Windshield rain coatings??

I searched around but didn't find what I'm looking for....

What products are you guys using on your front windshields for better water repellency in the rain. Like Rain X but for adults. (although if you apply Rain X every week it works awesome!!!)

Ceramic coating?
PPF on the windshield?
Just very clean windows?
Others?

Thanks

I take my coating applicator and "wipe off" towel and use them to wipe the glass at the end of coating the whole car. Then, later, "recharge" type sio2 products are used throughout the year to maintain protection/water behavior. As waterless/rinseless or drying aid type of applications.

Never again. I applied Rain X once. It caused any humidity to stick to the windshield along with anything else in the air. It was awful. Nothing would remove it, either. It was so bad that I had the windshield replaced.

Rain-X sucks. Difficult to apply and doesn't last. I use Glaco Ultra by Soft99. It was originally designed for aircraft windshields. Very easy to apply and lasts very long.

One word. Don’t. It messes up the intermittent wipers.

I did a lot of research on this before and went with Angelwax H2Go. I'm in LA so it lasts our 3 months of winter. No wiper chatter or rain sensor issues either.

I've used RainX for 40+ years without issues - the "real" stuff, not the windshield/glass cleaner, following the instructions. Tried AquaPel once with poor results. Got some free samples of Griot's ceramic glass cleaner - doesn't work as well as RainX. Adam's H2O Guard & Gloss works well on paint, glass & trim - not as good as RainX.

I ceramic coated my windshield and I top it off with Gtechniq C2V3 a few times a year. On a previous vehicle I used Wolf's Ceramic Glass Sealant. It works incredibly well and I highly recommend it.

John in VA wrote

I've used RainX for 40+ years without issues - the "real" stuff, not the windshield/glass cleaner, following the instructions...

Same here. Apply correctly and it works great.

There is some coating on my windshield. Water either beads off or clumps around drivers vision line and wipers seem to float above it. Thinking about some kind of cutting compound to deal to it. Never had an issue with cars before with just simple glass cleaner.


Edit. March 25

Took quite a bit of effort to remove coating above. Using rain x and water no longer clumps and wipers working correctly.

Rain X perfect for me, I wouldn't dream of putting ceramic on it.

Glaco is what everyone is raving about now. I will be ordering some to check it out myself.

John in VA wrote

I've used RainX for 40+ years without issues - the "real" stuff, not the windshield/glass cleaner, following the instructions.

Same here, although I've only been using it for ~35 years! I just reapplied it to my cars earlier this week. I find it lasts up to 2-3 months on the windshield depending on the amount of rain the car sees (far longer on the side and back windows), and most of my cars are parked outside. When I pick up rental cars for road trips, they get a coating as well. And I've even taken a small bottle of RainX to Europe for use on those rental cars.

Application process is easy: (1) clean and dry windows using any method (paper towels, newspaper, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser), (2) apply RainX with a clean, dry paper towel; I usually apply it twice to make sure I didn't miss any areas, (3) get a couple paper towels wet and wipe the entire window with them, and (4) dry the window with more paper towels.

I used to avoid the very top-center of the windshield where the rain sensor is, but all the newer sensors do a better job so I just apply RainX directly over them now.

Definitely avoid the RainX product you add to the windshield wiper fluid - I've heard nothing good about that stuff.

As soon as this video starts you're going to want to hit mute, then skip to the end where he gives the stats. This guy is beyond annoying, like Doug Demuro but in a different way because it's rapid-fire-until-you-choke info, but he does good tests.

Adams glass sealant has worked great for me. I've tested different ceramic coatings on windshields and they work well- but tend to bead water on the windshield and don't "release" them off the windshield as quickly as a dedicated glass sealant- so there is a difference. With Adams glass sealant the beads fly off the windshield at ~45mph keeping the windshield free

slilley wrote

Same here, although I've only been using it for ~35 years!..................
..............Definitely avoid the RainX product you add to the windshield wiper fluid - I've heard nothing good about that stuff.

I'm the same as you other old timers, probably about 40 years usage or so. I will disagree with the comment about the RainX concentrate you add into the fluid container. I found that product probably 10 years ago, and have used it in the wife's car and mine. It's lasted so long since it's concentrated that I just had to search around to find my second bottle. I find that it is works like a "topper" and just boosts the performance of the wipe on product. At highway speeds there is no need to use the wipers because the water just rolls off the top of the windshield. On the one car with rain sensing wipers, it doesn't affect their operation at all.

I use Aquapel. But I have found that if I buy it from Amazon or eBay it's counterfeit so I buy it direct from PGW in Pittsburg. It lasts way longer than RainX and works great if you apply it to a clean windshield.

///Rich

M5Rick wrote

Rain X perfect for me, I wouldn't dream of putting ceramic on it.

Same here, no issues with Rain X for many years.

CarPro Ceriglass with a CarPro 5 inch rayon pad followed by FlyBy30.
Its cheap at $22.00 for 50ml and works the way I want it to. I usually do a once a year treatment and it holds up,
It does not like Elixir on top of it. Anything funky I use as a topper that hits the glass is easily removed with Eraser

Great review - thanks for sharing! I've never seen such a thorough testing of the products. Good to know that there are options, but I'm going to stick with RainX because it's cheap, easy, and fairly effective. This is what he said about RainX in the conclusions: "If you are trying to make every dollar count and it's about performance and price, the RainX is a clear winner. At a price of $10 for 7 ounces, which is less than half the price of the top three brands, it still performed extremely well." I'll just have to remember to reapply it a little more often than any of the pricier three leaders (Gtechniq, Aquapel, and Gyeon, in that order).

Here are the final scores:

c1pher wrote

Glaco is what everyone is raving about now. I will be ordering some to check it out myself.

I've been curious about it as well. Please share your thoughts when able.

Carpro Clarify PH₂OBIC. So far it’s been great and I’ve been using with no sealant as I ran out of Wolf’s. Easy on off application and smells good. Lol