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Published Jan 2025
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17 September 2024
Windscreen wiper blades are a relatively inexpensive car part that plays a big part in your safety on the road.
As well as general wear and tear from use, time (and especially summer heat) can, over time, cause the blades’ rubber to become perished and less effective at clearing water from your windscreen.
If your wipers are squeaking, shuddering or just not clearing water effectively, it’s time to replace the wiper blades. Extensively damaged blades can also damage your windscreen.
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Windscreen wiper components
Windscreen wipers generally have two parts: a blade and the rubber that attaches to the blade and has direct contact with your windscreen glass, and the wiper arm, which is the part that moves the blade with the wiper rubber across the windscreen.
Check your wiper blades
To check the condition of the wiper, lift your windscreen wipers from the windscreen (including the rear wiper if you have one) and closely inspect the rubber on the blade - it should be smooth and free of bumps and imperfections. If the wiper blade is dirty but otherwise in good shape, you can gently clean the rubber with a cloth and some liquid glass cleaner.
If you can see cracks or tears in the rubber or it feels hard and there’s less flexibility in the rubber, you’ll need to replace it.
On some vehicles, it’s possible to just replace the rubber on its own, but on others you may need to replace the whole blade assembly. Check your owners’ manual to see which part can be replaced.
Whether just replacing the rubber or the whole assembly, check with your local auto accessories store for the right size wiper to suit your car make and model.
Just replacing the rubber on the blade
Before replacing the rubber, it’s best to unclip the whole blade assembly. The assembly is the section that pivots when you lift the arm away from the windscreen. There should be a clip at the point where the blade attaches to the arm.
Once you’ve unclipped it, gently place the arm back down against the windscreen to prevent it from accidentally snapping back down onto the windscreen and damaging it. It’s a good idea to place a cloth on the windscreen before lowering the arm down on to it.
You’ll now remove the old rubber from the blade. To do this grip the rubber with a pair of pliers and slide the old rubber off the blade. On some blades, a small clip may also need to be pressed down while you pull the rubber off.
Next, slide the new rubber on to the blade through the claws until it clips into place. You may need to trim the new rubber to the be same length as the old one. The last step is to reattach the blade assembly to the arm.
Replacing the whole windscreen wiper assembly
This is generally the easier, less fiddly option when replacing your wipers.
The whole blade assembly can simply be released and replaced with a new one.
If you’ve purchased a pack with the whole wiper assembly, the only thing you’ll need to do after you’ve unclipped the old blade from the arm is choose the correct adaptor clip to refit it. The new assembly will come with a selection of adaptors. Simply choose the adaptor clip that’s the same as the clip on your old blade assembly.
Once you’re done, it’s important not to wipe down the new rubber on the blades as they are likely to have a graphite coating that helps the blade glide over the windscreen, giving you better water clearing action.
Next, you should test that your new wipers are working correctly by using your car’s windscreen spray function.
Also make sure your windscreen washer bottle is full, and if you’re using a detergent in the water (which is recommended), only use an automotive windscreen washer fluid, not household detergent.
