Why do you put your wipers up before it snows?
- Thread starter TiGeo
- Start date
If I know it's going to snow I have a FrostGuard Plus version in each car. It covers the windshield and the wipers. Been using them for years. Helps a lot for me as volunteer fire/ambulance when I need to go out middle of night. Pulls right off taking snow and ice with it. Only thing I need to clear might be roof quick so it doesn't slide onto windshield when I stop.
Keeping Aquapel or Rain-x up to date on windows helps a great deal as well as a coat of wax so stuff slides off much easier.
I used to lift the wipers as it was easier to clear from the ice as mentioned as well as not ripping the rubber trying to get it free. Any ice that collects on them when up I would just squeeze a bunch with my hand as the blade flexed it would come off.
My FIL has broken numerous blades, blown wiper motor fuses, and stripped out the splines on his vehicles. He didn't lift blades, didn't clear window, used wipers for that and also didn't clear the roof so it would slide and block his vision at an intersection. Then he would use the wipers to try and clear it resulting in 1st sentence of this paragraph. He says the FrostGuards are a waste of time and a hassle.
My dad used to use thicker pieces of plastic sheeting the same way as frostguards. He grew up in the Berkshires in MA.
Keeping Aquapel or Rain-x up to date on windows helps a great deal as well as a coat of wax so stuff slides off much easier.
I used to lift the wipers as it was easier to clear from the ice as mentioned as well as not ripping the rubber trying to get it free. Any ice that collects on them when up I would just squeeze a bunch with my hand as the blade flexed it would come off.
My FIL has broken numerous blades, blown wiper motor fuses, and stripped out the splines on his vehicles. He didn't lift blades, didn't clear window, used wipers for that and also didn't clear the roof so it would slide and block his vision at an intersection. Then he would use the wipers to try and clear it resulting in 1st sentence of this paragraph. He says the FrostGuards are a waste of time and a hassle.
My dad used to use thicker pieces of plastic sheeting the same way as frostguards. He grew up in the Berkshires in MA.
Every time we get the rare snow or ice storm; I roll into work and most of the cars in the parking lot have their wipes extended off the windshield. Nothing I drive is capable of it other than the minivan that I don't drive to work, so I don't do it. However, I have had to dig the wipers out of snow and ice a few times.
All wipers are capable of it, some have a maintenance mode and others you stop the ignition mid wipe.
Assuming the vehicle is capable of moving them up off the glass I do it to avoid them freezing to the glass. It also makes it easier to push the show off the windshield. The other benefit imo is, I save gas not having to start the car and get the engine hot enough to defrost snow and ice.
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
Still a good place to have a roof over that vehicle …
Even though we rarely get snow - sun, hail, limbs, rain all matter …
(oh, and that nasty tree pollen)
I've never put my wipers up in the winter time. I understand why people do it but I'm not one of them.
I start may engine and let the engine warm up to the point that I can drive while seeing clearly & safely in a toasty warm vehicle.
I start may engine and let the engine warm up to the point that I can drive while seeing clearly & safely in a toasty warm vehicle.
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- Aug 7, 2024
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- 15
I grew up in Wisconsin and also spent some time in Montana and we never put the wipers up that I can remember.
Since then I have lived in Southern Ohio and now Tennessee and see the wipers up often in winter storms.
Up north because it was colder we seemed to get just straight snow but in Ohio and TN we almost always get freezing rain first before the snow that will stick your wipers to the window, so I can see value in putting them up here.
Since then I have lived in Southern Ohio and now Tennessee and see the wipers up often in winter storms.
Up north because it was colder we seemed to get just straight snow but in Ohio and TN we almost always get freezing rain first before the snow that will stick your wipers to the window, so I can see value in putting them up here.
Well I have new content idea for my YouTube channel. "TiGeo walks out and finds his car covered in snow and didn't put his wipers up...OMG/what should I do?". Then I proceed to do what I've always done for the last 36 years I've been driving...turn on car/max defrosters (windshield/rear window/side mirrors). Scrape windshield down to the wipers. Use brush to brush around wipers. Make sure wipers are free/clear. Get in. Leave driveway. Check wipers. Then next snow I'll do it using the wipers up method. Turn on car/max defrosters (windshield/rear window/side mirrors). Scrape windshield down to cowl/however low you can depending on the configuration with the wipers. Use brush as needed. Put wipers down (clear residual snow/ice if present necuase they've been sitting thereupnin the air exposed). Get in. Leave driveway. Check wipers. All-timed of course. Because BITOG may need mutiple runs to ensure statistical validity and repeability as well as variable control. Could also include winter grade/thick/thin here too and how that plays into cold starts. May be a channel fan/follower fave! Also may reach out to Project Farm on this project 
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It's almost like there's no right or wrong answer, perhaps you could say "it depends". And, maybe what works up north, in Wisconson, doesn't translate directly to an ice storm in Atlanta.
Maybe we could spend less time turning up our noses about someone else's action that have zero impact on us.
That is NOT how it works here ...
That is NOT how it works here ...
Sorry, I'm a slow learner.
That also isn’t how the internet works.That is NOT how it works here ...
Do it in a skin tight racing suit with your helmet on and post it on onlyfans. Then watch the money roll in.Well I have new content idea for my YouTube channel. "TiGeo walks out and finds his car covered in snow and didn't put his wipers up...OMG/what should I do?". Then I proceed to do what I've always done for the last 36 years I've been driving...turn on car/max defrosters (windshield/rear window/side mirrors). Scrape windshield down to the wipers. Use brush to brush around wipers. Make sure wipers are free/clear. Get in. Leave driveway. Check wipers. Then next snow I'll do it using the wipers up method. Turn on car/max defrosters (windshield/rear window/side mirrors). Scrape windshield down to cowl/however low you can depending on the configuration with the wipers. Use brush as needed. Put wipers down (clear residual snow/ice if present necuase they've been sitting thereupnin the air exposed). Get in. Leave driveway. Check wipers. All-timed of course. Because BITOG may need mutiple runs to ensure statistical validity and repeability as well as variable control. Could also include winter grade/thick/thin here too and how that plays into cold starts. May be a channel fan/follower fave! Also may reach out to Project Farm on this project
You have a gift.
No shoes either, for the feet crowd. That's missed revenue there.
Older Toyotas and some other cars used to have plastic gears in the wiper motor. If the wipers were frozen to the windshield, they break.
More recently, manufacturers moved to recessed blade mounts, with a gap between the back edge of the hood and the windshield and plastic underneath, This area can hold a lot of snow and ice. Having the blades up makes it a lot easier to get the snow and ice out.
Most Subarus have a heater at the base of the windshield to deice the wipers and base. It was on a separate switch on the dash. Most owners never RTFM’d so they didn’t realize it was not on. So starting in 2010 it was tied in to the defrost button.
