Windscreen Wiper Blades are a key safety component of your car. They contribute significantly to the Active Safety of your car. They are also the fastest wearing consumable on your car, and as with so many other things, the quality of performance, level of safety and working life depend on the excellence of the Windscreen Wiper Blades you choose, and the way you maintain them throughout their working life.

The length of a Windscreen Wiper Blades life depends on two central factors.

Firstly, a Windscreen Wiper Blades life can be expressed by the number of cycles it can be expected to perform. A cheap simple rubber Windscreen Wiper Blade can be expected to last for as little as 100,000 cycles. A cycle being one wipe in each direction up and down. A premium brand rubber Windscreen Wiper Blade with twin or multiple edge technology can be expected to endure up to 500,000 cycles. High Quality rubber Windscreen Wiper Blades with ptfe or other coatings can increase the life expectancy up to 600,000 cycles. However the best Windscreen Wiper Blades for life are those with a high quality OEM specification Frame and a 100% Silicone Blade. These are on average good for at least 1,500,000 cycles.

There's not a lot you can do to minimise the wear due to usage of a Windscreen Wiper Blade, except keep the windscreen and Windscreen Wiper Blades clean, and use a quality Screen Wash. However the bad and good news is that wear due to normal use is not the only factor affecting a rubber Windscreen Wipers longevity.

Right from the moment you fit them, rubber Windscreen Wiper Blades are attacked by a combination of Ultra Violet Light, Ozone and Atmospheric Pollution. Even your screen wash, especially in winter contains industrial alcohols, powerful detergents and solvents which all attack the rubber, causing it to harden, degrade, become brittle and crack.

On top of those problems rubber Windscreen Wiper Blades lose their flexibility as temperatures fall. This causes them to crack, and you'll no doubt have experienced the situation on cold dark winter mornings when your wipers can't flex to follow the curve of your windscreen, so they leave big areas uncleared, exactly when you most need the ultimate performance.

Finally, rubber Windscreen Wiper Blades, especially those over a few weeks old present a great surface for ice to adhere to, so causing the Windscreen Wiper Blade to become frozen to the windscreen so that it rips itself to pieces if the distracted motorist inadvertently starts the wipers before checking that the Windscreen Wiper Blades are free.

You can lessen all of these life shortening or life ending problems by:-

Keeping your windscreen and Windscreen Wiper Blades clean, to avoid the build up of abrasive dirt and grit which also harbours many of the pollutants which degrade the rubber.
Avoiding parking facing bright summer sunlight for prolonged periods.

Using non solvent screenwash additives, although this won't be possible in winter temperatures, because you'll need an anti-freeze additive.

If you are fortunate enough to pick Silicone Windscreen Wipers, you'll not only have the longest life expectancy by far, you'll be happy to know that Silicone Windscreen Wiper Blades are not affected by Ozone, Ultraviolet light, pollution, strong detergents and most solvents. They also operate smoothly from -60°C right up to +200°C.