Car Wiper Blades are a vital 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 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 easy as just keeping an eye on and listening to your Car Wiper Blades as they work.

Many Car Wiper Blades, including the most famous and expensive brands, are made with a rubber blade. The rubber starts to break down 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 motorists every day also attack the rubber. These include powerful domestic soaps and detergents, petrol, diesel and even the industrial alcohols which are used to prevent the screenwash freezing in sub freezing temperatures. All these things cause rubber to degrade, and the breakdown usually shows itself in hardening of the rubber, which in turn leads to cracks and the following problems which you should regularly check for. The good news is that most of these problems can be at least reduced or delayed, and often completely eradicated by fitting Silicone Windscreen Wipers. 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 fortunate enough to have Silicone Windscreen Wipers you can use just about anything that won't harm your paintwork.

Lines of water, usually in an arc following the track 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.
Cure this problem by replacing your Car Wiper Blades
Avoid this problem in future by fitting Silicone Windscreen Wipers.

Veiling – Caused by faults 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 blinding 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 Car Wiper Blades. Fitting Silicone Windscreen Wipers will at the absolute minimum hugely reduce the risk of this problem occurring, and will, in all probability eradicate it completely.

Chattering - Rubber Car Wiper Blades often become deformed as the rubber ages, so allowing the Car Wiper Blades to chatter or judder over the windscreen, leaving radial streaks in their path.
As usual, once the Car Wiper Blades have degraded this far, the only option is to replace them. Fitting Silicone Windscreen Wiper Blades will completely eradicate this problem.

Squeaking - This often 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 become brittle, and have doubtless stressed the Car Wiper Blades frame or the connector which holds the wiperblade to the wiper arm. Squeaking sometimes also occurs with new Silicone Windscreen Wipers until they've been run enough to polish the windscreen.

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