On far too many frigid winter mornings, scraping snow and ice off of your car is an unavoidable chore if you plan to leave the property without a pair of snowshoes on your feet. Fortunately, we're living in a golden age when it comes to ice scrapers and snow removal tools.
The best approach to dealing with an ice- and snow-covered car is to plan ahead and cover the windshield of your vehicle with a snow cover. These clever covers can be pulled off prior to your drive, whisking away the snow and preventing ice from adhering to the glass in the first place. But unless you check the forecast without fail and said forecast is always accurate, there's a good chance you'll find snow and/or ice on your car at least a few times this winter.
If your region sees limited snowfall but plenty of cold mornings, then a simple ice scraper is probably all you need. For moderate snowfall, a scrape that also features a brush is a good idea, as these devices allow you to remove the top layer of snow and then chisel away at the ice coating the windows. For areas that see huge volumes of snow, you might need a larger snow broom type of device that's big enough to push around snow that has piled up many inches atop your car. In some cases, you may need a two-pronged approach with multiple tools. Here's the good news: These things aren't very expensive.
I can attest to their low cost and to the need for a varied approach personally because, while I'm hesitant to admit this, I own four different snow scrapers. While that may sound excessive, it also allows me to bring some personal expertise to this topic.
Here are the best ice scrapers:Updated on 9/30/2020. We updated prices and links. We also removed the option for the best on a budget because the price was not significantly different enough from our best overall pick, which we stand by as the better value.