You need at least a little bit of soap in the distilled water to break it's "surface tension". Like a teaspoon of Dawn dish soap should be enough in a gallon. Breaking the surface tension allows the liquid to be more absorbable by the dirt and oils on the windshield, lifting them faster and easier.

You can get a free supply of "distilled" water from your house air conditioner condensate line or from your dehumidifier condensate tank. Add 1/2 teaspoon of dish detergent to help get road film from windshield. Living in a colder climate , you can start mixing in purchased -40* washer fluid starting in fall and then switch back to the "cheap stuff" starting in spring as the cold decreases.

Excellent saving tip. My wife does her things to her vehicle with 'premium' items and I'm more on the cheaper end of things when it will help me out. Same with my using shopping bags for the bathroom trashcan. Repurpose my used toothbrushes in my tool bag or firearms cleaning kit for soft brushing of some items. Pittsburgh tools in my truck for a possible fix on the side of the road or in case someone breaks in and takes them...Tekton, Gearwrench, Klein tools in my garage where it's more secure.

I don't know what they put in your Summer washing fluid, where I live they only sell the Winter stuff (pretty much methanol and detergents), but make sure you have something at a high enough concentration that will prevent bacteria growing in your tank, while rare, some people who put water ended up with legionnaires disease after spraying it (it does get inside the cabin through the vents).

Way better tip would be to buy concentrated windshield washer fluid and just squirt 2 pumps into the bottle and fill the rest with regular tap water, the concentrates usually have the same addatives that stop minerals from depositing and will make about 100 gallons or more when used properly. Just dont do more than 2 pumps with the strong stuff because it will stain the tank blue and it will appear full even when its empty

Don't forget in the summer, you can use straight distilled water, we get our distilled from the AC unit that would normally go on the ground. Saving money for us is more the game than saving money. ( We do buy nice things though sometimes also )

Good tip, really like your pressure washing videos.

If you add dish soap it won't freeze in the winter, plus it will really clean your windshield with the added soap. I've caught a Walmart sale in the summer where they sold the below -32* fluid for $1.50 each. I think I bought about 10 or more gallons. It should last me for many winters.

Dollar Tree sells washer fluid. $1.25 a gallon.