Why do car wipers judder?
Even if your car and its wipers are fairly new, it is possible for them to judder.
However, just because they’re not working well, it doesn’t mean that it’s time to change them.
Here are a few factors that can cause wipers to judder.
1) The water repellent on the windscreen is wearing off.
This is one reason why we don’t recommend applying water repellent products on areas covered by wipers.
With each pass, the wipers remove a bit of a coating.
This leads to an overall uneven coat of repellent.
So, as the wipers make their pass, the surfaces with less product “grip” the wiper blades.
This causes wipers to judder or skip with every pass.
You can try to remove the product, but in our experience, you should just let it be until the coating is removed.
Water repellent coatings, especially Rain-X, take some effort to remove.
2) Your wiper blades are dirty.
Yes, even if you only use your wipers when it is raining, the rubber blades still get dirty.
When this happens, the wipers judder.
The solution is to ensure you run your wash mitt over the wiper blades and rinse them when you wash your car.
If you’re between car washes, use a dedicated glass cleaner with paper towels to remove the dirt.
Now, if you’ve addressed these causes and the wipers still judder, they may have gotten worn out.
Heat from the windscreen glass is constantly being transferred to the wiper blades.
This wears them out, even if it hasn’t been raining.
If your wipers are smearing…
Wiper smear is a close relative to wiper judder.
Smearing happens when the blades are worn or filthy.
However, if you notice lines of water that follow the wiper blades, the solution is simple.
Stop your vehicle and lift up your wiper blades.
More often than not, there will be a twig, leaf or flower petal stuck to the blades.
Remove it and the smearing should stop.
