How to choose the right wiper blades？
Conventional ,Flat or Hybrid Wiper Blade?
All convensional wiper blades consisted of a metal frame shaped like parenthesis, holding another pair of parenthesis at the end, with a long thin strip of metal and rubber held in place across all the ends. The frame provided spring tension, along with the wiper arm, to hold the rubber against the glass, while being flexible enough to handle the curvature of the windshield.
Flat wiper blades are actually quite curved. Modern materials technology has allowed manufactures to eliminate the metal frame, and just make a single piece of curved plastic do the same job. The big bonus ,and one of the reasons for the development of flat wiper blades, is that they create less turbulence, so are better for aerodynamics of the overall car. The downside is that they may not be made in a size that fits older models.
Hybrid wiper blades are between the two, with the metal framework being replaced by the same sort of plastic used in the flat wiper blades.
Winter or Regular Wiper Blades?
You may have never noticed, but there are special blades created for the snow and ice of winter. Conventional wiper blades are no good once the temperature drops below freezing, because ice and snow can jam up the open spaces in the frame, preventing the blade from conforming to the curve of the window.
Winter wiper blades are made from a softer rubber, so they remain flexible in cold temperatures, though that makes them wear faster when it gets warm. Also, in order to prevent the frames from icing up, winter wiper blades covered the frame in rubber, which prevented water from getting in there to freeze, but it did add to the cost of manufacturing them.
If you live up north, where there is a lot of snow and ice in winter, you should definitely mount winter wiper blades some days around Thanksgiving. When the spring comes, take a few minutes to replace them with a new pair of regular wiper blades to take you thought to next winter. The southern half of the country can often get away with mounting new regular wiper blades every fall, and not worrying about winter wiper blades.
The newer flat wiper blades are also better for winter use as well, since there is not framework to get clogged with snow and ice. Hybrid wiper blades are also better than the conventional wiper blade , because there is much less room for snow and ice to accumulate.
