Car Wiper Blades are a crucial safety component of your car. You really must check their condition and performance regularly. It doesn’t matter whether you have traditional style Car Wiper Blades or the new Flatblade Wipers, with a few exceptions, the problems and their cures are the same.

The good news is that many of the checks are as simple as simply watching and listening to your Car Wiper Blades as they work.

Most Car Wiper Blades, including the most famous and expensive makes, are made with a rubber blade. The rubber starts to break down as soon as you instal it, because it’s aged by normally occurring hazards such as Ozone, Ultra-Violet Light and atmospheric pollution. On top of that, lots of the products used by motorists every day also attack the rubber. These include powerful household soaps and detergents, petrol, diesel and even the industrial alcohols which are used to stop the screenwash freezing in below freezing temperatures. All these things cause rubber to break down, and the breakdown normally manifests itself in hardening of the rubber, which in turn leads to cracks and the following problems which you ought to constantly check for. The good news is that most of these problems can be at least reduced or delayed, and often completely wiped-out by fitting Silicone Windscreen Wiper Blades. Regular cleaning of rubber Car Wiper Blades removes many of the contaminants which attack and harden the rubber. So, even rubber Car Wiper Blades can have a greatly enhanced life. Just avoid applying powerful detergents or solvents when cleaning rubber Car Wiper Blades. If you’re lucky enough to have Silicone Windscreen Wiper Blades you can use just about anything that won’t harm your paintwork.

Beads of water, normally in an arc following the movement of the Car Wiper Blades. This is caused by fine cracks in the surface of the rubber blades. These cracks leave a fine bead of water on the windscreen.
Overcome this problem by replacing your Car Wiper Blades
Avoid this problem in future by fitting Silicone Windscreen Wiper Blades.

Veiling – Caused by wear in the wiper arm, or on rubber Car Wiper Blades, prolonged periods parked in strong sunlight can lead to a deformed wiperblade tip. This wipes the windscreen very erratically leaving a veil effect caused by uncleared water and dirt across the swept area of the windscreen. The glaring effect of the veil is at its worst in night-time driving, as light from street lights and oncoming vehicles hits the veil and causes a blinding glare.
The only cure for this problem is replacing your Car Wiper Blades. Fitting Silicone Windscreen Wiper Blades will at the absolute minimum hugely reduce the risk of this hazard occurring, and will, in all probability eradicate it completely.

Chattering – Rubber Car Wiper Blades may become deformed as the rubber degrades, so allowing the Car Wiper Blades to chatter or judder over the windscreen, leaving radial streaks in their path.
Once again, once the Car Wiper Blades have gone this far, the only option is to replace them. Fitting Silicone Wiper Blades will completely eradicate this problem.

Squeaking – This normally occurs in drizzle or on the final couple of wipes after using the screenwashers. On rubber Car Wiper Blades it’s a sign that they’ve gone hard, and have doubtless stressed the Car Wiper Blades frame or the connector which holds the wiperblade to the wiper arm. Squeaking occasionally also occurs on new Silicone Windscreen Wiper Blades until they’ve been used enough to polish the windscreen.

So, for the smoothest operation over the longest possible life, fit Silicone Windscreen Wiper Blades. However, if you’ve already bought rubber Windscreen Wiper Blades, you can make them last longer and run quieter, just by regularly cleaning them gently with a soft cloth dampened with a little diluted screenwash liquid. If you have Flatblade Wipers, be sure to wipe the whole blade, even though most of it never touches the windscreen.