Windshield wiper blades should be changed twice a year!  Most people tell me they can’t remember the last time they changed their wipers  If you can’t see where you are going then that’s a problem and we don’t realize we need new wipers until it’s raining!

The cold weather makes the wiper brittle and the hot sun makes the wiper blade dry.  That’s why twice a year is suggested.  If you buy wiper blades at a shop they will usually install them for you as part of the service.  Some wiper blades have a dot on them that will be black when they are new and when they require changing it will turn yellow.  I think this is a great idea as long as you know what the dot is for :)
 
When your wiper blades get torn it is usually self inflicted.  Especially if you live in a cold climate where there is snow.  What happens is we use our wipers when it is snowing and we get home and just shut our car off and don’t turn the wipers off.  We get up the next morning and start our car and the wipers are frozen to the windshield but they are still turned on!  This is how the wiper blades get ripped or it can also be caused by our over exuberant windshield scraping.

A tip in the winter time, if you know there is going to be a storm is to pop up the wiper blades.  You can do this on all vehicles but you can do it on a lot of them.  It will make it a lot easier to clean your windshield in the morning.

A couple of years ago I was filming a one minute vignette for The Weather Network and I was asked to show how to change a windshield wiper.  I looked at the script and got very stressed!  I had never changed a wiper blade in my life, so I always laugh now because the camera guy had to show my how to do it.  How embarrassing………I’m a “do it for me” kind of person :)