I've had a set of Bosch flexible wiper blades on my car for a little over a year now, and they've always worked great. Recently, I washed my car, wiped down the blades, and applied Rain-ex to the windshield. I have also been using the Rain-ex windshield washer fluid.
When I next used my windshield wipers, they were clattering and slipping like crazy across the glass, to the point where I was afraid they would damage my car! I tried wiping the blades down with some isopropyl alcohol, which left heavy black streaks on the cloth, but it didn't seem to resolve the clattering.
Is it possible that the Rain-ex has (chemically) damaged the blades? I've used Rain-ex before on my windshield, and I've never had this problem. I am fairly sure (but not 100%) that I followed Rain-ex's product instructions - which involves wiping and polishing the windshield to remove any residue after application. I imagine that Rain-ex contains a number of solvents, and that letting the wipers touch the Rain-ex before it dries could damage the rubber. Could this be my problem?
I've read through a number of other forums, most of which seem to degenerate into the "Rain-ex will ruin your car and make you sterile" people versus the "I never have any problems, you must be doing something wrong" people. Until today, I would have been one of the latter.
Is it possible that the problem is simply a matter of being absolutely, 100% sure not to allow any liquid Rain-ex to come into contact with your wiper blades?
I was able to find a list of the ingredients in Rain-ex original formula. My wiper blades are made from a proprietary rubber blend called "FX dual rubber compound".
It's also worth mentioning that the Bosch blades are the new flexible kind, so they do not have the rigid metal backing that would push them firmly against the glass.