rear wiper delete --> good water repellent?!

J

jojo69

New member
Hello,



I have decided to delete the rear wiper of my car. It's a hatch, subaru wrx.

I need to find a product that does an better than expected job of repelling water. I'd love to use products such as neverwet, but as many of us have seen, it is simply not adequate for glass at this time.



I have used rainX and it's decent. Never used Aquapel.

I also see that 3D is coming with new line of pdcts and comapnies like Nanolex on this forum seem to have interesting products for glass.



The thing with the hatch in this car (and all other hatches I've owned) is that the ergonomics of the car makes it such that after 1 minute of driving the car, there is dust and using the wiper is source of scratching... PLUS, in the winter, the wiper just accumulates snow so what's the point!?

So i'm really looking for something that will repel water (and other contaminants would be great) at little to no speeds?! Using RainX just doesn't cut it beyond a few hours of driving in the rain... the rain simply stays and limits my visibility...



Any thoughts or suggestions?

If I have missed a similar thread on this topic, pls let me know! I searched but didn't quite find what I was looking for...
 
Aquapel continues to impress me but perhaps not at really low speeds like you want. Maybe there are some other products that perform similar but I dont know if for as long.
 
I'd rather risk having the scratches and maintain the ability to have the wiper do its thing if necessary. OK, sorry...don't mean to :argue and I will agree it can look cleaner, but I've driven in some winter conditions where a rear wiper was simply mandatory to maintain good rearward vision (and a good rear washer system too).



Not like I don't sympathize about the marring though, I never used any of my rear wipers unless I absolutely positively had to do it. But that did happen now and then. Heh heh, I don't even use my windshield wipers unless it's really necessary.



Do post back if you find something you like though.. none of my current vehicles have a rear wiper and a really good product might be worth considering for the Tahoe's rear windows.
 
Yes, i hear you of the practicality of the wiper. I am usually the type of guy who will go for function > form... but in this case, I guess I want to try something different... at least for now... I mean, like you, I rarely use the wiper unless absolutely necessary which I can count on the fingers of my hands so far, even in winter with snow...



Accumulator said:
I'd rather risk having the scratches and maintain the ability to have the wiper do its thing if necessary. OK, sorry...don't mean to :argue and I will agree it can look cleaner, but I've driven in some winter conditions where a rear wiper was simply mandatory to maintain good rearward vision (and a good rear washer system too).



Not like I don't sympathize about the marring though, I never used any of my rear wipers unless I absolutely positively had to do it. But that did happen now and then. Heh heh, I don't even use my windshield wipers unless it's really necessary.
Click to expand...

Yes, i hear you of the practicality of the wiper. I am usually the type of guy who will go for function > form... but in this case, I guess I want to try something different... at least for now... I mean, like you, I rarely use the wiper unless absolutely necessary which I can count on the fingers of my hands so far, even in winter with snow...



Bill D said:
Aquapel continues to impress me but perhaps not at really low speeds like you want. Maybe there are some other products that perform similar but I dont know if for as long.
Click to expand...

I keep hearing that aquapel performs 'better' than RainX... As soon as I finish my RainX bottle, I will give it a try for my windshield and see how it performs on the rear.



Thanks. The hatch's rear window panel has a decent enough angle that water ought to just slide down with adequate coating... as opposed to say my wife's 06 malibu where the angle is so poor that if I don't apply rain repellent often enough, it's a pretty useless rear window!



It seems I'm gonna be doing some inquiries and maybe testing out some pdcts... I was hoping that someone had some experience with some kinda of glass treatment formula that was extremely water phobic! Guess it isn't out yet!! ;) I'll chime in back on this one and see what other autopian's experience has been.





Seems that there are a few 'trusted' brands out there i've found. Anyone with any experience please chime in:

Wolf's nano glass sealant

Nanolex glass treatment

Aquapel

Nanoskin rain + glass treatment

Optimum Opti-glass
 
I used to apply Aquapel over my windshield + windows.

It was performing good ... until I tried what's Scottwax is using (but a bit differently).



He uses Optimum No Rinse and Wax at a 32:1 dilution ratio.



I tried using Optimum Car Wax at a 4:1 dilution and it worked SO MUCH better than aquapel.

The water sheets OFF as low as 50 km/h.

Aquapel didn't have water sheeting before 100 km/h.



The only 'downside' is you might need to re-apply more often than Aquapel (depending of the weather I guess).
 
I have been pretty happy with Glass Science on my windshield.



While it is contrary to your request for info, for anyone else concerned with scratching by rear (or front) wipers:



Make sure you clean your blades every time you wash your car. They collect dirt and will drag that across the glass.



Do not use your wipers for just a few drops. Dry blades across a dry windshield will increases the chances of scratching. This is where water repellent products help. Once the rain begins to fall significantly it will flush away loose dust and dirt and provides some lubrication.
 
dooyaunastan said:
You could look into a glass coating such as CarPro's Flyby30 or Optimum's Opti-Glass
Click to expand...



Based on the videos I can see, i'm not sure they would be hydrophobic enough for use on the rear window as it will be getting little winds that will push the rain away. I'm looking at a product that will allow, in a sense, use mostly gravity to get rid of the rain, thus why i'm seeking the most hydrophobic product out there...



Nthdegree - Good reminder and yes I agree completely on that use :) ... I just prefer to just treat the glass and not even use the rear wiper...
 
jojo69- I'm on-board with your idea since you explained the whole thing...are you thinking "coating" or "glass sealant" for this? There are a scad of these products available now.
 
Accumulator said:
jojo69- I'm on-board with your idea since you explained the whole thing...are you thinking "coating" or "glass sealant" for this? There are a scad of these products available now.
Click to expand...



Honestly, I don't really care... in the sense that I am looking for the 'best' (i know its all relative) pdct out there... given this will be applied to the rear hatch glass, I would prefer to do less 'touch ups' or 're-application' to minimizing swirls/marring, but I am not against a pdct that I would need to re-apply, given it's not every other week.



And yes, part of the difficulty in choosing what will work is the plethora of products I see out there... I was just reading a review of CarPro HydrO2 and looking into cquartx pdcts... I am sort of losing my marbles with so many options...
 
So I will give this a quick update since our 'snow days' are officially over with here in Coastal Maine... 


I had very bad luck with <strike>Hydro2</strike> Flyby30... I followed the directions to a t and applied several coasts in some sections... at any rate, the results were subpar to what I was hoping. By that I mean that the product performed on par with otc pdcts like RainX but did not last very long or perform significantly better than said otc product.  The only piece of the process I have to blame is the outside temperatures when I applied it (mid 30's) which was less than optimal. I also did not have access to a heat gun/hair dryer so the heating of the layer aspect of the procedure was not properly followed. Could that have caused my results... maybe. 


 


I am NOT saying that the product is not good, as there are too many confounding variables in my mind to make such a call. Just that despite several attempts, I did not have the proper conditions to get the results I had hoped and I've called it a wash on this specific project. 


 


On a separate note, not having the wiper blades did not affect driving in any significant way. Sure there were time where I could not see behind me, but with the defroster on, it was enough to see headlights which is really all i need.  I will leave the wiper off and I will continue to use otc rainX like products for now as it works well enough for me even if I have to apply it every other time.  


 


Just my experience, and update to this thread. 


Cheers! 
 
For one, I hate Rainx. I would try anything

before I put that stuff on my window. You can

Never get it off.


Try Optimum car wax, or Opti Coat.

Also ONRww does work, but doesn't last long.


There's also the fly by night kit for all windows

that isn't very expensive.


I haven't really heard of hydr02 being heated..!?
 
jojo69- Thanks for the update.  Sorry the Hydro2 didn't work out though...


 


wwww-willywallywashwax- The previous owner of my newer Crown Vic used RainX on it, and that "You can never get it off.." is exactly what I had in mind; I've kept using RainX on it for that reason.  Gotta say it's not all that awful *on that car*, not like it was on some others when I first tried it back in the '90s, must be a matter of windshield angle/airflow...or something.  Did make cleaning the bug-mess off really easy during a long roadtrip last summer.


 


BUT...with a nasty chip right in my line of vision, I'm wondering if the glass-repair guys are gonna have trouble getting the RainX off.  I've posted here about this before, "how do I get this stuff off?!?" but other than serious (or should I say "Cerious" ;) ) glass-correction compounds, which I will *NOT* risk getting that stuff on my nearly showroom paint, I haven't come up with any good solutions.  Somebody here suggested I use a propane torch, but that gives me the willies....
 
I had a car with Rainx in the late 90s,

and won't go back.


Surely they have reformulated since then,

but my hesitancy remains.


I have heard horror stories of how nothing will

remove it, because it goes into the glass.


I am no expert in this, I just stay away.
 
yeah I have heard of rumors of RainX's chemical mix being hard to get rid of. I have used it on the subaru before I tried applying <strike>Hydro</strike> Flyby30... and in the process of doing <strike>hydro </strike>Flyby30, you essentially have to remove everything and start clean. Using the provided chemical, i was able to get a hydrophilic glass back. I assumed that being able to get that would equate getting rid of rainX... if that's true, then it wasn't that hard with the proper tools and no marring that I noticed. just a thought. 


At any rate, it has worked well for me. But I understand your point wwww. 


 


Oh and I made a mistake, i was talking about Flyby30, not Hydro... i got confused cuz i recently found a sample of hydro and i keep meaning to try it out ;) sorry, it's flyby30 that didn't work out as I had hoped. 


 


:P
 
I like Pinnacle and Griots glass sealants. The best I can tell they are either the same or quite similar products. I use Poor Boys Pro Polish to clean the glass (if not correcting glass) prior to application.

The problem with glass sealants is, when the window is clean - they will bead water great. But, once it gets dirty from driving in the rain, beading is diminished. Not because the product is "gone", but because road dirt will inhibit the hydrophobic nature of the product - especially on a back window where dirt can splash up easier.

I had a chance to study this phenomenon on a very long recent road trip where it rained the whole time. Even though it was raining, I wasn't using wipers. After a while, the window would stop shedding water. Once I cleaned it, the water shedding ability returned for a while - until it got dirty again.
 
jojo69- Yeah, that chemical approach would be great!  I might look into that when I get serious about removing the RainX/getting the chip filled (that car doesn't get used enough to be a big priority).


 


Swanicyouth- Huh, I somehow get the feeling I'm doing better with the RainX than you are with the Pinnacle/Griot's (just by the sound of it), but there are a zillion variables in play here.
 
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