As a driver in Colorado, you know how annoying (or flat-out dangerous) it is to have streaking or inoperable wiper blades. The importance of these relatively small and fragile car part cannot be overstated when driving in poor weather conditions.

But don’t worry:

You can avoid broken and brittle wiper blades or inoperable wipers by incorporating the following advice.

Enjoy Longer-Lasting Wiper Blades with These Four Tricks

1. Test your wipers and wiper fluid before driving off

You don’t want to be in desperate need of a squirt of windshield wiper fluid when you realize you’re out. Also, if your windshield is dirty, go ahead and clean it first.

Don’t use your wiper blades to clean this!

If you notice a fluid squirter isn’t working or that the wiper blades are stuck to the windshield, you can hop out and attend to these issues while you’re still parked.

2. If your wipers appear to be frozen, remove them from the windshield before running the motor

If you go straight to running your wiper blades while they are stuck to the windshield, you run the risk of burning out the motor that runs them.

Don’t do that.

On snowy days, get your defroster going first, then gently remove the blades from your windshield using your hand.

3. Be gentle with them!

Windshield wiper blades are delicate and feeble. Their related parts are also relatively expensive to replace. Damage can oftentimes be avoided by simply realizing their fragile nature.

Be nice.

If possible, don’t rely on wiper blades to clean mud and debris from your windshield. And especially never remove ice with them. Instead, clean your windshield at the gas station and use an ice scraper to remove ice.

4. Don’t park in the sun

Good ‘ol sunshine is the greatest destroyer of vehicle paint, vinyl, plastic, rubber and upholstery. UVA/UVB and heat from sunlight degrades the plastic and rubber that makes up wiper blades, causing them to prematurely become brittle and prone to cracking. Park in the shade to extend the life of your wiper blades.

By following these tricks, you can reduce your likelihood of needing to replace wiper blades to once (or less) a year. And when you do find it time to replace them, give us a call.

We know wiper blades can be a pain to fit and replace yourself. So we’ve made it easy by stocking all sizes of wiper blades in our shop so that we can replace your wipers (front and/or back) at the time of any other service, including your next oil change.

Let us know how we can help: call now or schedule your appointment online!