You mean, Rain-X is a wetting agent? I thought it was like a wax, because the water beads up. Armor-All does the same thing as Rain-X, and it repels water. Perhaps it is doing two things at the same time: making the water wetter so it beads and collects and rolls off the windshield, and the surface repels the beads as they fall on the surface and merge into each other. All I know is that I discovered Armor All does the same thing, as I accidentally sprayed some on the windshield the night before I went on the road and wound up with excellent visibility on the way home the next day, discovering I was actually in a massive thunderstorm only because other drivers were pulling over to the side of the road, it was so bad. Then, to top it all off, there was hail coming down further down the road. I had to detour, as the hail got bigger and bigger. The Armor-All made the rain roll up over the top or roll down to the bottom of the windshield, depending on my speed. I had refused to pay the exhorbitant price for Rain-X (about $6.00 for a 4-oz bottle), when for a few pennies I could spray Armor-All on it, spread it around, let it dry, hose it down and drive. Lasted a few weeks. I was told it makes the glass soft, so in case it dies, I don't use it any more, but Meguiar's Yellow Wax does the same thing, only not for as long. But then, Rain-X went down in price... The best way to clean before applying Rain-X is probably how I do it when I detail a car: clean with Fine Cut Cleaner, wipe clear, and apply. Soaps contain wetting agents, and they probably shorten the life of the treatment. That includes some ammonia products... Anyway, I was delighted to read your information, and would like to know more..
Stanley ________________________________ From: surfswab <[email protected]> To: Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers! <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, August 8, 2009 4:17:35 PM Subject: [Nighthawk Lovers] Re: Any suggestions on helmet face-shield care? A bit of trivia: My granddad, a professor/scientist at Michigan State for most of his life, invented and patented the process for making water "wetter" by breaking the surface tension of individual drops, creating smaller droplets, which then flowed off hard surfaces with the natural movement of air across the surface, without leaving spots. So whenever you use Rain-X, or Calgon dishwasher detergent, or the like, that's his work. It was also used as a wetting agent in the process of developing film to allow the film to dry without water- spotting (back when cameras used film, that is). I seem to recall that differing results from Rain-X applications were caused by the type of cleaner used to clean the surface before applying the solution. I could be mistaken, but I think ammonia was the culprit. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
