How to Clean Wiper Blades

Being that the blade of a windshield wiper is meant to clean a window, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for the blade itself to be dirty. If you’ve noticed your blades have been losing effectiveness as of late, they might just need a good cleaning. Even if you haven’t noticed a lack of effectiveness, you may still walk away with a much cleaner windshield through cleaning your blades. Either way, this is a good maintenance measure which is sure to keep your windshield wipers working at full capacity for their entire lifespan. By following the below steps, you’ll be on your way to a cleaner windshield in no time.

CLEAN YOUR WINDSHIELD

You wouldn’t put clean clothes in a dirty laundry basket, so why put clean wiper blades back on a dirty windshield? Before beginning the process of cleaning the blades, it can’t hurt to give your windshield one last spritz of wiper fluid. If you’d really like to go all out, using a squeegee can give you an even better effect. Besides, it can’t hurt to give your windshield a little extra cleaning every now and then.

SOAK YOUR WIPER BLADE

This step is entirely optional. However, while you’ll still certainly be able to walk away with some clean wiper blades even if you skip this step, soaking your wiper blades will always yield you with a better end result. What’s more, it tends to make cleaning a whole lot easier as well. So why not?

When it comes to soaking your wiper blades, you have two options at your disposal – you may soak them in water or soak them in a cleaning agent (such as Windex). While the former is a more frugal alternative and is less wasteful, it might not be as effective as the latter. Which one you choose all comes down to a matter of personal preference.

You may soak the blades as long as you like. Keep in mind; however, that a longer soak will always translate to a cleaner blade. If you know you can get away with letting them soak overnight as you sleep, then this is easily your best option. However, even soaking them for an hour is better than nothing. Simply allow them to remain fully emerged in your liquid of choice for as long as you’d like.

RINSE YOUR WIPER BLADES

Once again, this is optional. Completing this step will get your blades a whole lot cleaner, however. You don’t need a whole lot of pressure; rinsing them with a hose or under the faucet will do. This will help remove any dirt which is unreachable by hand.

WIPE YOUR BLADES

This step will be most responsible for getting rid of the bulk of the dirt. Simply drag a cloth or paper towel dipped in cleaning agent across the half of the blade that sits the closest to your windshield. After wiping it down long enough that no dirt comes off on your rag, you can be sure no dirt will come off on your window after you put the blades back on their designated arms. After completing this final step, simply reattach the blades to your car and you’re all finished!