Rain-X

I believe it's a petroleum product. I wouldn't put it on plastic windows. In fact, I find that after a while, I start to get black smudges from my wiper blades on the glass if I use it. (I still use it, though, because I like the way it improves visibility. I just have to replace wiper refills more often.)

I agree, it seems like...can't prove it,..but seems like it takes away the life of my wipers. Allen

Do NOT use it on plastic windows. It is alcohol based.

For years I've believed it kill wiper blades. And, unless it's a fresh application, your windsheild gets real bad during rain. Nick

Yes it will damage them, will eventually roughen the surface.

I use "Boeshield" UV protectant/wax > Does anyone know if Rain-X will damage plastic windows on a rag top? >

On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 22:16:30 GMT, RichH shared the following:

Maybe it's intentional. Like a conspiracy. You buy the rain-x and start to use it, your wiper blades deteriorate, so you either buy more rain-x or more wiper blades...rain-x priced a little below wiper blades so you're hooked like a junkie. Yeah, yeah. That's it. It's a conspiracy. If you don't believe me then I'll bet you're one of those "Yeah, we really did land on the moon" guys. heh heh

-- Travis

travis did pass the time by typing:

Rain-x isn't made by the ArmorAll/plastic solvent/ folks is it?

And on that note I'm going to go stick my face in a nice pint of Guinness.

On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 18:52:53 -0500, travis shared the following:

OK, how'd I do? From "Rain-X" to "moon-landing conspiracy" in my first response.

-- Travis

I never turn the wipers on when I use RainX

Bill,

I strongly disagree. I've used Rain-X myself for well over 5 years and it has always lived up to the manufacturer's claims. The military uses a similar product on airplane canopies.

The only issue if found with this product, and the ones like it, is that you need to apply it 'often'. If I don't re-apply after ever 3-4 weeks then it's not there when I need it. It also helps greatly to keep your windows clean (with water, not washer fluid) and avoid ever using your wipers. Washer fluid and wipers remove the film that is applied very quickly.

Rain-X is like a 'wax' for you glass that fills in the microscopic pores in the glass and lowers the adhesion of polar molecules.

I find that in the TJ because of the nearly vertical windshield there isn't much vertical airflow. This makes it hard for the water to run off at low speeds unless it is raining reasonably hard. In my VW Golf, and Jetta before that, any motion made the water run right off the top. My Scout had the same problem as the Jeep. That was the first vehicle I used it on and that truck didn't have working wipers or a washer pump so I figured Rain-X was cheaper than fixing them.

Don't use it on plastic however. The manufacturer say you should not. I didn't listen and I tried it on a few motorcycle helmet visors and they turned foggy after a season of riding. I suspect it wouldn't be any better for vinyl either. It is solvent based and I'm sure the solvent would harm anything else derived from petrochemicals.

Oh, and the 'wipes' don't really do the job and neither does the washer reservoir additive. You really need to apply it heavily to the window and spend the 10 minutes polishing it off with paper towels or some rags as the instructions tell you to do. The idea is to just fill in any irregularities in the glass, not put a layer of it over the whole windshield.

L.W.(ßill) Hughes III wrote:

Bill,

I find Rain-X works great in the RAIN. I doubt S. Cal. would be a good proving ground - after all, it's not called Fog-X. Their anti-fog product is for the interior surface, and I've never tried it.

Dana

The only time I've used Rain-X is in an emergency... my wiper motor quit coming into Lancaster in a driving rainstorm about 10 years ago... the Pep Boys didn't have a replacement motor and recommended Rain-X. It worked like a charm, allowing me to make the last two hours of my journey. Of course, once I got the wiper motor replaced, the wipers just smeared the Rain-X around and I removed it. Personally, I keep it around for emergencies and that's it... Good product for when your motor quits (seemingly a fairly common problem with Jeeps).

--------------------------------------------- Mike Polo remove noharvest. to reply

The word bipartisan usually means some larger-than-usual deception is being carried out.

Dana Rohleder did pass the time by typing:

I did and the experience was less than good. In real cold temps one puff of breath on the inside of my windshield and the whole thing glazed over. YMMV but I was certainly glad to learn that quirk while parked.

Found that a good coat of meguires wax on the side/back windows does wonders for stopping snow/ice/mud from sticking. Not sure what it will do in colder weather yet, but for warm weather it works well.

Exactly you live in southern California. SoCal is one of the driest area's in the entire US. Fog is not rain and and isn't what Rain-x is intended to deal with.

Try driving around the country for a couple years in a Frieghtliner with and without rain-x... Rain-x might be the single best and cheapest "safety upgrade" a driver can put on a big truck. And you seem to be a fan of things things used on comercial trucks. It isn't perfect it seems to eat at the leading edge of a wiper blade but the visibility improvement (it can be hard to tell that it's raining if you were only looking at your windshield) is well worth it. Especially when you're pulling 70,000 to 80,000lb's at 65mph and need a good 400 to 500 feet if you need to get stopped.

"Especially when you're pulling 70,000 to 80,000lb's at 65mph and need a good 400 to 500 feet you need to get stopped." If you rear-end a minivan in that 400 to 500 feet does that decrease your stopping distance?