Keep Your Wiper Blades Clean with Water and Vinegar

Despite the rainy morning encouraging you to stay in bed, you get up on time and start your morning commute. It looks like you’ll slide into your morning meeting with the boss right on time.

Success!

Your commute includes a stop at your favorite coffee shop and the melody of your favorite tune.

You relax into the ride and enjoy the music until you hear a terrible squeaking noise. Before you know it, your windshield is blurry.

One wiper is dragging behind it’s normal rhythm. You squint to see through the rain, but all you see is murky images that turn into the realization that you must pull over until the rain stops.

You’re late for your meeting and down a windshield wiper.

If only you knew the the simple and beneficial tricks to maintain your rain slashing contraptions!

There’s no need to worry!

The following info will give you everything you need to know to keep your wipers working properly with just water and vinegar.

First, you musts understand your wipers and how they fail.

Importance of Wipers and How They Fail

Wiper blade maintenance is just as important as an oil change. Most of us only notice wipers when we toggle the speed to clear our sight for the road, but never think about how to maintain them. High-functioning wiper blades are just as important as an oil change or tending to a check engine light. Broken or tarnished blades can damage your windshield, break or fall off mid-drive which is a hazard for you and others.

Unfortunately, too many people are reactive to a wiper blade issue instead of proactive by either replacing every year and checking every six months.

Wiper blades are constantly being worn down.

Nature’s elements wear heavy on our trusty wipers.

UV rays, dirt, ice, salt, and general moisture cause blades to expand and contract which eventually leads to cracks, tears, splitting or bending.

Dirt and salt can build up on the windshield and be picked up by wipers, leaving a dirty windshield being wiped with dirty wipers. Can you see how the dirt fest can take a toll?

Wipers are most vulnerable during the winter months when material is susceptible to extreme temperatures and the salt and ice build-up.

It’s not only important to maintain your wipers cleanliness, but your windshield as well.

We often ignore signs of wiper blade degradation.

When we’re not on the lookout for signs of degradation, we can find ourselves with a split windshield wiper in the middle of a highway or dealing with noisy, dirt spreading blades.

The squeaking or stuttering can be ignored by someone who doesn’t recognize it as a sign of degradation which can lead to breakage mid-commute.

Be sure to take a few moments regularly to wipe down your blades before they get to this point.

Maintaining Your Wipers

It’s easy to overlook the maintenance of wiper blades but doing so is proven to be costly and dangerous.

Lack of wiper maintenance can cause build-up of dirt in the blades resulting in visibility issues, scratched windshields and faster decay of the blades material.

I’m sure you understand by now that spending a few minutes cleaning wiper blades can save time, money and stress.

How do you know when wipers need a cleaning?

When your wipers are leaving streaks or making noises as they wipe, it’s likely time to clean them. You should aim to clean blades on a regular basis to avoid streaking, stuttering or noises.

When should you replace your wipers?

When you see visible cracks or decayed material, you should replace your wipers.

Given that wiper blades can run you anywhere from $30 – $100, it pays to keep them clean.

Now that you understand the life of our trusty wiper blades, here’s how to keep them clean!

How To Clean Wiper Blades In 4 Steps With Two Ingredients

1. Gather the following ingredients:

• Spray bottle that is a minimum of 20 oz and unused
• 1-3 rags. You need enough rags to wipe built up dirt and crud off of your wipers. Once one rag is filled with dirt, you’ll need to switch to another
• White vinegar
• Water

Pour an equal amount of vinegar and water into a spray bottle. You can start with 1 cup of vinegar and 1 cup water. Shake the bottle.

2. Lift windshield wiper blades to be in an upright position.

Spray first rag until it’s wet with the solution and then simply wipe up and down the blades until all dirt is gone or rag is dirty.

The blades will be truly clean once you have a rag that has no streaks of crud left over. Repeat wiping as many times necessary to return a semi-clean rag.

3. Clean the windshield using water and vinegar solution. It’s important to have a clean foundation to put your wipers on.

4. Check the wiper blades for chipping and loss of original color. If the material appears to be worn down, it may be time to replace them. Just be sure to keep your new vinegar and water solution handy when you notice signs of wear on your wipers.

How can you extend the lifespan of your windshield wipers?

Keep your windshield clean.

The best way to implement a new habit is to add it to one you already do! A good time to clean your windshield is every time you fill your gas tank.

Use the vinegar solution to both clean your windshield and prevent salt build up during the winter months.

Be sure to keep your wipers clean!

In addition to cleaning using the vinegar solution, remove dirt with just a rag or same solution when you fill up your gas tank.

Lift your windshield wipers during the winter months to avoid frozen wipers.

Always use a deicer to remove ice and not your blades.

Using your blades to remove ice causes unnecessary wear and tear. Although the vinegar and water solution can help to prevent ice accumulation, it cannot remove it.