RainX and 303 on wiper blades led to wipers skipping!! Why?

[BlueBoxer1]

A couple days ago I washed, clayed, and washed the windshield of my 2007 Subaru. Before the treatment my wiper blades worked very well on the windshield, clearing the winshield completely of water in smooth fashion. After washing, I dried, cleaned again with stoners, and dried. Then I did a RainX treatment, and put some 303 on the rubber of the wiper blades. Now the wipers skip on their way down when I`m driving in the rain. It`s almost as if the 303 hardened the rubber of the blades and they`re not bending as much, leading to the skip. What gives, and what do ya`ll think?

[BigJimZ28]

I think it the rain-x not the 303



do an IPA wipedown on the glass and see if it goes away

if not wipe down the blades with wd-40

[BMW335i]

I think its the 303..See what happens when you remove either.

[BlueBoxer1]

Weird, I got an email with another member`s posted response to this thread, but it hasn`t shown up in the thread when I come here. :nixweiss



It sucks that either product could be the problem as I seem to recall both being recommended for this purpose. Why would RainX cause skipping if it`s designed for winshields? I can try wiping down the blades first with WD-40 and see if that takes care of it. If not then I`ll attack the RainX. Anything else I can use on the winshield that is different form RainX? Can I use Total Performance Polish on glass?

[BigJimZ28]

anything you put on the glass too thick can cause skipping

you need to buff the rainx a lot



the Klasse Twins work well on glass as does AW

[foxtrapper]

Different people report different results, with the exact same products. Rain-x for example, I`ve never had it skip, but it sure causes smearing for me. Some love Klasse on the windshield, it created tremendous chatter problems for me. Couldn`t get it off fast enough.



Oddly, I`ve found rain-x windshield washer fluid to work very well. Though it doesn`t work nearly as well on the Volvo as it does on the Toyota. Go figure.

[imported_Malachi]

the Klasse Twins work well on glass as does AW



I thought I read that putting AIO was not recommended by Klasse, but it may just be that it was not recommed to putting it on tint.



I asked Jeff about Prime Strong and he said that was fine putting it on windshields, except that it should not be put on tint. I guess if you have an AIO product you don`t have to buy Autoglym since you can`t use that on tint either.

[paul34]

Unlike what many others will undoubtedly say in this thread, I will say this: Rain-X has never failed me.



Nope. Not once.



However... I do not "buff." I would post my entire process, but to make it quick:

1) CLEAN the glass! I`m talking total clean (your cleaning process sounds good to me, maybe add a magic eraser into the mix? Couldn`t hurt).

2) Put on rain-x. Let sit for at least 20 minutes

3) Put on another coat of rain-x. Let sit for another 15 or so minutes...

4) Buff, you don`t have to do a good job at all... just sorta buff (in fact, you could actually skip this step if you`re really pressed for time

5) Wash the car!



Bingo. No streaks, no chattering, nothing. Just perfectly clean glass...



Oh and I shoudl say I use a leafblower to dry the glass so that would probably make a difference as well.



Oh, and I have never used 303 on blades either. I`m not sure if the 303 wiper treatment is the same stuff, but personally I wouldn`t put 303 on the blades. I figure it`ll affect the ability of the rubber to "cut" through the water... my theory is that it`ll make the rubber ultra-hydrophobic, so it might actually end "floating" on top of the water on the windshield rather than "cutting." Of course, I could be wrong... I have no evidence...

[BlueBoxer1]

"wash the car" is a broad category, what are you doing to the winshield in step #5, just soap and water?

[ScoobNewb007]

I had the same problem with chattering wipers after i wiped them down.

I just spray my windows with the washer fluid a couple of times and the next day, it stopped chattering. I guess it will stop chattering after the a day or so.

Talking about wipers, I don`t want to hi-jack the thread but like to know does the windshield washer fluid affect the paint over time?



I spray my windshield quite often and the subaru legacy nozzle is is over spraying into the moonroof and rear windshield (gets really annoying).

I know the fluid is landing all over the roof, does it dull out the paint over time or take off the wax?

[paul34]

"wash the car" is a broad category, what are you doing to the winshield in step #5, just soap and water?



yea, just wash the entire car (including the glass) as normal.

[captkirk2]

After applying RainX I let it dwell for a while, then mist with water and wipe with a MF and finish with a dry mf. Never got any streaking.

[AL-53]

I would use Megs 39 I think it is..the vinyl rubber cleaner to clean the blades...then if you want ..clean the glass with Alcohol...clean 2 times...get some Aquapel glass treatment...some of the auto parts places are starting to carry it..pep boys...auto zone..advanced auto....best glass treatment going....I had problems with rain x before and never used again....



Also Aquawax on glass qlass works great...really repels water ..but the aquapel is king



AL

[imported_bpfoley]

speaking of aquawax, I love it on my paint and it works good on glass but I found FK1 FX-1000 to work much better. I would use it on glass, and my wheels (brought out the pop in my wheels and seamed to make them more resilient to brake dust). I have since run out and have not reordered however- I just never had much luck with it on the body paint.

[BlueBoxer1]

Thanks for all the advice guys