Rain-X is a household name. Since the 1970s, it has been the go-to windshield water repellent for drivers everywhere, promoting outward visibility in even the thickest rainstorms. But these days, Rain-X faces some serious competition.
In a series of comparison tests between 10 different windshield water repellents, YouTube channel Project Farm finds that Rain-X is no longer the best hydrophobic product in the game. But it remains competitive, which can’t be said for more than half of the other products tested.
In Project Farm’s testing, only four brands – Gtechniq, Aquapel, Gyeon and Rain-X – retained their hydrophobic properties after being subjected to car wash soap and windshield washer fluid – two things you might normally expect. wait to come into contact with your windshield. The other six brands – Adams, Cerakote, Invisible Glass, Chemical Guys, 3D and Debaishi – virtually stopped working after a quick wash with car wash soap.
Of the big four brands, Aquapel and Gyeon were the fastest to remove water from glass when subjected to a hairdryer, in just 1 second. In this test, Project Farm was attempting to mimic the forces of wind acting on a car at around 40 mph. Rain-X and Gtechniq are tied for last place, 3 seconds behind.
Where Rain-X lost the most was in Project Farm’s hot temperature exposure test, where each piece of glass is kept in a dishwasher and exposed to a stream of hot water for 2 ,5 hours. This is an attempt to imitate rain on a hot summer day. While the other three brands maintained their performance after the test, Rain-X’s effectiveness decreased.
That’s not to say Rain-X still isn’t worth it. Considering it was by far the cheapest product of the bunch, was among the easiest to apply, and maintained its effectiveness throughout most testing, we wouldn’t blame anyone in the group. ‘use on your car. But if you want the absolute best product, it’s Gtechniq’s G5 Water Repellent Coating, at least according to Project Farm.
