Product Recommendation: Rain Clear® Gel
 

http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.c...g_2012_2029108

I have been using this product for about a year or so and have really been happy with the results.

Clear Rain has a dual purpose. One is as a water repellant, the other is a glass polish.

The glass polish aspect of this product is what impresses me the most. My 2004 RX8 has that new car showroom shine. It just completes the look to have a nicely polished and detailed car, and glass all around that also looks polished.

One thing that I am a real stickler on is clear glass on my cars. My Expedition has 122,000 miles worth of tiny chips and abbrasions due to pebbles, sand etc, that have "pocked" the windshield. This results in thousands of refractions in the glass that makes the windshield less clear. Rain Clear seals the microscopic pores in the glass and gives it a super-smooth surface. Instead of seeing all the tiny imperfections, I see clearer glass.

It is easy to use: apply a thin amount, wait 30 minutes, remove with a microfiber towell.
It is not a cleaner, but it seems to get rid of whatever Windex leaves behind.

Best of all, it does not cause any wiper chattering when the wipers are used. Also shines up plastic trim like the B-Pillar. And it seems to last long. And the water repellancy is as good or better than Rain-X.

It is marketed similar to Rain-X, and was actually created by the same man who patented Rain-X in the 70's. I have never really been a fan of Rain-X because even after waiting for it to come to a haze, I found it took a lot of polishing to completely eliminate the haze.

I found Rain Clear at Wally-Mart, next to the Rain-X. I don't recall the price but it is about $5.00 or so.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

This product fills in the tiny chips in your windshield? Mine has about a zillion after getting stuck behind a truck for 10 minutes in VA... :(

stupid VA. i hate the roads here. my front bumper is all chipped up along with my windshield. i'll have to keep a lookout for this stuff.

FWIW I just use wiper fluid with RainX in it. I've found that works as well or better than applying rainx directly in terms of causing water to bead off.

Might give this stuff a shot though if it works as a polisher.

Maybe a dumb question but do you only use it on the exterior? I'm still looking for something good for the interior glass. The wipes I've tried all blow chunks.

The worst part is I took the 8 down to VA to go camping and to williamsburg w/ the gf.. On the way back to NJ, a truck didn't have his bed closed and was pouring out sand/stones all over my windshield. I slammed on my brakes but it was too late, the damage was done - a million tiny chips in the windshield, and 3 or 4 on the hood.

Wost part? - <15,000 Miles when it happened. :puke:

damn me too, but i bought it that way....i didnt really notice until i waxed it the first time and it got stuck in there:icon_no2: but on the bright side i might take a quik 5 min drive to walmart for this! hope it clears up some of the water spots on the glass

That is the claim that the manufacturor makes, that it "seals" the chips............I tend to sorta agree.

It isn't a miracle worker, but with this product "filling" the chips, it seems to take away the edges where the light refracts and makes those chips more visible.

I'm not really sure if this is significant or not, but other than regular car washing, I have not used any Windex on the RX8 windows in 6 months. I just use this product once a month, wash the car then chamois the windows.......wipe with a terry cloth.......they stay pretty damn clear.

As far as the inside of the windows, never tried it, glass cleaner once in a while is good for me.

Nice find, unluckily this kind of products cannot be found here.
For the interior i use common glass cleaner and a newspaper.

That really sux and same happened to me early on. Even tho' I carefully spot painted it's never the same. I may get a new windshield next year (insurance 'visibility safety hazard').

The problem with that product is that it only gets applied and spread where the wipers are working. I've been using RainX since the mid 80's. I got lots of free samples at the race track at that time.

Out of curiosity, why a newspaper? Does it work any better than the wipes in the plastic bottle?

the newspaper is printed with lead and lead helps cleaning\filling the glass.
I use it at home as well but i never tried it on the exterior ;)

Yeah, using a newspaper is the oldest trick in the book. It works great cleaning windows. Try to use the B&W sections though, as the color doesn't work as well.

try using Stoner Invisible Glass with a microfiber towel for the interior.

http://www.kiesub.com/catalog/stoner-91164.jpg

agreed. invisible glass = awesome.

BTW, I got a little carried away this weekend and applied Clear Rain to the headlights which are a little hazy, buffed it off and it made them noticeably better. Barely any haze. They are almost clear as glass now.

......course then I read the instructions and it said to contact the vehicle manufacturor to see if the product is recommended for the car. I dunno, maybe the intesity of the HID's might be too much for a product on the light casing. I'll need to investigate.

+1 for this. Also works great for home windows and mirrors.

It won't clean grease though, so clean it first then use this to make them crystal clear.

I would definitely recommend the rain clear as well after using the glass scrub. I also used zaino glass polish and now the windows are much easier to clean and water just beads off the windows. I noticed after a rain storm, my windshield didn't have a wiper trace which you normally have from using the wipers. I really want to try Aquapel after this though.