The Genius Reason Why You Should Keep a Nail File in Your Car This Winter

For some people, it sends nails-on-a-chalkboard chills all the way down to their spines. For many others, it’s an everyday grooming task. Nail filing is certainly better for your digits than biting or snipping, but the tool you use for the practice is actually way more versatile than you might think.

When the colder months come around, it’s important that you make these 8 important fixes to your car so it can handle winter weather. That includes dealing with the inevitable but annoying frost. The icy stuff can be a real pain for your morning commute. Even once you get that initial layer of frost and ice off your windshield, your view is still pretty obscured. Windshield wipers give you little to no help, just a few scraping streaks across the arctic tundra above your hood.

This is where the nail file comes in clutch. The reason your wipers aren’t doing much is because, over time, they tend to pick up all sorts of particulates that they trawl over on your windshield. Eventually, you’ll have to replace them, but for the time being, they’re more than usable if you clear them of the gunk. So take your handy nail file, run it up and down each blade thoroughly, and take a peek at the file afterward. You’ll see a whole lot of residue.

Now your blades will fare much better when the flurries start flying, picking up way more traction than before. Of course, this hack won’t do you much good in the middle of a Nor’Easter or when you’re on your 13th year of using a set of wiper blades. But the benefits are well worth a buck at the local pharmacy and a minute of your time. Once your blades are ready to go, make sure you have your car’s most important safety feature up to date in case of inclement weather.

[Source: Tip Hero, Girls Auto Clinic] 

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