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"OPPOsaurus WRX" (opposaurus)
11/24/2014 at 08:19 • Filed to: None

so my brother-in-law and I washed our cars yesterday. Of course today it rains. After we washed it I put RainX on the windshields. Well today I got a message saying his wipers are skipping across his windshield and he thinks its from the RainX? WTF? Any idea how to take the stuff off?

DISCUSSION (15)

Vimto > OPPOsaurus WRX
11/24/2014 at 08:23

Rain-X basically destroys wipers by description. Isn't it the point of it so that the water runs off the windshield so quickly you don't have to use them?

505Turbeaux > OPPOsaurus WRX
11/24/2014 at 08:26

I think I have pulled it off with rubbing alcohol or the aerosol industrial glass cleaner before. I only ever use rainX on the side windows these days

OPPOsaurus WRX > Vimto
11/24/2014 at 08:26

thats the point but it only works if your going fast enough. I've just never heard of this. I put it on mine too and used the wipers until I got on the highway and it was fine. Same with my wifes car and thier sisters

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > OPPOsaurus WRX
11/24/2014 at 08:26

RainX shouldn't make it do that. It basically seals the windshield, which makes it more slippery. I would leave it on.

Besides, the whole point of RainX is so you don't need the wipers.

Quickest way to get rid of it? Use the wipers often, and with a non-RainX washer fluid.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > OPPOsaurus WRX
11/24/2014 at 08:36

If you did it right, it should be beading and rolling off the top at about 40kph. Using the wipers at all destroys the coating quickly though—for best results use the RainX washer fluid as well, and never wipe without spraying.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > OPPOsaurus WRX
11/24/2014 at 08:42

Skipping = sticking/unsticking in rapid pops. Maybe the rubber in those wipers doesn't play well with the Rain-X? I'd check to see if the wipers are sticky or otherwise compromised, and if it's because they're melty or just coating in Rain-X they scraped off before it was set.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
11/24/2014 at 08:43

its pouring out today so the windshield should be plenty wet.

OPPOsaurus WRX > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
11/24/2014 at 08:45

i'm guessing its the original wipers as the cars only a few months old. Would RainX melt the wipers? I had the wipers folded up when I applied the RainX and made sure all the extra was wiper off before I put the wipers back down.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > OPPOsaurus WRX
11/24/2014 at 08:54

I wouldn't have expected Rain-X to do so, but some wipers are really chemical sensitive, and are made of rubber that would soften up in exposure to a strong alcohol or related. If it's an almost new car, I'd expect silicone or equivalent, which shouldn't do that. Alternately, they were already coated with road oils or release oils (from being new), and that's not playing well with the Rain-X. Alternately alternately, they're sun-aged and porous and developing high friction/scraping up the Rain-X. Alternately ^3, they aren't really broken in yet, and that encouraged them to scrape it off, or there's an issue with a pre-existing windshield coating.

That last, by the way, would be a good reason to try to buff the Rain-X off with milder substances first. There is probably some type of coating on the windshield that was there before the Rain-X: anti-scratch, UV, things of that nature. Because new.

OPPOsaurus WRX > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
11/24/2014 at 09:02

its a new Corolla. a bad interaction with a pre-existing coating sounds like a good theory

deekster_caddy > OPPOsaurus WRX
11/24/2014 at 09:45

If the wiper arm doesn't have a good tension spring in it the wipers can hop a bit. It's annoying however, just TURN OFF THE WIPERS! A good coat of Rain-X pretty much means you don't need them, besides moving slowly. I've been using it for 25 years and on some cars the wipers hop a little, it's worse when it is first put on, but it's more worth having than not having.

deekster_caddy > OPPOsaurus WRX
11/24/2014 at 09:46

I disagree that it "destroys" wipers. Wipers still last the same amount of time, if anything longer because you use them less. The harder it rains, the less you need the wipers if the rain-x is fresh.

deekster_caddy > OPPOsaurus WRX
11/24/2014 at 09:47

The wipers are fine. The glass is so clean the rubber doesn't glide across it, it's catching a little. That's all that's happening. Nothing to worry about. It will fade as the Rain-X wears off.

OPPOsaurus WRX > deekster_caddy
11/24/2014 at 10:08

thats what i've experienced, I'm thinkin he wasn;t going fast enough to get the rain to disperse and needed the wipers

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > OPPOsaurus WRX
11/24/2014 at 21:29

You would be surprised how often I get this complaint from customers. Usually rain-x, or automatic car washes with wax settings, or some other windshield protective coating. We always end up using a glass stripping chemical and installing new wiper blades. The problem is that the blades are designed to work at a certain coefficient of friction, that of wet and naked glass. When coatings are applied that coefficient of friction changes, no longer naked means no longer happy.