1) Introduction

This blog will be dedicated to discussion hydrophobic rain repellents like Rain-x and the effectiveness of each.
Things this blog will cover:
An Introduction into Rain-x and other hydrophobic compounds
Science behind rain-x and other compounds
Comparison behind the different compounds.
Best choice for consumer use.

The target audience of this blog will be college students and graduates who have at least a minimal knowledge of chemistry.

Hydrophobic Self Assembling Monolayers:

For those who have not heard of it, Rain-X is an especially helpful tool for your windshield. Rain-X and its competitors coat the surface of glass and allow water to effectively bead up and slip away. A quick demonstration shows how effective Rain-X can be on a windshield (Ignore the science of ‘pores’ in this video, the real science behind rain-x will be discussed later):

As you can see Rain-X allows for a much better water repellent effect than normal glass. This is especially helpful for cars that have broken or ineffective windshield wipers. Although not recommended, some people have even used rain-x without windshield wipers. For many consumers Rain-x is a great addition to the car. Some studies have even examined the response time of drivers using these windshield treatments. In a study by the University of Michigan, response times were found to decrease by a full second while using a treated windshield as compared to an untreated one [1]. A extra second of response time can be the difference between a crash and no crash in some situations. For many consumers Rain-x is a great addition to the car for safety and convenience.

As there are many different brands of Rain-x like products on the market today, it can be hard to choose the correct product.


References
[1] The Influence of Hydrophobic Windshield Coating on Driver Visual Performance: http://www.aquapel.com/PDF/UniversityofMichiganStudy.pdf