Anti-rain with their own hands: 4 recipes for windows and car body
Every driver is trying to ensure maximum comfort while driving, as well as minimize the time and financial costs of car maintenance. Severe weather conditions, especially in spring and autumn, as well as driving on “domestic” road surfaces is accompanied by fast contamination of windows and car body. Driving in rain or sleet has a significant impact not only on comfort, but also on driving safety, as driving in such conditions is accompanied by reduced visibility due to water droplets on the windows and their rapid contamination. In such conditions, it is necessary to protect car windows with the use of anti-rain system.
Table of contents:
Automotive windshield wiping equipment
Glass wipers are already provided for cleaning glasses on cars, but in the process of operation their effectiveness decreases due to the appearance of scratches and microcracks on the glass, which may not even be seen without special equipment. These defects make the glass rough, which prevents the flow of water droplets from it. In addition, the service life of automotive wipers is small, with time the effectiveness of their work decreases.
It is also worth noting that windshield wipers do not clean all of the glass, especially they are provided only for the windshield. Side windows are not cleaned at all, and the rear window – even with a wiper – has a small cleaning area.
Anti-rain for glasses
There are special products for the protection of auto glass, in addition, the system of anti-rain protection can be made with your own hands. Such means will greatly facilitate the life of any driver. Special compositions for glass processing have good water-repellent properties, they are popularly known as “anti-rain for windows. According to the manufacturers, after the agent is applied to the glass, it creates a thin transparent layer with hydrophobic properties. This layer prevents water droplets from being trapped on the glass and helps the windshield wipers and the air flow evacuate the water from the window surface quickly and easily. Anti-rain when applied to the glass fills all the scratches, creating the most even surface, and water droplets have nothing to catch, and included hydrophobic substances repel water, reducing the area of interaction of water droplets with the glass surface, which also contributes to the rapid flow of water.
Comparison of glass surfaces, treated with and not treated with the antidote
In today’s market there are many water-repellent compositions from different manufacturers and price ranges. Virtually all anti-rain chemical formulations include silicone polymers and a solvent, and the formulation may also include a fixer, which provides wear resistance to the composition. The protective layer on the glass may last up to six months after the composition is applied.
The benefits of applying antifog to car windows:
- Improved visibility during rain and wet snow;
- At speeds over 60 km/h the windshield wipers can be turned off – they are not needed;
- Easy cleaning of the windows, they are easily removed from fly-spots, hoarfrost, etc;
- Extension of the resource of wipers;
- Decrease of “antifreeze” consumption;
- Reducing the glare of headlights from oncoming cars.
- Some inexpensive products have a pungent unpleasant odor
- Cheap products have a short-term effect: from a few days to a couple of weeks (or until the first wash).
Anti-Rain for Bodies
There is also an anti-rain solution for the body of the car. Although the presence of water droplets and dirt on the body does not affect driving safety, but spoils its appearance. In its principle, anti-rain for bodywork performs the same functions as for glass, but has a different chemical composition.
Comparison of the car body before and after treatment with anti-rain
This is due to the fact that the composition of the means for glass includes a solvent, which has a negative impact on the paint coating of the car. In addition to silicone polymers, antifreeze for bodywork contains wax and a solvent, which does not harm the paintwork.
Silicone Grease as Anti-Rain Lubricant
It costs a pretty penny to buy a brand-name product, and its effectiveness is unknown. If you carefully study the chemical composition of the product, you can make it yourself. The base element of the product is a silicone polymer. In auto stores there is a remedy for eliminating squeaks in the car interior – liquid silicone in the form of a spray. When studying the composition of the substance, you can find that it contains the same silicone polymers. The spray costs an order of magnitude cheaper than the antifreeze. The product is suitable for use on car windows, and the effect will be the same as after using the defroster. The disadvantages of choosing a remedy are:
- short service life, due to the lack of a fixer in the composition of the spray;
- The product is undesirable for use on the car body.
Silicone grease spray is applied to glasses and rubbed in thoroughly.
The product has no cleaning properties, therefore the windows must be washed and dried thoroughly before spraying. After spraying, the composition is thoroughly rubbed into the glass surface with a sponge, cloths or cotton pads. Afterwards the glass is polished to full transparency with a cloth, paper or tissue.
Anti-rain of paraffin and mineral spirits.
For the most economical, you can use a composition that is suitable for processing both glass and car body. It is easy and inexpensive to make the composition with your own hands. To make it, you need only two ingredients – paraffin and white spirit solvent. These ingredients are cheap and easy to find. Paraffin in the mixture is designed to create a hydrophobic layer. A paraffin candle or liquid paraffin – a liquid for kindling a charcoal grill – is suitable for the composition.
In the case of a paraffin candle, for the preparation of the solution it should be crushed to speed up the dissolution process. To do this, you can use a kitchen grater, meat grinder or knife. Prepared paraffin shavings should be poured with “White spirit”. When dissolving, it is important to observe the proportion – 1:20. For one part of paraffin there are 20 parts of the solvent. After the paraffin is completely dissolved, the composition is ready for use.
Anti-rain of paraffin and mineral spirits.
After making the self-made anti-rain must be applied to a completely clean glass surface and, if desired, a car body, which should be previously washed with car shampoo and detergent with ammonia alcohol. After the surface of the windows should be wiped with wipes until perfectly transparent.
Apply the anti-rain only after the surface is completely dry. It is best to apply with a soft sponge, cloth, cotton pads or wipes. After applying the mixture, you should allow time for the solvent to evaporate. Then the surface should be polished with paper towels.
Applying Anti-Rain from Paraffin and White Spirits on a Car
The composition is quite simple to prepare and copes well with its task. The disadvantage is that the composition is relatively short-lived, about 2 months or even less, depending on the intensity of rain and the number of car washes.
Do not use other solvents instead of white spirit. Do not use other solvents instead of “White spirit”, as they have a negative effect on the paintwork elements of the car body.
More details about the process of making and applying such an antifreeze can be seen in the video:
WD-40 rust-preventive water-repellent grease
A whole range of useful properties of WD-40 grease has been known for a long time, the main ones are:
- moisture displacement;
- protection against moisture and prevention of corrosion;
- Cleaning the surface of glue, grease and asphalt stains;
- lubrication of metal parts.
The main elements included in the chemical composition of WD-40:
- “White spirit” solvent;
- ferromones;
- Carbon dioxide which is necessary for spraying.
WD-40 can also be used as an anti-rain for windows and bodywork
The chemical composition and properties of WD-40 have predetermined its use as an anti-rain spray. The aerosol can be used on both the windows and the car body. The application process is similar to the one for wax antifog. Surfaces should be washed, degreased and dried before application. After the spray is applied to the surface, it is rubbed in thoroughly and the treated surfaces are polished. The disadvantage of using the product is the relative lack of durability.
Lenore Superconcentrate as an anti-rain solution
Superconcentrate can be purchased at any hardware store. Artisans recommend diluting a measuring cap of this substance with 2 – 3 liters of water and simply pour it into a windshield washer reservoir. The effect will be evident – the water will roll off the glass surface even without windshield wipers turning on. The advantage of this method is the simple preparation of the mixture.
Anti-rain with your own hands on the basis of Lenor
Popular manufacturers of antifreeze
If you do not want to make anti-rain with your own hands or there is no time, you can resort to specialized means. To the most famous and widespread brands of anti-rain include the following:
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Aquapel Ampoules. Applied with a special applicator, the “vitality” and workability of the composition is 3 – 5 months;
Liqui Moly
Conclusion
The use of factory-made defroster helps to considerably ease the driver’s life while driving, as well as to lighten his wallet. Buying branded products is not a cheap pleasure. Is it worth overpaying? The choice is yours. You may practically for free be satisfied with the same effect of anti-dazzle, made by your own hands. The disadvantage of choosing such means will be their relatively short lifespan.
It is also worth paying attention to the fact that the use of anti-rain has a negative impact on the rubber products of the car . Therefore, when applying the remedy, car rubber bands need to prevent the antifreeze from getting on them.
Anti-rain with your own hands: two ways to prepare
The windshield, rear and side windows, which get dirty quickly, significantly reduce the full view for the driver. Regular wipers of good quality in most cases are able to provide the necessary visibility only through the windshield and rear window, but they can not always cope with this task. A few years ago, a special product appeared on the market – antifog, designed to reduce the degree of contamination of glass and car body under such conditions.
It is really quite effective, but it has a significant drawback – a high price. From this article you will learn how you can make an inexpensive anti-rain with your own hands, the principles of its action and how it should be used properly.How it works During the operation of the car on the surface of the glass and body paint coating gradually forms a greater number of micro cracks. They contribute to the adhesion of particles of various contaminants and prevent their timely and complete removal. The front elements of a vehicle, such as the windshield and the front of the hood, are particularly susceptible to this effect. On them with particular force affects the oncoming stream of air, which contains a significant amount of abrasive elements.Anti-rain for cars promotes the resistance of the treated surface to the external environment and minimizes the negative effect of the existing micro-damage. An extremely thin waterproof hydrophobic layer is formed on the surface of the glass or paintwork treated with it. It fills all microcracks and forms a special-smooth surface, on which the particles of dirt are practically not retained. Water that falls on it does not spill out, but forms small balls that easily flow down under their own weight.There are separate types of this product for glass and bodywork treatment. However, any anti-rain for cars has in its basis identical constituent elements, contributing to the repulsion of water suspension, but different types of solvents and fixing additives.
How to make your own antifreeze The main element through which industrial “antifreeze” acquires its water-repellent properties is a liquid with a high content of organic silicon, called polymethylsiloxane. Under this complicated name is a quite common silicone oil, which is part of many household greases, oils and water-repellent impregnations for clothes and shoes, which are quite common and used in everyday life. You can find them in any decent hardware store. Among them are very inexpensive products that can effectively protect your glass and car body from dirt. After a little bit of experimenting, you can easily choose the most suitable working variant, which is much cheaper than any factory antifog for a car.
Option 1: based on paraffin If you put a little effort, you can get even more affordable homemade anti-rain. To do this, you will need:
Paraffin – 1 part (suitable from ordinary candles). White spirit – 20 parts. A usual glass jar (you can use another suitable container). It is obtained by dissolving paraffin in white spirit in the specified proportions. To accelerate the process, it is recommended to grind paraffin beforehand, for example, by rubbing it on an ordinary kitchen grater. In order to obtain a homogeneous consistency of the mixture, it should be stirred several times in the container. You can safely apply this product to the windows and the car body. It is not aggressive and will not damage seals or paintwork.
Option 2: anti-rain from laundry conditioner If you are used to saving as much as possible, you can use a regular fabric conditioner as a worthy car protection from water pollution. It is noticed that it has some water-repellent properties. This means, of course, is not so effective and long-term, but it is able to reduce window dirtiness noticeably. At the same time, it does not need to be specially applied to the surface. You just need to add a couple of caps of this peculiar anti-rain solution to the windshield washer fluid tank under the hood. It will be automatically applied each time you turn on the mechanism of glass washing, actively cleaning and smoothing its surface.
In order to purchase antidazzle or self-made composition worthily protected your car from dirt, you need to apply it correctly. It is also better to apply it on the car with your own hands, carefully treating each area of the surface of the glass or body.
This process includes several stages:
Initially, all the surfaces of the vehicle, on which it is planned to apply the dirt-repellent composition, should be thoroughly cleaned of dust and dirt. To do this, it is enough to just wash them well with water with the addition of car shampoo, then wipe with a soft cloth and let them dry. Next, you need to degrease all surfaces to be treated. It is easy to do with any alcohol-based degreasing composition and a few clean cloths. Now it is the turn of applying the composition to the prepared surface. This is best done with a sponge or cotton cloth. After dipping it in a container with the prepared product, and wringing it a little, “anti-rain” must be applied carefully with a thin layer, not forgetting the edges and corners of the element to be treated (glass, hood, etc.). Some industrial products are available in the form of sprays which should be sprinkled on the glass and rubbed with a cloth or sponge. Use a soft cloth to carefully polish the treated surface. The glass should become smooth, completely transparent and streak-free. This ends the process of treating the vehicle with a water-repellent agent. You should know that a wax-based product may require additional polishing. A good, expensive industrially made product will be effective for a little longer, perhaps up to 5 months. This is due to the fact that it contains chemical compounds that help to fix the composition on the surface of the car.
Conclusion If you have not yet used the “antidote”, but you want to try it in practice, it is not necessary to buy it in specialized stores. Try other means mentioned above, or a self-made, inexpensive composition.
