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Rain-X

Rain-X?

  • I use it and I love it

    Votes: 17 60.7%

  • I have used it but did not like it

    Votes: 4 14.3%

  • I have never used it

    Votes: 7 25.0%
  • Total voters
    28

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Popeye

Popeye

Obi Wan
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All,

First, this is my first time creating a poll, so please pardon mistakes in advance.

Curious what the community sentiment is on Rain-X? I recently drove though a massive thunderstorm, and even with the wipers on high speed, visibility was more limited than I like. This got me thinking, should I apply Rain-X (or equivalent)? My understanding is Rain-X is a silicone solution, thus the beading effect. As such, I believe it will take some care to properly apply. And once you apply it, it will be pretty hard to remove (I don't like pledge for the same reasons).

Thoughts?
 
I've had mixed experiences with Rain-X. I find that even when applied properly, the windows seem to have a bit of a haze to them. If you leave the car outside, I've had trouble scraping frost from a Rain-X treated window. It will eventually wear off on its own.

I've also had the Rain-X applied at the car wash. That seems to work a bit better. I've had it on my Jetta during huge downpours and the windshield practically clears itself.

I try to avoid driving the Sprite in the rain as much as possible, so not using Rain X isn't a huge deal for me on the LBC.
 
I've used it and it works great if you don't run the wipers in rain but drives my wife crazy to do that. It also seemed to make the wipers catch or run less free. I tried it on van side windows inside that were sticky and it made them worse. But it doesn't last all that long so worth a shot.
 
I use it when I expect to be driving in occasional light rain - nice to just let the drops scamper off with no wipers. It seems of limited value in a heavy rain and can be an issue for (dry) night driving as it leaves some residual on the glass.

They also make a glass cleaner that contains it and a windscreen washer fluid too. Have not and do not intend to try those as the straight stuff in the yellow bottle gives me more control over when it is there. Do take time to read the directions as it is not as simple as squirt on & wipe.
 
I went on a 1200 mile round trip in my TR250 a year or so ago. The wipers were marginal (barely enough power to go back and forth because of old hard grease or a weak motor, or both). When I rain exed the windshield they would slide back and forth easier at first, but eventually this went away and they would stall again. We got quite a bit of rain and I reapplied it two or three times. You have to follow the directions, and it is a little work to buff it off properly. It did work to clear the Windshield at speed, but had to be going pretty fast for it to work, as I recall over 60 mph or so, that may depend a lot on the aerodynamics of the car and windshield as well as the speed and directon of the wind.
 
My two cents - when I drove my 1960 Mercedes 190 from Connecticut to California and back in 2013 (7300 miles!), the wiper mechanism wore out in the first rain shower.

I put standard Rain-X on the front and rear windows, following instructions about rubbing it out thin.

Next couple showers, plus one heavy rain - it was like the rain just slid right off the glass. No visibility problems at all.

Had to re-apply after about a week - but I was very happy with it.

Tom M.
 
When I used to drive my 52 IH daily (with it's hugely impressive vacuum wipers) I would apply rain-x regularly and hardly ever turned the wipers on.
 
I've used it since the days of Marion and "MG Mitten".

It's now rainy season here, the stuff is applied weekly to our windscreens.
 
Worst windshield wipers ever - the MG T series.After a few minutes, rain water would run down the shaft and into the Lucas windshield-mounted motor, shorting out the motor. The was a tiny hand crank fitted and saw plenty of action but your passenger (or you) would get cramped fingers from turning the little crank back and forth, back and forth...The TF finally moved the motors under the cowl. ending the problem. Some owners fitted Marchal wiper motors in place of the Lucas monstrosity but no one ever seemed to have them in stock. I once drove from New Haven to Smith College in Massachusetts and on the way back, it began to pour. I switched on the wipers and they crawled back and forth, not doing much good until they quit after about 6 minutes. In the 2 1/2 hour ride down to New Haven, my sullen passenger cranked back and forth, back and forth the whole miserable trip and cursed Lucas, MG and me, it that order.
 
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