How to care for
your windshield wipers
As you drive; you’ll get debris, bitumen, grease, tar, road grime, tree sap, bugs, leaves, and other random foreign matter end up on your windscreen which then sticks to the wiper rubber affecting the overall performance and in some instances can damage the rubber being a soft component.
As with almost everything, maintenance is required. For the likes if your windscreen and wiper blades, they need to be periodically cleaned. A regular wipe down of the windscreen with a glass cleaner and a wipe down of the wiper blade rubber using warm soapy water should restore the blade back to original. This should be performed periodically or whenever visibility is affected.
Please be sure to also check the wiper blade for any damage if results are not improving.
It’s scary to know that over 90% of our driving decisions are made based solely on visual information, yet one out of every five vehicles on the road has deficient windshield wipers; so when its raining and visibly hard to see, those with defective wipers are affected and could be in oncoming traffic heading in your direction.
Deficient windshield wipers can mean low or blocked visibility and are extremely frustrating and dangerous. Wiper blades that no longer make proper contact with the windshield surface can significantly impair your visibility as they streak, smear, chatter, skip and squeak.
It’s pretty clear— In order for you to safely react to what’s happening on the road, you need to be able to see the road and where you are going! As a rule, wiper blades should be checked regularly and replaced every 6 to12 months.
Skipping
Skipping is like streaking, except it cleans only every other vertical line.
Squeaking
When the rubber squeaks against the glass in the way only worn wiper blades can, it’s a sure sign they need to be taken off.
Splitting
Large sections of worn rubber mean your wipers are missing several large chunks when they swipe.
Scraping
Some drivers liken this sound to fingernails on chalk. It could mean you have a broken frame, which is leading to the metal parts actually scraping the glass (very bad, for both visibility and the glass). Have your wipers changed immediately.
Streaking
Your wipers are acting like a paintbrush with missing bristles: only every other horizontal line is being swept clean.
