Wipers -- aargh!

[JasonA]

Why can't I get wiper blades that just WORK?

No matter what brand of blade I use, and regardless of which one of my vehicles I use it on, it only seems to last maybe a month. The symptoms are very repeatable. When new, it works pretty good. But if I use them for a long time, like 20-30 minutes straight, they start to skip across the windshield, like they're getting "tired" or something.

Is there such a thing as a windshield being so clean it's "sticky"? The vehicles at work never have this problem, and coincidentally, their windshields almost never get cleaned. I drove my mother-in-law's car 4 hours in the rain over the Thanksgiving holiday and the wipers worked just fine, the whole time. Her windshield doesn't get cleaned near as often as mine does.

Because this occurs on any vehicle I own, no matter the age or brand of blade, I'm thinking it's something I'm doing to it that's making it act up. Like maybe I'm cleaning the windshield too often, or using a chemical (Windex) that leaves a sticky residue?

For what it's worth, I've been using Rain X brand washer solvent, and that has neither helped or hurt the blade skipping problem. If anything, it's helped me out some because when my blades do act up, at least I can keep them off when driving fast and the Rain X helps the water bead off the windshield.

Any ideas?? Thanks.

[BodybyFisher]

Jason, this occurs because of contaminents on your windshield like sap, wax, road dirt, oil and grease, and insects. For your wipers to work perfect, the water must sheet not bead.

GM and Cadillac used to sell Bonami as a GM part number but I checked last week and they stopped. I hate that, have a product that works and then discontinue it.

I have looked in grocery stores at Bonami and noticed that it says not for mirrors or glass on it, so I am confused. Regardless, the most important thing is to get all of the contaminents off your windshield. I DO NOT recommend this, but I have been told that you can use a razor blade very lightly over the windshield to remove built up dirt, but its VERY easy to scratch the glass, so if you do that, be careful and DON'T use any force.

See this link

http://www.garageboy.com/bmw/bonami.html

Here is the link to Bon Ami, we need the Bon Ami Glass and Surface cleaner, I am going to try to find it. Do a search on the store nearest you to find it. It looks like True Value hardware stores carry it.... Thanks for bringing this up, I was looking for it last week. True Value >> http://www.truevalue.com/ I noticed that they do have stores in NC.

http://www.bonami.com/default.htm

Here is a statement regarding chatter from my manual:

[BodybyFisher]

I was timed out.

I think this is the stuff:

http://www.ecoviva.com/html/bon_ami.html

[rek]

Bar Keepers Friend (W-Mart) does the job for me. It's FINE and doesn't scratch glass.

[Regis]

What about nail polish remover or acetone? Yay or nay? Also I've noticed the best way to clean glass (once all the wax and crud is removed) is to soak a cotton towel in warm water and wipe vigiously and then immediately follow with a clean dry cotton towel in a buffing motion until surface is completely dry. You should see what that does for mirrors....wow.... better than any windex or 409.

[BodybyFisher]

What about nail polish remover or acetone?  Yay or nay?  Also I've noticed the best way to clean glass (once all the wax and crud is removed) is to soak a cotton towel in warm water and wipe vigiously and then immediately follow with a clean dry cotton towel in a buffing motion until surface is completely dry.  You should see what that does for mirrors....wow.... better than any windex or 409.

Some of the research I have done also said acetone, but be very careful of the paint!

I have also heard that Bar Keepers is good!

Whatever gets that crud off...

[JasonA]

Maybe it's that danged Rain X windshield washer solvent I've been using. Unfortunately, both of the tanks on my vehicles are full of it.

It's just odd because the wipers seem to work best on the DIRTIEST vehicles around (like the GSA vehicles at work).

[ted tcb]

Up here, I use heavy winter blades to help clean off heavy snow, and in the summer, they still do a great job.

I also use liquid teflon washer fluid ... it claims to cut through grease more effectively than the cheap pink or blue fluid.

[bobnsue2]

Hi,

I found that Rain-x is great at first. You can go without wipers at all.

But in a period of time, 2-3 weeks, it gets sticky or something and needs to be cleaned and reapplied to stop the skipping.

Bob B

[tjtjwdad]

Jason,

I rarely ever use my windshield wiper anymore and I live in the Northwest. I use a treatment from NOVUS that really makes the water run off the windshield. It works just like Rain-X (the type you apply) but will last about 10 months before neeing another application. This is good if you're driving a lot at highway speeds but if you're driving around town then I don't think I would do it.

A glass cleaner that I picked up at NOVUS is a product called "A-MAZ". It's a paste and I've had good results with it. Here is some info: Manufactured by Sun Makers. Inc, Sacramento, CA. 95815, 1-800-921-6861. I've used it and depending on how bad your glass is will determine how many applications (elbow grease) you'll need to completly clean your windshield.

Jim

[Poobah]

Jason,

My wipers bug me, too. They seem to be doing the same thing as yours. When it starts raining, they work fine for 10 or 15 minutes then they start skipping. They drive me nuts.

I've tried Rain-X windshield treatment. In the daytime, I can see perfectly when it's raining without using the wipers. At night, however, as I pass under sodium vapor street lights, the orange-ish glow lights up every droplet on the windshield and, for a moment, it is very hard to see. I need to use my wipers Rain-X or not.

I tried Lexor blades from Wal-Mart per your recommendation but they chattered.

I now have Michelin wiper blades and arms, again per your recommentation but it hasn't rained here since I put them on so I don't know how they will perform. (The Michelin arms are well made with tight fitting joints and I expect they will flop around less than the sloppier fitting arms I've had in the past.)

Water on my windshield beads instead of sheeting. I've stopped going to commercial car washes that spray wax all over everything including the glass. I've stopped using Rain-X glass treatment and glass cleaner. I've stopped using Windex. I'm presently using a diluted mixture of vinegar and amonia which leaves the glass clean and streak free but hasn't stopped the chattering.

Part of my problem is that it rains so infrequently here in Southern California that it's hard for me to conduct any scientific testing. When it does rain, though, my wipers always chatter and I always get anoyed!

Maybe our windshields are, in fact, too clean. I don't know. If I ever do find the answer, I'll be sure to post it.

[stlthbmr]

Hi All,

I restore and repaint alot of cars, and no matter how good the windows get taped, overspray gets on the glass. The best thing I've found to use is a product called clay magic. It is used by all detailers to remove anything off your cars paint or glass that's not supposed to be there. (ie. overspray, road grime, oxidation, whatever) It is a kit that comes with a rubbery clay like material, and a bottle of spray lubricant that is used with it. It does require a fair amount of elbow grease, but the results a well worth it. Then after that just use glass cleaner till the next time the windshield wipers start acting up. I usually get the kit at AutoZone.

Joe

[chazglenn3]

I have gotten to the point that I only buy OEM wiper blades. Have Ford ones on my wife's Explorer, and Toyota ones on my Supra. Nothing else seems to work as well. That is my experience, anyway.

Charles

[EldoGuy]

This is the stuff I use to clean my windshield :

NO TOUCH® AUTO GLASS STRIPPER

Heavy duty cleaner specially formulated for auto windshields.

Removes silicone build-up, hard water stains, mud, oil and tar that other cleaners cannot.

Supplier : www.permatex.com

[attachmentid=2243][attachmentid=2242]

[JasonA]

I have tried a few different glass cleaners in the past few weeks, but none can seem to "cut" the film that's on my windshield, whatever it is. No matter what I use, the water still beads up like it has a fresh coat of wax on it. The last cleaner I used I've actually had for a while, but forgot I had. It's made by Stoner, called Invisible Glass I think. I seem to like that the best so far. I've only used it once, but it's the only one I've found so far that could cut the film on the INSIDE of my windows (that plastic residue that burns off with sunlight). I think it's put a dent on the film on the outside too. I guess it's just a severe case of road grime, "set" in further probably by repeated cleaning with Windex cleaner.

I did put on a new set of Michelin wiper blades the other day, and the last time I used the wipers, they worked very well the whole trip. I'm sure new blades were a big part of it. I put 21" blades on this time, instead of 22". I remember on another vehicle I had that blades 1" smaller seemed to work better than the "correct" size, maybe because of less weight/momentum on the arm, I don't know. The only compromise from the length is they leave a bit more of the shaded blue stripe unwiped at the top...big deal.

If I find this glass cleaner finally works, I'll report back.

[chazglenn3]

Stoner's Invisible Glass is by far the BEST window cleaner on the market IMHO.

Charles

[JimD]

I prefer toothpaste for the outside of the windshield (and the headlamp covers).

[JasonA]

To follow-up on this thread, I think I have found the problem.

My car wash soap.

I would always buy the Blue Coral soap, but made sure NOT to get the wash 'n wax stuff. For some reason, I bought a different brand of soap this time. It's an Armor All concentrated soap, also not supposed to have wax in it. But the FIRST time I washed the windows with it, they rinsed off in sheets, unlike the beads I had before. Indeed, on both vehicles, water on the windows just sheets off now (like it should). I would never have believed the soap was the culprit -- at least that's how it appears so far.

[JIMDTS]

I have been using trico replacement refills on the original wiper arms they work good for a few months then they need to be replaced cheap enough to do. You pick up a lot of road grime if you keep your car highly waxed when it rains it finds it's way on to the winshield and gets on the glass sometimes you can clean it off most of the time it's the wiper blades that have dried out from sitting in the sun I tried them all as far as blades trico works as good as any I even tried the bosh teflon wiper blades & arms they only last a few months I hate wipers that chatter or streak so I go with what works for me.

[GreenMachine]

I got some Trico Winter blades now and they seem pretty good thus far.

The Michelins driver side blade would always start chattering at some point, almost as if it was trying the window to quickly, I think what actually was happening was the middle "arms" that tension it the windshield wore out faster than the outside "arms" kinda making it bow. These heavy duty winter blades will actually work well all year long. Have on past vehicles. But uh...unless do some mountain driving I don't think they would be of any help to you west coast fellas.

[JasonA]

I'm using the Michelin wiper blades and they seem to 3-6 months. So I like them. But was confounding me was that no matter what CLEANER product I used, I could never seem to get the film or whatever it was off the windshield. The different car wash soap seems to have fixed that, somehow. I'm excited to see how it does long-term.

[Spurlee]

You'll want to sit down for this one - for a great meny years I've used fine, fine steel wool on the windshield. Cleans very well. No need to go overboard with it, but a light wiping does fine.

I have trouble finding the right size wipers for my El Dorado. Most are too "high" and raise the arm such that they won't fit under the cowl correctly.

[tjtjwdad]

I'm using the Michelin wiper blades and they seem to 3-6 months. So I like them. But was confounding me was that no matter what CLEANER product I used, I could never seem to get the film or whatever it was off the windshield. The different car wash soap seems to have fixed that, somehow. I'm excited to see how it does long-term.

I've found that all window cleaners are not created equal and Armour All has worked very well for me. In the end though I rarely use my wipers on mt Caddy or Bronco. Instead I use Aqua-Pel and for for the highway nothing is better.

Hope it works out for you. Streaking windshields are no fun!

Jim

[Poobah]

My solution to my chattering windshield wipers is I just traded in the car!

I bought a different brand of soap this time. It's an Armor All concentrated soap, also not supposed to have wax in it. But the FIRST time I washed the windows with it, they rinsed off in sheets, unlike the beads I had before.

I've found that all window cleaners are not created equal and Armour All has worked very well for me.

Seriously, It has not rained in Southern California since I got the new car and, for all I know, I could well have the same windshield wiper problem when it does.

The Armour All product sounds good but from the above, I'm not sure if it's a window cleaner or a car wash soap (or both).

[Poobah]

Jason,

Did buying a new car finally solve your windhsield wiper chattering problem?

I know that was the final solution to mine!

Expensive, but it worked. Believe me, I'm not putting ANYTHING on my new windshield but windshield glass cleaners!

Poobah