Critical times of herbicide application are not lost due to unfavourable windy conditions. Homemade units are cheap and simple to construct. Units can be mounted on the front or rear of a vehicle or towed behind the vehicle. Blanket wipers are uncomplicated and easy to use. They are light, robust and have few moving parts that require servicing.
Blankets are easy to clean and replace, if necessary.
Figure 2 One-leaf cape tulip at York in the season following treatment with blanket wiper Disadvantages Dense weed infestations may require a double pass from two directions at slower speeds to ensure sufficient chemical coverage. Blankets may become dirty and clogged which reduces the effective-ness of some herbicides. For blanket swathes wider than 4 m, units must be supported on the ends with wheels or skids to prevent blankets from dragging on the ground. Field tests Recent field testing of a small 2 m to 4 m blanket wiper showed encouraging results with good control of several tall growing weeds. Glyphosate and paraquat were also used successfully to control seed set of annual ryegrass and silver grass in clover pastures.