Windscreen Wipers are a key safety component of your vehicle. They contribute significantly to the Active Safety of your vehicle. They are also the quickest wearing consumable on your vehicle, and as with so many other things, the superiority of performance, level of safety and operating life depend on the quality of the Windscreen Wipers you choose, and the way you look after them throughout their operating life.

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

Firstly, a Windscreen Wipers life can be defined by the quantity of cycles it can be expected to perform. A cheap unsophisticated rubber 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 Wiper Blade with twin or multiple edge technology can be expected to endure up to 500,000 cycles. High Quality rubber Windscreen Wipers with ptfe or other coatings can increase the life expectancy up to 600,000 cycles. However the best Windscreen Wipers for life are those with a high quality OEM specification Frame and a 100% Silicone Blade. These are normally OK for at least 1,500,000 cycles.

There’s not much you can do to limit the wear due to usage of a Wiperblade, except keep the windscreen and Windscreen Wipers clean, and use a proprietary 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 Wipers 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, weaken, become brittle and crack.

On top of those problems rubber Windscreen Wipers lose their flexibility as temperatures descend. 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 shape of your windscreen, so they leave big areas uncleared, just when you most need the ultimate performance.

Finally, rubber Windscreen Wipers, especially those over a few weeks old present a great surface for ice to adhere to, so causing the Wiper Blade to become frozen to the windscreen so that it tears itself to pieces if the careless driver unconsciously starts the wipers before checking that the Windscreen Wipers are free.

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

Keeping your windscreen and Windscreen Wipers 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, however this won’t be possible in winter weather, because you’ll need an anti-freeze additive.

If you are lucky enough to have Silicone Windscreen Wipers, you’ll not only enjoy the longest life expectancy by far, you’ll be happy to know that Silicone Windscreen Wipers 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.

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