
Other causes for a binding door include: stripped screws giving out, or the weight of the door pulling down on the opposite corner. This is especially true when you’re dealing with an authentic wood entry door, which is notorious for presenting a variety of issues in terms of maintenance and performance. When your door binds in the upper corner of the jamb, it’s a result of the door pulling down at an angle from the top corner.Ĭhanging weather can cause the door or its frame to expand and contract, which causes it to get stuck. Once you’ve chipped away enough ice, you should be able to get in your car.This is one of the most common winter weather woes for entry doors. If you don’t own a plastic ice scraper, you can use another plastic item, like a spatula, an old credit or library card, etc. The double-sided feature is a beautiful thing to have when clearing a windshield covered in snow. Most ice scrapers come with a double-sided brush. Do not use anything metal or you may cause damage to the vehicle. Method 2: Ice ScraperĬhip away the ice using the plastic scraper. After drying, you should be able to open the door. Once the ice melts fully, open the door and dry the area with a towel to prevent it from freezing again. Tip the water slowly and sparingly, as you may need to repeat the process depending on how much ice is on your door.

Next, pour warm water around the seal of the door and the handle. Do not use boiling water! It could cause significant damage to your vehicle, including shattering your window.įill a pitcher with warm water and pour it over the frozen door, door lock, or door frame. Method 1: Warm Waterįirst and foremost, when we say “warm water,” we mean warm water. If you have a car you can start remotely, try starting the car and waiting around 20 minutes if you have the time.Īfter that, if it still won’t budge, use one of these methods below to open up that frozen car door in no time.
CAR DOOR WONT SHUT IN COLD CRACK
Doing so may cause the ice to fall off or crack enough for the door to open. 3 Ways to Open a Frozen Car Door (Photo/Joseph Pearson, Unsplash)īefore attempting any of these, without being too rough, try and break up the ice by applying pressure to the door. Whether you’re reading this right now because your door is stuck, or you want to keep these tips in the memory bank, save our tips and tricks where you can find them again later. After extensive research, we’ve concluded that multiple approaches are equally effective. If you’re an early bird by choice or by necessity, you can’t just wait until the sun decides to shine through the clouds. The FAQ at the bottom of this article answers common questions as well as outlines some prevention tips. Fortunately, there are tricks to unfreeze all the commonly stuck areas of your car door.

Along with that, the actual handle or lock can freeze. Typically, layers of ice form in the space between the car door and the body of a vehicle. The techniques we describe here involve dissolving ice. Luckily, there are a few methods to open a frozen car door. If you live in a cold climate and can’t park in a garage, frozen car doors are inevitable. You head to your car, ready to start your day, only to realize all your doors are frozen shut from ice or snow.

Hint: None of them involves using a hammer.
CAR DOOR WONT SHUT IN COLD HOW TO
Here are three easy methods for how to open a frozen car door quickly.
