Windscreen Wiper Blades are a key safety component of your car. You really should check their condition and performance regularly. It doesn’t matter whether you have traditional style Windscreen Wiper Blades or the new Flat Blade 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 keeping an eye on and listening to your Windscreen Wiper Blades as they work.

Most Windscreen Wiper Blades, including the most famous and expensive makes, are made with a rubber blade. The rubber begins to degrade as soon as you fit it, because it’s aged by normally occurring hazards such as Ozone, Ultra-Violet Light and environmental pollution. As well as that, most of the products used by drivers every day also attack the rubber. These include strong household soaps and detergents, petrol, diesel and even the industrial alcohols which are used to stop the screenwash freezing in sub zero temperatures. All these things cause rubber to degrade, and the degradation usually shows itself in hardening of the rubber, which in turn leads to cracks and the following problems which you should 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 Wipers. Regular cleaning of rubber Windscreen Wiper Blades removes many of the contaminants which attack and harden the rubber. So, even rubber Windscreen Wiper Blades can have a greatly enhanced life. Simply avoid applying strong detergents or solvents when cleaning rubber Windscreen Wiper Blades. If you’re lucky enough to have Silicone Windscreen Wipers you can use just about anything that won’t harm your paintwork.

Beads of water, frequently in an arc following the movement of the Windscreen 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 Windscreen Wiper Blades
Avoid this problem in future by fitting Silicone Windscreen Wipers.

Veiling – Caused by faults in the wiper arm, or on rubber Windscreen Wiper Blades, prolonged intervals left 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 driving, as light from street lamps and oncoming road-users strikes the veil and causes a blinding glare.
The only cure for this problem is to replace your Windscreen Wiper Blades. Fitting Silicone Windscreen Wipers will at the very least hugely reduce the risk of this problem occurring, and will, in all probability eliminate it completely.

Chattering - Rubber Windscreen Wiper Blades may become deformed as the rubber degrades, so causing the Windscreen Wiper Blades to chatter or judder across the windscreen, leaving radial streaks in their path.
As usual, once the Windscreen Wiper Blades have deteriorated this far, the only option is to replace them. Fitting Silicone Windscreen Wiper Blades will completely eliminate this problem.

Squeaking - This often occurs in light rain or on the final couple of wipes after using the screenwashers. On rubber Windscreen Wiper Blades it’s a sign that they’ve become hard, and have doubtless stressed the Windscreen Wiper Blades frame or the connector which holds the wiperblade to the wiper arm. Squeaking sometimes also happens with new Silicone Windscreen Wipers until they’ve been run enough to polish the windscreen.

So, for the smoothest operation over the longest possible life, fit Silicone Windscreen Wipers. But, if you’ve already bought rubber Windscreen Wiper Blades, you can make them last longer and run quieter, simply by regularly washing 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.