Rain-X

J

jsuper

New member
On 2 of my cars I am getting little specks all over the windshield. On both cars I used rain-x. I noticed after a few weeks that the shelf life on Rain-X is only a few years. I had this probably for 7 years. Does anyone think the Rain_x caused the problem? you cant see the specks unless you are in direct sunlight. You cannot ever feel them but they are there. i tried 0000 steel wool which didn`t work. My thinking is that I should try to remove the rain-X. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
 
if you haven`t already, try polishing your glass with real glass polish and glass polishing pad. never heard of rain-x causing that.
 
The steel wool didn`t remove anything? I`ve never heard of Rain-X causing this type of problem. Try claying the glass. Not sure if this will help since you could not feel the defects. Welcome to the forum!
 
I wouldn`t use steel wool on auto glass these days, not even copper/brass wool. Remember that today`s autoglass is mostly plastic and it can be amazingly easy to scratch up.

I have/use some *OLD* RainX on the Crown Vic`s windshield just because the previous owner did and I don`t want to bother polishing it off (yeah, I coulda/woulda/shoulda done it when I did the new-to-me detail but that wasn`t in the cards). No issues at all. So I dunno if it`s really the RainX gone bad.

I`d probably do the Glass Pad w/appropriate Polish (though I`ve done fine just polishing glass with the same stuff I use on paint).

Welcome to Autopia jsuper, wish I had a better answer for you.
 
jsuper said:
On 2 of my cars I am getting little specks all over the windshield. On both cars I used rain-x. I noticed after a few weeks that the shelf life on Rain-X is only a few years. I had this probably for 7 years. Does anyone think the Rain_x caused the problem? you cant see the specks unless you are in direct sunlight. You cannot ever feel them but they are there. i tried 0000 steel wool which didn`t work. My thinking is that I should try to remove the rain-X. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
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I don`t know how big or how much of a bother the spots are to you. I would first try to remove the rain ex before trying anything else aggressive. I had etched in stains on my glass for years, and tried EVERYTHING to get them out. Finally after so long of searching, I used Ceriglass glass polish on a glass polishing pad on my DA polisher. It worked. After nearly ten years of living with it I removed it. I would just err on the side of caution and use less aggressive methods first. Maybe different chemicals to remove the rain-x that may also work on the spot, like a vinegar solution or an Isopropyl alcohol solution with water. I doubt it was the rain-x. I have used it many times along with others I know, even very old bottles, (ten years plus maybe? I didnt even know they expire lol ) and the only issue I ever had was that sometimes its hard to wipe off after application.

good luck!
 
I`d expect it to take a mechanical/abrasive approach to remove the RainX. Potent Glass Cleaners like Zep40 don`t clean it off so IPA/etc. can`t be expected to.
 
I used the rainx that you dilute in your windshield washer fluid. I heard that it doesn`t have a long shelf life because it has something to do with the silicone separates. my windshield looks like it has many prisms on it.
 
Glass is very hard, so any polish will do. Saying that there are glass specific polishes that may do better. CarPro makes Ceriglass that is the go-to polish (along with glass pads) to remove scratches. It is a pita to use. Tape off everything due to sling. There are other less invasive glass polishes sold here. Wolfgang Perfekt Vision Glass Polish is the one I use most frequently. You will be surprised how much gunk it will pull out of a windshield that looks clean. It removes stuff in the pores in the glass. I always use this before I apply a glass coating product. It`s good stuff.
 
You mentioned tape off due to sling. What is this referring to. Should this polish be used with a buffer and done manually. thanks for the response.
 
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