Introduction: Wiper Glove
A concecpt borrowed from a snowboard magazine ad I used a recycled wiper-blade from a car and motobike gloves to create wiper-gloves that allow me to 'wipe' my visor clean duringa motorbike ride without stopping. I live on the rainy west coast of Canada, which means even in the spring and summer I can expect to get rained on.
Enough talk, let's make something!
Step 1: Aquire Materials
I'd say go out and buy a wiper blade, but that’s just crazy talk.
Wipers are expensive if bought new and we only need about 1/10 of just one of the blades, so instead of buying one just to throw away why not just walk down the street and take one off that pesky neighbour who decides that mowing the lawn first thing on a Saturday morning after a heavy night out is a good idea, or you can just happen upon one in the recycling bin outside your apartment. Either way works.
Step 2: Break Apart
Yup, it's my favourite part. Time to break stuff!
Wipers come in a variety of types and makes, but they are all going to follow the basic structure of assembly, so taking them apart may be different than what I’ve shown but don't worry, we need just the rubberized part, so destroying the outer housing isn't an issue.
I accomplished this by taking a sharp knife and carefully cutting into the rubber until you hit the silver metal shanks that hold the rubber blade in place, cut off more than you think you need just in case. I cut about 13cm (5").
The rubber part extends beyond the shanks however your knife will not fit, instead just grab the rubber and pull out sideways along the length of the shank, the small section of rubber still attached will easily break.
In this picture I have also removed the metal shanks, this stage is not necessary as we don’t need them. I thought about having a system which would make the blades removable but it was too much effort and not worth the trouble considering mechanically fastening them to the glove is far easier.
Step 3: Rubber Surgury
From my rough cut piece of the blade we're going to need to trim that profile down a bit. Grab a sharp knife and start at one end and simply slice down the length of the blade to trim off the smaller underside portion of the blade. We're doing this so it sits flatly on the glove and won't wobble around so much.
Again every wiper will be a little different, but should all be roughly the same, so if yours doesn't look just like this don't worry, just trim down what you can so you have a nice solid base for your wiper to sit flat on your glove.
Step 4: Needle and Thread
The type of needle you use should be a fairly thick gauge so it doesn't snap and poke out your eyeball, and the tread we're using here is a heavy nylon with a gloss coat. Really anything will work, just make sure you're using some heavy thread as you really don't want this to come off.
Step 5: Putting It All Together
The original I saw had the wiper on the thumb, however for this application it wasn't the ideal location for my wiper as has the possibility to rub up against the part where my bike grips meet the clutch reservoir, so I elected to place the wiper from where the thumb joins with the hand as shown in the picture.
Using the thick thread I positioned the blade and attached the ends first, then made a few more simple stitches in the middle. It's that easy!
Step 6: Done!
If all goes according to plan then you should be done! It's a fairly simple project and it works great, especially since the alternative is a smeared visor which isn't very much fun.
Step 7: Final Thoughts
I had originally designed this to be a slide using the metal shanks from the blade body, that way the blades could be interchangeable. However it was too difficult to implement for such an easy project and sewing it directly on the glove is idiot-proof.
Also after a few days riding I thought of an alternate position for the blade might be under the meaty part of the thumb. Which would still allow you to wipe your visor and keep it out of the way of any bike controls.
I'd be interested to see any modifications of this cheap and easy build, such as if anyone finds a way to make the blades replaceable and fix it to the glove without scratching the visor. Good luck, and please post your results, it’s a fun build!
Runner Up in the
Park Tool Bike Month
Participated in the
The Instructables Book Contest
Participated in the
Discover Green Science Fair for a Better Planet
41 Comments
9 years ago on Introduction
You're a lucky guy !! Nice !! Prologue !
13 years ago on Introduction
I have a pair of gloves that has a rubber blade on the side of each index finger. Good for visors or goggles. They are RJays brand purchased in Australia.
13 years ago on Introduction
I have a piece of chamios leather sown onto the index finger of my left glove for the same purpose
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
Did you see my comment below about a nose wipe? A chamois would be a perfect application for both nose and visor. Though, a different finger for different wipes, otherwise you'll end up with a nasty surprise!
15 years ago on Step 7
You can buy something like this that slips over the first finger of your gloved hand which has two plus points. One that you can swap it if you have more than one pair of gloves, and that if the rubber needs replacing you can do this easily. I intend to have a go at a wiper blade visor cleaning solution along these lines, although I think mine will be bonded using epoxy resin.... my sowing sucks!
Reply 14 years ago on Step 7
please where can you buy or what is the name of the product
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
Here in the UK they are made by a company called Bob Heath Visors, and are known as the Vee Wipe.
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
*sewing. sowing is somthing very different.
13 years ago on Step 7
hey man as far as attaching new blades or just removing them when they aren't necessary, get the velcro that has adhesive backing and then sew one piece to the glove and sticky the other piece to the blade portion. im not sure how well the velcro would stick the rubber, but its worth a shot.
13 years ago on Step 7
I have a pair of touring gloves for riding and they have a wipe blade built into the back of the thumb...
I think this give you much more conrtol when wiping your visor/goggles/etc...
14 years ago on Introduction
very nice, i actually used to have a pair of gloves that had this already and it works pretty good. cheap, simple and efficient!
14 years ago on Introduction
nice .. that might be useful for paintball. It's a terrible thing trying to navigate to the dead zone when you cant see.
14 years ago on Introduction
love this feature on my gloves but i was stupid and got the 60$ ones. when they get old im doing this to a cheaper pair!
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
You should give it a try, it's fairly easy (I'm not much of a sewer) and the results are amazing! Best of luck! why not post some pictures when you're finished? Maybe you'll even come up with some improvements on this design!
14 years ago on Introduction
So that's what they're for! I had one on my ski gloves; I alwas though it was some dort of thumb brace!
14 years ago on Step 7
Garbage cans outside of an auto-parts store on a rainy day would be a treasure trove of old wiper blades. One might want to look carefully before plucking as they are probably a treasure trove of nasty stuff as well.
Reply 14 years ago on Step 7
spoken like someone who has had experience with both! Really though it's astonishing what people throw away as garbage.
15 years ago on Introduction
Seriously these wipers are rubbish. I have them on all my ski gloves but you should get a microfiber cloth for your arm pocket because the windscreen style wiper will scratch your goggles permanently and usually just end up blurring your vision.
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
The microfiber cloth is a good idea, though I'm not sure I completely agree with you about wipers scratching the visor, they are rubber after all and designed to withstand abrasion. However you bring up an interesting point, and one that was mentioned further down in the comments is incorporating a cloth for my runny nose. This could be easily modified to have a microfiber cloth for the times when the wiper isn't enough. When finished those gloves would be able to handle just about anything! Wiper for rain microfiber for smudges cloth for a runny nose Now all we need is a bottle opener on there and we're golden!
15 years ago on Introduction
Check out the "Steve" model of motorcycle gloves made by HELD. More pricey than average gloves, but worth it. Very comfortable gloves and yes, it has a built in wiper on the index finger that works well in the rain. Had mine now for 2 years and just love them :-)