View Full Version : Another Use For Rain-X
foris2
03-04-2005, 10:21 PM
While detailing a customer`s vehicle today I learned something that I had never tried before. The customer had sap on his hood and trunk and he asked me would I be able to remove it. Of course I told him yes. He asked had I ever used Rain-X to remove sap from the paint (and of course I hadn`t). He suggested I try it to see how it works and offered to retrieve some from his garage. I told him that wouldn`t be necessary because I had some readily available. To make a long story short - I put some Rain-X on one section of a MF towel, dabbed the sap with it for a couple of seconds or so - and to my surprise the sap came off as if I it was jam. Simply amazing I thought. Caution - it mitht remove a little wax, but I hadn`t waxed the car yet so that was no problem. Even so, in my opinion it didn`t remove any previous wax at all. I guess you never get too old to learn something new that really works. I just wanted to share this info with you guys. :xyxthumbs
JeffM
03-04-2005, 10:22 PM
Wow, thats spooky :)
Kinda like WD40 has a million uses lol.
foris2
03-04-2005, 10:32 PM
Originally posted by JBM
Wow, thats spooky :)
Kinda like WD40 has a million uses lol.
It was almost like magic - as I stated I was impressed and could hardly believe the ease of achieving the results.
Prometheus
03-04-2005, 10:52 PM
Rain-X is alcohol based, so is it possible that regular alcohol would do the same thing? Maybe its the solvent property of alcohols in general that dissolve the sap?
foris2
03-04-2005, 11:24 PM
Originally posted by Prometheus
Rain-X is alcohol based, so is it possible that regular alcohol would do the same thing? Maybe its the solvent property of alcohols in general that dissolve the sap?
It`s very possible that regular alcohol would have the same result. I will give that a try the next time I encounter the sap delima.
locutus
03-05-2005, 12:10 AM
well, it least it is good for something!
admac
03-05-2005, 03:02 AM
hmm. i thought rain-x had a very strong acetone smell to it. i believe it has a pretty decent amount of that in it, in which case i wouldn`t be applying it to paint a lot.
Eliot Ness
03-05-2005, 04:56 AM
RainX has something strong in it. A couple of weeks ago I applied it to the wife`s windshield using my cordless buffer w/ 4" cyclo finishing pad and when finished just threw the pad in a Ziploc bag.
Last week I used that same pad on my DD and noticed the pad was falling apart.... took a while to get the foam residue off my windshield.
RedondoV6
03-05-2005, 06:27 AM
Originally posted by Eliot Ness
RainX has something strong in it. A couple of weeks ago I applied it to the wife`s windshield using my cordless buffer w/ 4" cyclo finishing pad and when finished just threw the pad in a Ziploc bag.
Last week I used that same pad on my DD and noticed the pad was falling apart.... took a while to get the foam residue off my windshield.
:eek: :eek: :eek:
I rarely use RainX type products, but now you have me thinking if any of them are water based, or at least low VOC. Anyone know?
JeffM
03-05-2005, 06:57 AM
I use NXT on my glass, works great :)
gto78
03-05-2005, 07:13 AM
my initial thought is the rain-x worked really easily because the car had a good existing wax on it before the sap landed on it? And then the rain-x got in between it and either pulled the wax off or just seperated the sap from the wax really easily since it wasnt bonded together so well.
luftphoto
03-15-2005, 06:58 PM
I`m not sure regular rain-x is the solution, at least I never had it work for me...on the other hand I`ve been suggesting people try rain-x anti-fog for really bad sap blotches for years.
Years ago I used to park under a tall pine tree that occasionally would start to ooz heavy thick sap. We`re talking nickle-size blobs of stuff that looked like someone took a hot-glue-gun and went nuts on the paint. I tried everything imaginable (and recommended) with no real success, just a kind of gooeyer blob of crud. Finally I decided to try rain-x antifog and the stuff was like magic. A moistened towel wiped across the sap and whosh - gone - no more sap, not a trace. A quick touch up with wax and the paint was like new.
foris2
03-15-2005, 07:46 PM
:welcome to Autopia luftphoto.
TW85 HHI
03-15-2005, 08:01 PM
Rain-X seems to have a very high alcohol content. I suspect it is the alcohol that removed the sap.
Rubbing alcohol will easily remove sap. It is my go-to product for sap removal.
luftphoto
03-16-2005, 10:05 AM
Originally posted by TW85 HHI
Rain-X seems to have a very high alcohol content. I suspect it is the alcohol that removed the sap.
Rubbing alcohol will easily remove sap. It is my go-to product for sap removal.
You`d think so ... but rubbing alcohol NEVER touched the sap I had. I literally went through everything in the house and found nothing that touched the sap I dealt with. Regular Rain-X did nothing, anti-fog did.