Aquapel vs. Rain-X: What the SDS information reveals.

[elagache]

Dear mid-60s Buick caregivers,

My attempt to find a reasonable lubricant for windshield wipers got deflected into an investigation of the chemical differences between Rain-X and Aquapel.  As I’ve done in the past, I turned to the Safety Data Sheets to peek under the hood of how these products actually work.  I started by looking at the Rain-X product sold to remove Rain-X: Rain-X X-treme clean.  This is the only product that can be used to reliably remove Rain-X build-up. Here is a link to the SDS:

https://www.rainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Rain-X-Xtreme-Clean.pdf

I got a shock when I looked at the ingredients.  Only three are listed: water, 2-Amino-2-Methylpropanol (a pH stabilizer,) and Aluminum Oxide.  Aluminum Oxide is one of the hardest abrasives known to man.  So much so that is used as an alternative to diamonds in some industrial applications:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_oxide#Abrasive

So that makes it clear there is exactly one way to remove Rain-X and that literally to grind it off.  Even the manufacturer of Rain-X has no chemical process to remove it.  Using hard abrasives on glass should be done with caution and your windshield might have some softer coatings that could also be stripped away.  In short, using Rain-X X-treme Clean should be minimized as much as possible.

At this point I turned to original Rain-X water repellent.  Here is the SDS:

https://www.rainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Rain-X-Original-Glass-Treatment.pdf

I was in for an even nastier shock.  The main ingredients listed in the SDS are: Ethanol, Acetone, Isopropyl Alcohol, and Sulfuric acid!  Given those ingredients, I can’t imagine how Rain-X is applying some sort of a silicone-based water repellent surface.  Rain-X is using some other sort of unknown chemistry.  Rain-X is considered a carcinogenic under OHSA and California’s prop-65 regulations.  Now obviously these chemicals are in small enough concentration that they are unlikely to do any harm, still this is a nastier product than I had imagined it to be.

In contrast here is the SDS for Aquapel:

http://www.aquapel.com/PDF/SDS/Aquapel_Glass%20Treatment-SDS_US-English.pdf

The only listed ingredient is: Distillates, petroleum, hydrotreated light.  According to Toxipedia (Didn’t know there was such a thing? Me neither!) these are simple another sort of product distilled from crude oil.  While this stuff isn’t exactly innocent either, it isn’t the cocktail of nasty chemicals that Rain-X turns out to be.  Unlike Rain-X, Aquapel not regulated as potentially carcinogenic

While Aquapel is significantly more expensive, it appears to be a better choice on a number of grounds: easier to apply, lasts longer, and no problems of excessive build up.  At this point, my mind is made up.  I’m going to use Rain-X X-treme clean once to get all the old Rain-X off (applying it with extreme caution mind you.) Then I’ll switch to Aquapel for good!

Some food for thought! 

Cheers, Edouard 

[elagache]

Dear mid-60s Buick "all-weather" drivers,

What finally got me to give Aquapel a try was this video on You-Tube.  Just in case not all of you have seen it, there is the link:

https://youtu.be/K-qhq_AigpM

It is really an excellent example of how a "regular guy" can create a video that is really useful for everyone.

Cheers, Edouard

[WkillGS]

....(Aquapel).... isn’t exactly innocent either, it isn’t the cocktail of nasty chemicals that Rain-X turns out to be.  Unlike Rain-X, Aquapel not regulated as potentially carcinogenic

Check the SDS again, It may not contain carcinogens, but Aquapel can kill you!:

>>Ingestion
May be fatal if swallowed and enters airways. Droplets of the product aspirated into the lungs
through ingestion or vomiting may cause a serious chemical pneumonia.
.... Be aware that symptoms of chemical pneumonia (shortness of breath) may occur
several hours after exposure<<<

Be sure to keep it away from pets and small children!!


An 'abrasive' can also be considered a 'polish'.... it depends on particle size. It should not be considered a negative trait.
Optical components are polished to produce a smooth surface..... with abrasives.
Even your paint is polished with abrasives to produce a clean, smooth surface which can then recieve a protective overcoat. Glass can be cared for in a similar way.

Various contaminates will build up on a glass surface. They can be removed chemically if you know what the contaminates are. Or they can be removed mechanically with a polish.

Wiper blades should be replaced fairly often. Expected life is only 9 months to a year.
Even better, don't drive your classic car in the rain!

[Rollaround]

Not to side track your repellent discussion but……..

My Grandmother told me that back in the days of the Ford Model A and T, before wipers and certainly before Rain x they had a more natural fix.  They would slice a large onion in half and wipe the windshield with the flat side putting the onion oil on the glass, that would repel water.  I've always wanted to try it but never have. Worst side effect possible would be watery eyes.
     

[35chevcoupe]

Not to side track your repellent discussion but……..

My Grandmother told me that back in the days of the Ford Model A and T, before wipers and certainly before Rain x they had a more natural fix.  They would slice a large onion in half and wipe the windshield with the flat side putting the onion oil on the glass, that would repel water.  I've always wanted to try it but never have. Worst side effect possible would be watery eyes.
     

And hopefully when picking up the girl friend for a date , she don,t mind the smell of onions .

[elagache]

Dear Walt and mid-60s Buick caregivers who are careful with chemical products,

Check the SDS again, It may not contain carcinogens, but Aquapel can kill you!:

Your point is well taken, but Aquapel has an applicator that dispenses the chemicals through a sponge so you don't have expose yourself to the chemicals too much.  We have to be careful with all these sorts of products.  I guess I was just a little stunted at exactly now nasty the cocktail of Rain-X turned out to be.

An 'abrasive' can also be considered a 'polish'.... it depends on particle size. It should not be considered a negative trait.
Optical components are polished to produce a smooth surface..... with abrasives.
Even your paint is polished with abrasives to produce a clean, smooth surface which can then recieve a protective overcoat. Glass can be cared for in a similar way.

Various contaminates will build up on a glass surface. They can be removed chemically if you know what the contaminates are. Or they can be removed mechanically with a polish.

We are on the same page on this point.  If there is a chemical process to remove the contaminate, that spares the surface from any abrasion.  If you resort to a mechanical process to remove contaminate, the underlying surface is always vulnerable to being damaged.  Abrasives might not be pure or you might inadvertently introduce abrasive contaminates while you work.  So abrasives should be used - as the usual wisdom would imply - in moderation.

Wiper blades should be replaced fairly often. Expected life is only 9 months to a year.

Yes indeed.  Wiper on all our cars (classic and modern) get replaced once a year.

Even better, don't drive your classic car in the rain!

Agreed on this item as well, but my trusty wagon is still part of the family.  I want her to be rain-ready because you never know what might happen.  As the only station wagon in the house she might be called upon to make some sort of a rescue.  That has been her job all her life, and I want her to continue to be contributing member of the family - not a private museum piece.

Cheers, Edouard 

[WkillGS]

I think you are overly concerned about scratching the glass due to an occasional cleaning with a mildly abrasive cleaner.
I am FAR more concerned with scratching my windshield by using the wipers!! Wipers will leave visible scratches in the glass from normal use. I wonder how many 'wiper-wipes' a typical windshield gets in a year.

BTW, were you able to find a SDS on the Onion treatment? 

[elagache]

Dear Walt and mid-60s Buick owners who end up being all wet!

I think you are overly concerned about scratching the glass due to an occasional cleaning with a mildly abrasive cleaner.

I might well be, but I haven't had a chance to research the effects of those abrasives.  I found out that Bon Ami and Bar Keepers Friend both use Felspar as their abrasive.  That's a 6 on the Mohs scale, so I assume that will remove glass.  I wanted to look up some of my telescope mirror making texts to see if Felspar is used in the grinding phase.  I just haven't had the time!

I am FAR more concerned with scratching my windshield by using the wipers!! Wipers will leave visible scratches in the glass from normal use. I wonder how many 'wiper-wipes' a typical windshield gets in a year.

Yes I agree, but I suspect it isn't the wipers that are the problem but the debris that piles up on the windshield.  Certainly some of that debris is abrasive and that wipers will mechanically drag that stuff over the glass.  That's one of the reasons I'm in this mess.  We have one car that stays outside.  I'm trying to find a strategy to minimize the damage.

BTW, were you able to find a SDS on the Onion treatment? 

. . . . Can you believe it?  I just couldn't.  However, maybe that isn't something to "cry" over! . . . . .   



Cheers, Edouard 

[elagache]

Dear mid-60s Buick caregivers,

Today I made another round of searches to see what I could find about water repellent coatings for windshields.  The bad news is that now there are many new products and it is even harder to figure out how any product works.  However I did find this comparison that had some good information:

http://windshieldwiperguide.com/rain-repellent-reviews-a-windshield-glass-treatment-comparison/

It provides some more details on the chemistry of these various products.  To quote:

Rain repellents seems to come in one of 3 different forms:

    Silicone-based
    Flourinated compounds
    Nanotechnology

Silicone-based

The Silicone-based rain repellent products coats the windshield in a smooth surface.

There’s no chemical bond between the windshield glass and the Silicone-film that it’s coated with, so it tends to wear off the fastest of the 3 different types of rain repellents.

Rain-X Original Treatment is an example of a Silicone-based glass treatment.

Fluorinated compounds

Fluorinated compounds bonds chemically with the windshield glass and therefore lasts longer.

Aquapel is an example of a fluorinated compound rain repelling product.

Nanotechnology

Products working on a nano-scale bond even closer with the silica particles in the windshield than flourinated compounds and results in a superior hydrophobic surface that lasts longer than the flourinated compounds.

Diamon Fusion is an example of a nano-coating.

I wasn't aware of nanotechnology until this morning, but I did come across a number of products based on this new technique.

The review goes into more detail, but basically ends up recommending Aquapel because it is the only product that has been demonstrated to last longer.  Still, this may have been premature since the review dates from 2015 and, as I noted, there are some new nanotechnology products now on the market.

Today I finally got around to removing the Rain-X on the one car in the house that appeared to have a serious build up problem.  Bon Ami's original formula did the trick.  After removing the Rain-X, the wipers moved much more smoothly.  This might not be as much of a problem for the original Rain-X formulation, but I was using their 2-in-1 cleaner frequently on this car because it is kept outside and is always dirty.  I now suspect that using the Rain-X 2-in-1 cleaner is probably a recipe for Rain-X build-up.

That's the news from soggy California!

Cheers, Edouard