Squeaky wiper blades

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I put on a set of Napa wiper blades recently. It rained yesterday and the wipers squeak very badly. It drove me crazy, sounds like a nail on a chalkboard. Napa says their blades are treated with PTFE. Does anyone know whether the blades may break in and the squeak will go away or do I need a different blade? I used Rain X blades before and never had a squeak problem. The Napa blades were on sale so I thought I would give them a try.

Any help is appreciated.
 
I did wipe the blades last night with a paper towel and Windex with ammonia in it. If that didn't help it I will use the alcohol. Thanks for the help.
 
Rain X didn't really work on my truck. It made the wipers I had before chatter pretty badly. I had to remove it and they worked fine.
 
Try treating the windshield with Aquapel. The wipers on my Mazda started squeaking and skipping the day i brought the car home, and after numerous wiper changes, the only thing that seemed to work was using Aquapel every 6 months.
 
You could try cleaning the windshield. Wiper Manufacturers us Bar Keepers Friend, to clean windows for testing. Use a little amount, and alot of water, with a scrub brush. You can buy it at the grocery store.
 
My Saturn has always caused the wipers to skip prematurely.

What I find to be effective is to fill the washer fluid tank with premium fluid, or distilled water plus wiper additive. Then I spray the windshield every few minutes and the noise stops.
 
Haven't had any more rain here the last few days so I can't tell whether the Windex helped. The front windshield on my truck has always been an odd thing anyway. RainX treatment caused wiper problems and I tried several different blades before finding a blade that worked without chattering. The Napa ones clean the water off the glass very well but they squeal like a banshee. I'll find out in the next rain storm we have I guess.

As always, thanks for the help here.
 
Jimmy,
I think that you purchaced some old stock from NAPA. Not your fault, thats why their on sale! Rubber gets hard and brittle as it ages and the wipers start to chatter across the whindshield. I don't like rubbing alcahol for cleaning wiper blades. Alcahol is a drying agent and only makes the rubber blades chatter more. I think thats why the wiper MFG's put sealed alcohol wipes in their packages. Alcohol might clean the blades well but, will in turn dry the rubber(sell more blades). Rain-X may do the same thing as it too has an alcohol base although, I like it on my windshield. I do like and use ammonia to clean my wiper blades. The ammonia tends to keep the rubber soft. Windex doesn't have enough ammonia to do the job. Try the ammonia on a cotten ball,(cheap stuff will do!).
 
Thanks for the help. The Windex with vinegar seems to have helped, at least when using the windshield washer. I have to wait till it rains again to know for sure. I may just have to go back to Rain X blades from Walley World again if these Napa ones can't stop squealing. The noise they made really was irritating.

The glass in my truck is a funny thing I guess. I liked the Napa blades better because with their metal concstruction, they hold to the glass tighter and wipe cleaner, but maybe that is the reason for the squeal.

Thanks again. Will try to post results after it rains, whenever that is. It's sunny and about 80 something degrees here in Fla today. It's Friday and life is good...
 
Originally Posted By: PW01
Try a set of PIAA Super Silicone wiper blades, you'll never use anything else!




PIAA blades are awesome, I will never use anything else.
 
Haha I love the PIAA marketing stuff, they have great marketing and their prices are mostly outrageous!

I have a tip take the blade insert out and REVERSE it. You will be amazed at how quiet they will most likely be.
 
Originally Posted By: motorcity
You could try cleaning the windshield. Wiper Manufacturers us Bar Keepers Friend, to clean windows for testing. Use a little amount, and alot of water, with a scrub brush. You can buy it at the grocery store.


This always works great for me. I find that chatter is usually caused by some tar or other sticky goop on my windshield. I should probably get in the habit of doing that every time I change blades...
 
Well, it rained on the way to work today and the wipers are doing much better. They still have normal noise from the rubber blade squegeeing the water off the windshield but it's nothing like it was that first time. It must have been something on my glass or on the blades that caused that shrieking noise before.

Thanks again for all the help and ideas here.
 
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