SilBead by SilBlade
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Joined: Oct 2003
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From: Iowa City
SilBead by SilBlade
So some of you know from the "Winter SilBlade" thread that I recently exchanged an unopened set of Winter SilBlades for a regular set. When I placed the exchange order I decided to throw in a bottle of their SilBead silicone spray, which is like Rain-X.
First let me say I love the SilBlades - thanks to everyone here who (as usual) steered me to such a great product. I put them on over the weekend - washed the windows with water, then stripped them with rubbing alcohol, then cleaned them with Stoner's Invisible Glass (yet another awesome product I picked up a while back thanks to this board) using a MF towel, then finally I used the SilBead.
It probably helped that by this point my windshield was sterile enough to eat off of, but the SilBead just sprayed on and wiped off very easily with a MF towel. No streaking, no hard rubbing. It just sort of disappeared into the glass, which made me wonder how much was on the glass and how much was just soaked into the towel.
At this point let me say I haven't used Rain-X in many years. I thought the stuff was nice when it worked, but I remember it being a pain to apply correctly, and after a lot of rubbing I still ended up with very streaky and foggy windows. (Perhaps the formula has been improved, someone else may be able to attest to this?)
Incredibly, it rained pretty heavily most of the day yesterday, so I was able to try out the new wipers on my way to work. As soon as I went outside I could see that the SilBead was working (I sprayed it on all the windows.) When I moved the truck just a few feet forward out of the driveway the rain just zipped up the windshield without even using the wipers, which made me very happy. When I started going down the highway I used the wipers and they were terrific. I'm also really pleased that everyone recommended the 22" blades, as they really do fit the windshield perfectly. There was some very minor hazing of the SilBead when the rainfall started to decrease, just for a second after the wipers made an intermittent pass, but for the most part I didn't even need to run the wipers when the rain had decreased.
Of course I don't know about the longevity of the SilBead, but heading into spring I know I'll get to test it out quite a bit in the coming months.
First let me say I love the SilBlades - thanks to everyone here who (as usual) steered me to such a great product. I put them on over the weekend - washed the windows with water, then stripped them with rubbing alcohol, then cleaned them with Stoner's Invisible Glass (yet another awesome product I picked up a while back thanks to this board) using a MF towel, then finally I used the SilBead.
It probably helped that by this point my windshield was sterile enough to eat off of, but the SilBead just sprayed on and wiped off very easily with a MF towel. No streaking, no hard rubbing. It just sort of disappeared into the glass, which made me wonder how much was on the glass and how much was just soaked into the towel.
At this point let me say I haven't used Rain-X in many years. I thought the stuff was nice when it worked, but I remember it being a pain to apply correctly, and after a lot of rubbing I still ended up with very streaky and foggy windows. (Perhaps the formula has been improved, someone else may be able to attest to this?)
Incredibly, it rained pretty heavily most of the day yesterday, so I was able to try out the new wipers on my way to work. As soon as I went outside I could see that the SilBead was working (I sprayed it on all the windows.) When I moved the truck just a few feet forward out of the driveway the rain just zipped up the windshield without even using the wipers, which made me very happy. When I started going down the highway I used the wipers and they were terrific. I'm also really pleased that everyone recommended the 22" blades, as they really do fit the windshield perfectly. There was some very minor hazing of the SilBead when the rainfall started to decrease, just for a second after the wipers made an intermittent pass, but for the most part I didn't even need to run the wipers when the rain had decreased.
Of course I don't know about the longevity of the SilBead, but heading into spring I know I'll get to test it out quite a bit in the coming months.