Although some people may enjoy watching the snow falling from inside their warm home, the rest of us have had our fill of winter by the time the second snowflake hits the ground. The cold weather is hard on the human body and it is also hard on our automobiles.
We may feel somewhat helpless, wondering how to care for our cars and make sure that they are operating properly when the weather warms up again. One piece of advice that we may have been given for years is to put the windshield wipers up before a storm strikes. According to The Drive, however, you may want to avoid that practice.
The main reason why people put their windshield wipers up in the winter is to keep the wipers from freezing to the glass. It is true that you may be able to get to the windshield easier to scrape the ice when they are in the up position, but your car wasn’t designed for the wipers to be away from the glass.
The blades of the wiper are designed specifically to take pressure from the front of the wiper. When the windshield isn’t supporting them from the backside, the underside of the wipers tends to weaken more quickly. If a gust of wind should happen to come along, it could damage the wipers, leading to some obvious problems.
You may not be able to see the damage that the weather is causing to your windshield wipers at first glance. They might even look as if they are working just fine, but when you hear that chatter as the wiper wipes across the glass, it’s already too late.
If you really want an easy way to clear your windshield in the winter, just cover the entire thing with a special windshield cover. You could even cover it with some heavy plastic or perhaps an old tarp. Remove it when you go to drive and start out with a clear windshield.