Rant: I used to wipe my wipers with a rag, then a guy at the Parts Plus in Reno showed me one thing
For like six years I just scrubbed the blades with an old t-shirt and called it good. Last month my wipers started smearing right in the middle of a downpour on I-80, so I stopped at the Parts Plus in Reno and the guy behind the counter told me I was basically smearing road oil back onto the rubber. He handed me a $4 bottle of isopropyl alcohol and said to wipe the blade edge with a coffee filter instead of a rag. Did it in the parking lot and the smearing stopped that same storm. Anyone else switch to alcohol or do you just buy new blades every spring?