Fleaker - 12-9-2010 at 12:01
I just Rain-X'd my car windshield when I was immediately struck by the idea that it's probably some alcohol-soluble silane solution.
Any members know for sure what is in it?
Might be an easy access to off the shelf silanes?
Magic Muzzlet - 12-9-2010 at 12:23
The Rain-x I'm familiar with is just methanol, water and dyes.
DDTea - 12-9-2010 at 12:53
Checkout the household product database. Apparently, a few proprietary chemicals are used: nonspecific "surfactants" and such. No mention of
silanes.
aonomus - 12-9-2010 at 14:39
A quick experiment to try is to simply char the material and see what is left over. The Shell MSDS lists ethanol denatured with IPA, however there
must be some other compounds in there as well.
I toyed with some Scotchgard spray a while back in an attempt to make cheap RP silica for columns/TLC, as well as coat glass to make it hydrophobic
(mostly to failure without a proper oven). Some appear to be based on a silicone grease, while others are based on fluorinated urethanes (commercial
stuff that probably isn't for sale to the general public).