The factory wiper arms/blades on my '09 GM vehicle do have a very convenient connection system (just press a square button and slide to remove--not sure what it's called) and a very aero/low profile. While some third-party blade makers are starting to include adapters for this wiper arm type, such adapters slide or clip on to the back of their "default" molded-in wiper connector, thus adding to the overall height of the wipers and making the arms stick out further from the windshield--not exactly conducive to preserving the factory aero look.
The blades themselves are a nicely designed affair that consists mainly of an extruded plastic channel made to flex "inward" past the curvature of a typical windshield, thus conforming to the windshield when pressure is applied by the wiper arm. In addition to the plastic channel, there are a couple of thin metal strips that sit inside the outer edges of the channel, and those strips form a narrow gap that the actual rubber wiper material slides into (using the "T"-shaped cross section furthest away from the wiping edge--There is another "T" cross closer to the wiping edge that is allowed to bend freely in the open air). There's also a couple of plastic end caps that hold it all together in conjunction with some snap-in metal pieces.
The good thing about this system is that A. it's a lot less complicated than the old "multiple layers of metal pieces forming a flexible pressure-transference system" (vulnerable to icing up in sub-zero temps) and B. it's relatively easy to hack in regard to replacing the rubber piece, even though it's not designed for such replacement. So when my wiper blades started to skitter on the upstroke (clearly from coming to rest after making a downstroke that bent them upward relative to the plane of the windshield), I took off the blades, removed the end caps with a bit of prying, and simply slid the rubber wiper material out one end and slid it back in the opposite direction before sticking the end caps back on. Unfortunately, the rubber in the blades, now bent downward, then skittered on the downstroke--equally annoying.
Aware that the original bend of the rubber edge was likely caused by a combination of the excessive heat of a Mid-American summer and the constant pressure the flexible rubber edge faces from the pressure of the blade arm pressing it down, I decided to fight fire with fire--using heat to bend the blade to a more neutral position between being flexed either direction.
My tool in this experiment was an old soldering iron. After removing the wiper blade from its arm, I took the hot soldering iron and pushed its edge (near the tip) quite forcefully against the rubber wiping piece in the direction opposite its now-distorted bend to one side, and rubbed it back and forth on that piece until it appeared to be straightening out. This is not a quick process--figure a couple of minutes minimum per blade. The rubber does emit some unpleasant smells, but nothing melts (unless you get too close to the plastic blade structure itself) and the soldering iron stays clean. Some sections of the rubber edge are particularly bent over and require almost ridiculous overcorrecting with heat and bending to spring back to a more neutral position. And I've noticed that beyond just a general rubbing and pushing of the iron's edge along the edge of the whole rubber piece, it helps to take the tip of the iron and push it into the edge between the metal stays and the first "T" edge of rubber sticking out from it while moving it back and forth. (In fact, the tip of the old iron had already had a channel cut into it with my Dremel for another project, and that helps keep it in place as it slides against the exposed edges of the rubber piece.)
The reward has been substantial: All the skittering the blades used to do in one direction or the other is gone. Now I can replace the blades only when the rubber actually stops wiping well--and I'm already scheming ways to automatically cut wiper blade rubber to create a fresh, clean, straight edge, too. It's time to defy the wiper blade arm/industrial complex! We will disrupt their devious plans to sell us new blades every year, and re-empower ourselves to get just as many fresh, clean, quiet wipes as we do in the privacy of our own bathrooms.
