Bathroom Windshield Wiper

No matter if you spend 2 minutes in front of the mirror brushing your teeth or an hour applying make-up and curing hair, we all spend time in front of the mirror on a daily basis. If you are like me, once you've finished taking your Luxury Shower, it takes about 5 minutes to shave, brush my teeth, and comb my hair. I can't be bothered by taking the time to wait for the mirror to clear, and leaving lint from a towel on the mirror is just so annoying. The only option was to bring technology invented over a century ago indoors with the Bathroom Windshield Wiper.

Step 1: Parts

Parts:

• Old windshield wiper arm from junk yard
• New windshield wiper blade
• Suction Cup
• Nylon Washers

Step 2: Planning

Measure and decide what length of blade you'd like for your mirror. This will largely depend on the size of your mirror.

Step 3: Disassemble Wiper Arm

Disassemble the whole wiper arm. You may need to get creative with this step to get everything apart.

Step 4: Straighten Wiper Arm

Using a vice or hammer and anvil, straighten the windshield wiper arm.

Step 5: Size Windshield Wiper

Because of the size of my mirror I needed a really small windshield wiper. Not being able to find an 11 inch windshield wiper, I purchased the shortest one available and cut it to the necessary size.

• Remove plastic end caps
• Mark center
• Mark where to cut
• Cut wiper material
• Cut support material
• Reattach plastic end caps

Step 6: Clean Up Wiper Bracket

Clean up and sand the wiper bracket.

Step 7: Drill Hole

Drill a hole the size of the suction cup post. If using the suggested suction cup, drill hole to 5/8".

Step 8: Remove Pin and Test Fit

Using a pair of Vice Grips or pliers remove the pin in the suction cup. Make sure that the arm fits perfectly with no play. If for whatever reason there is play you could possibly use painters or masking tape to fill in the gap.

Step 9: Cut and Shape Arm

Now that the center is the proper size, cut the bracket to length. Grind the face flat and shape to your liking. Cut a channel in the back to accommodate the wiper arm.

I used an end mill to cut the channel. If you don't have access to these tools, you can skip this step.

Step 10: Attach the Wiper Arm to the Bracket

Secure the arm and bracket together using a screw and roll pin. I understand that this design is extremely overkill, but I know that it will not come apart.

Step 11: Cut Down Suction Cup

Cut the stem of the suction cup down and secure the wiper assembly in place using nylon washers.

Step 12: Fill in Suction Cup

This suction cup didn't have a solid stem like I originally anticipated. Since it's hollow the center needed to be filled. This can be done with Bondo or simple wood filler like I used. Once dry, sand flat.

Step 13: Paint

Tape off the actual suction cup material to protect it from the paint. Paint it black to match the windshield wiper blade.

Step 14: Enjoy Clean Mirrors!

Install your new windshield wiper and enjoy clean mirrors!

Want an easy way to get some Pro Membership? If you recreate the Bathroom Windshield Wiper with an electronic upgrade, post an instructable and leave an "I Made It!" comment with the link and I'll get some sent your way.

Comments

[diy-master]

or you can use hair dryer ;)

[Dorion]

Why bring electricity into this?

I have a small squeegee I keep on the back of my toilet just to clear the mirror in the morning. This is a pretty cute mech way to go about it.

[dsantil71]

My husband came up with the idea to use our squeegee to wipe down our shower doors after every shower to help keep them clean longer so now we keep it hanging in the shower, lol. We never have a problem with our mirror fogging up anyway.

[diy-master]

I have problems with mirror only when I showering. After that I use hair dryer to dry my hairs and a few second to dry mirror.

[Antzy Carmasaic]

Why not? Wipers are expected to swing about their pivots, not used manually. In this case, moving it manually works but is against what humans expect from wipers by default.

[remedios667]

cobbled together my version (having issues with posting pictures) adapted it with a shamy strip to distribute some rain-x (but looking for an alternative solution) to slow the re-fogging. let me know if you found an innovative / cheap way to automate it.

[DIY KING 00]

A very cool idea ..... It will be awesome if you will add an electric wiper motor to this unit.

[hammer9876]

No, no! No electricity in the bathroom! :-) As the water from the shower sprays into a bucket, the bucket gets heavier, and by some ingenious design (Rube Goldberg style) the wiper swishes.

[Frivolous Engineering]

A manually operated wiper is not very impressive. Might as well use a towel.

No reason that you can't have a powered wiper: ground fault breakers that are used in bathroom outlets should eliminate any danger of electrocution. Or use low voltage battery power. Or a spring-driven windup clock mechanism.

[hammer9876]

But, Rube Goldberg!

[GenerallyOdd]

Electro-geeks have their own "Rube Goldberg" ideas. I'm with you - I'll take gears and pulleys over electrons, any day - but they seem to enjoy it so EVERYbody's happy!

[Windex]

Awesome, I can't wait to try this out. My bro. is gona be stoked.

[M. A.G]

I really like this. You've got it down to a clean enough build that one could make these and give them as gifts. It's be a gift to remember for a very long time.

[JON-A-TRON]

Great idea and great execution! Well done.

[rodolfo.masiero]

the wiper motor works at 12 volts

[LifeWarrior]

This is very slick and pratical, I'd like to build one and motorize it, maybe even add a humidty sensor to turn the wiper on automatically, lol. Excellent idea!

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-5-Amp-Humidity-Sensor-Fan-Speed-Control-White-R02-IPHS5-0LW/204734988

[tomatoskins]

That would be amazing! Make sure to share it when you're done!

[pucksurfer]

Now you just need to add a motor!

[BCDesign]

Thats cool!! Nice work!

[Anthony.]

Before showering..spray shaving cream on mirror and it won't fog.