enjoying apocalyptic quantities of ice and snow falling from the sky. This, of course, covers our vehicles with the same enthusiasm with which your author covers his french fries in gravy.

This doesn’t apply to those of you who are in possession of a suburban attached garage or underground condo parking spot. Lucky sods. As for the rest of us, we will continue to mutter expletives as we remove layers of winter’s worst from the windows of our car.

Here are a few suggestions to help with that task, courtesy of Amazon.

Here’s an original, a stalwart, the OG. Millions of these sticks with a brush on one end and a scraper on the other have found their way into backseats and trunks across the nation. Well, at least the colder parts of it.

This take on the breed includes a buckle at the halfway mark to split the stick in half, allowing users to deploy simply the scraper end if they so desire. That feature also makes it easier to store the thing in your car’s cargo area. Ample padding exists not just on your author’s post-Christmas gut but also on the handle of this scraper for extra comfort.

If you’re fortunate to live in an area of the country where several inches of snow is a rarity, there’s a solid chance you just need the scraper part of a snow brush and not the entire thing in its space-hoovering enormity. This diminutive but mighty tool is just the ticket.

The business end of these scrapers all look quite similar but the seller alleges one side is better for scraping while the other is good for breaking up larger accumulations of ice. The broad and flat leading edge should do the trick on thin layers of ice or freezing rain. Plus, how can you not like a company which promotes spending less time 'freezing your butt off'?

These funnel-shaped devices iare small enough to live in your car’s glovebox without consuming all the space usually reserved for spare change and McDonald’s ketchup packs. Made of two parts, the cone is designed to clear away ice while the removable mini spike is intended for breaking up the irritating frozen water residing on your car windows.

The seller says one can simply move this round ice scraper in any direction or in circles to remove more ice from your car at a time compared to the back-and-forth action of a traditional scraper. As a bonus, it doubles as a funnel, meaning an end to the wanton wastage of windshield wash at refill time.

This option is a great choice for those of us short of limb or who have chosen to drive an oversized brodozer. The telescopic handle extends to reach that bit of snow that’s just out of reach, while the rotatable brush head can pivot 270° pivot to get at that chunk of ice down by the windshield wipers.

A thick and comfortable foam grip permits you to use this thing without wearing gloves, if that’s the way you roll. Real-world feedback asserts the metal handle and telescoping joints are sturdy. An ice scraper on the opposite end takes care of scraping duties.

Tent shaped and molded in a natty teal color, this thing is purported to scrape and clear your car’s windshield in one fell swoop. Its leading edge is intended to slightly deform and bend to match your windshield’s curvature, permitting constant contact with the glass surface.

Allegedly, its unique shape is ergonomically designed to prevent hand and wrist strain, though we’ll let you decide if that is an actual feature or marketing fluff. Small and compact, it easily stows away in a glove box or storage bin.

It absolutely sucks when the ice you’re scraping off the car sprays skyward and comes back to earth squarely on your bare hand, making it colder than your ex’s smile. You should be wearing gloves, of course, but who has time to dig through that box in the closet when you’re already late for work?

Enter this invention, which combines a hand mitt and ice scraper into one unique package. Lined with a thick and soft fabric, this mitt should keep your hand warm while the detachable scraper poking out through the forward edge should keep your car’s windshield clear.

This unit is virtually identical to the ones we used to clear cars at the dealership so many years ago. Its firm foam head (make yer jokes here) shouldn’t scratch a car’s paintwork, something that is at risk of happening with a traditional snow brush and its plastic stiff bristles.

One feature our units didn’t have was a handy ice scraper on the opposite end of its handle. Also, thanks to a cheap-as-dirt dealer principal, our brushes had sawed-off broomsticks for handles. This thing has interlocking extension poles which extend from 33 inches to 52 inches in length.

The only electric scraper on our list, this device includes a heating element that is supposed to melt snow and ice. It sources its power from a 12V power source, meaning you’ll have to deal with a dangling cord stretching somewhere into your car.

Still, it’s a decent idea, one which has surely progressed since your author bought one of these about 20 years ago. At that time, the heating element was hot enough to burn skin but not strong enough to quickly melt snow. Overall reviews of this particular model aren’t horrible, suggesting someone invented a better mousetrap in the intervening two decades.

Ice Scraper FAQs

Really? Do I need one of these?

If you live in the snowbelt, absolutely. Being able to see the road ahead - and to the side, and behind - is critical to safe winter driving. This helps to keep you and the people around you out of the ditch simply because you can't see where you're going. The constabulary in some jurisdictions will even dole out tickets to drivers who haven't properly cleaned all the snow off their vehicles.

Isn't this just more crap in my car's trunk?

Perhaps, though this is one tool that's not really thought of until sorely needed. In that vein, they're a lot like car insurance. Or Doug DeMuro's YouTube channel. Buy a scraper that fits your life as well as your vehicle's cargo area.

Anything else I should know about?

Use caution when heaving yourself around trying to reach high points on your car or, more likely, pickup truck. Sure, stepping up onto the tire might give you a bit more stretch to get that last bit of snow but a slippery surface can mean a soggy pair of pants at best and a trip to the ER at worst. If you're vertically challenged (or drive a brodozer) get a scraper with a telescopic handle.

From time to time, TTAC will highlight automotive products we think may be of interest to our community. Plus, posts like this help to keep the lights on around here. Learn more about how this works.

(Editor’s note: This post is meant to both help you be an informed shopper for automotive products but also to pay for our ‘90s sedan shopping habits operating expenses. Some of you don’t find these posts fun, but they help pay for Junkyard Finds, Rare Rides, Piston Slaps, and whatever else. Thanks for reading.)

[Main photo credit: Anze Furlan / ShutterStock.com. Product images provided by the manufacturer.]