Potato to replace Rain X

Environmentally friendly way to get RainX effect on your windshield.

1.) Cut a potato in half.
2.) hold the exposed (cut) portion of the potato against the windshield and wipe it all over your windshield. The starch in the potato will act as an invisible barrier between the windshield and the rain.
3.) Repeat as necessary.

I have used this before and it worked as well as RainX, however I am not a big fan of the RainX effect. For those that do this is an inexpensive and environmentally friendly way to get similar results. I searched for information on what is in RainX and found special polymers. The vagueness of the description makes me wonder.

Definitely going to give this a try.

sounds cheaper than new wiper blades.

Cool idea, Dan! Does the winshield need to be dry to apply the potato starch?

Does it last very long? (Says the gal in drippy Seattle to a guy in much drier Missoula!)

I was just going to make a thread asking about an alternative to Rain X. Neat. When I park under a tree, I get the exact opposite of the Rain X effect and I can't see anything.

For those of you who don't know how rain-x works let me explain, no that is to long, let me some up. Rain-x works by being hydrophobic (repelling water) with a similar ion charge. (Found @ chem1.com) When a liquid is in contact with a solid surface, its behavior depends on the relative magnitudes of the surface tension forces and the attractive forces between the molecules of the liquid and of those comprising the surface. If an H2O molecule is more strongly attracted to its own kind, then surface tension will dominate, increasing the curvature of the interface. [size=10pt][font=Verdana]This is what happens at the interface between water and a hydrophobic surface such as a plastic mixing bowl or a windshield coated with oily material.[/font][/size] A clean glass surface, by contrast, has -OH groups sticking out of it which readily attach to water molecules through hydrogen bonding; this causes the water to spread out evenly over the surface, or to wet it. A liquid will wet a surface if the angle at which it makes contact with the surface is more than 90°. The value of this contact angle can be predicted from the properties of the liquid and solid separately.
So by coating the glass with a substance that has the same ion charge as the hydrogen bond found in water you will repel the water making it "bead up" 

Hmmm, not that I have them anymore, but I wonder how a half spud would work on glass shower doors for water spotting... or even the inside of a shower stall?

Just read using a potato on a camera lens, or water housing, is an old water photography trick.

I love Rain-X and won't drive without it. I heard a long time ago that the earliest product I can't seem to get anymore called Repcon was made from potato starch, sounds like a "special polymer" to me.

This had no effect when I tried it. Do you rub the potato on a dry or wet windshield?

Surprise Windsheild Hack:

Potatoes vs. RainX? Discover why potatoes might just be your new secret weapon for keeping your windshield clear. Watch now to see the surprising results!

https://www.tiktok.com/@ben.tested/video/7379670468871163179