We love the snow! At least while living in Pennsylvania we don’t really have much of a choice other than to make the best of it. We can tell you countless icy stories of snowball fights, snowman armies and greasing up our favorite sleds to hike up the biggest hills in town. However, since snow is not all fun and games, we’ve come up with this list of some tricks and tips to help you out next time Mother Nature decides to dump cold, wet, slushy ice on our heads.

1. Homemade De-icer
Store bought ice-melting products (magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, and salt) all can damage concrete sidewalks and driveways, which mean expensive repair costs later. Not to mention they can be dangerous and harmful to your pets. Nothing is more annoying than scraping your car windows in freezing temps. Here is a quick recipe to help thaw your sidewalk or car:

·       1 tsp of dish liquid

·       1 Tbsp of rubbing alcohol

·       1/2 gallon warm (not hot) water

Combine the above ingredients together in a bucket or old milk jug and pour the mixture over sidewalks and pathways to quickly melt ice without damaging walkways. You can also replace the dish liquid with vinegar and mist your car with a spray bottle to help thaw out your windows.

2. Quick Traction-Wear Socks Over Shoes
Here is a nifty hack for added traction when shoveling. To prevent unneeded slips and falls when walking on the icy ground, the second layer of socks should be put on over shoes. This unconventional method for added traction has apparently been greatly embraced by the locals in the city of Dunedin located in New Zealand, so much so that the city council has made motions advising it to residents.

3. Spray Your Shovel with Cooking Oil
Snow sticking to your shovel makes an already strenuous task even more obnoxious. Avoid it with this hack: Lightly coat your shovel with non-stick cooking oil to make snow slide right off. No more time wasted removing snow from your snow remover.

4. Lay Out a Tarp Before the Snow
The day before an expected snowfall place a tarp on your walkway. When the snow finishes falling, just pull the tarp into your yard and empty the snow. It may sound silly or lazy, but it works in the right conditions. Heavy snow or ice will make this trick a little less profitable.

5. Frozen Door Locks
A way to prevent frozen locks is to dip your key into Vaseline, put it into the lock, and turn the lock back and forth a few times. Repeat this to make sure the Vaseline is well-distributed onto the parts of the lock. Another way is rubbing your key or door handle with a squirt of hand sanitizer – it will have the same effect. The alcohol in the hand sanitizer will melt the ice and shortly allow you to unlock your car.

6. Iced Over Mirrors
To prevent ice from forming on side mirrors, cover them the night before with plastic bags secured with rubber bands or clothespins. When you remove the bags in the morning, the mirrors will be ice-free.

7. Frozen Wipers 
Cover your windshield wipers with old socks so snow won’t stick to them. You could also soak the socks in the above mention ice melting solution, but in areas that have severe temperature drops, the solution will still freeze.

We hope these easy hacks help this winter!