What is a winter blade?

What is a winter blade and why would I want one?

When you look at a standard wiper blade frame you can usually see spaces in the frame, especially between the outer frame and the actual wiper blade.

A winter wiper blade is specifically designed for winter driving conditions. The wiper frame is enclosed in a rubber cover, this prevents ice and snow from building up inside the blade housing.

Ice buildup on a standard wiper blade

You can see in the picture how the ice builds up around the frame on a standard wiper.

When this snow builds up it can easily get under your blade and cause streaking or prevent the wiper blade from working at all.

A winter blade cannot prevent ice buildup, but it does make it less likely to happen. When it does happen on a winter blade, it is much easier to clear it out since it is all on a flat rubber surface.