Neverwet - Superhydrophobic Coating

[Panzercat]

That's fancy for super water repellant. We saw this stuff on the news and my wife decided to buy some. You might be interested is some of the properties for a number of applications.

Best for: Metal, wood, concrete, Aluminum, PVC, Masonry, Asphalt, Siding, Plastic, etc
Honorable mention for: Fabric, Leather, Canvas

Water beads to near perfect sphere and rolls right off. Contact angles exceed 150' (teflon 110', Rain-X 95', Car wax 90'.) Plain english, this is the function of surface area the water contacts with. Resists heavy oils as well as water. Extremely anti-bacterial due to said water resistance. Durable to 450' temps, up to 550' transient.

Read the field tests and such on the official data sheet. It's pretty darn impressive. I'm sure somebody here can find a fireamrs related use for it amongst everything else it's good for Spray on application, easily found at homedepot.

[Blaine]

I saw that the other day....I was wondering about it....have you tried it yet?

[williamranks]

There was a post on Bimmer Board about it. The guy who tried it said the clear leaves a frosted appearance.

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/1206625

The original post and one reply list a couple videos.

http://youtu.be/DZrjXSsfxMQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=IPM ... =endscreen

[cshold]

Sounds like the ticket for hunting boots maybe.

[Panzercat]

I saw that the other day....I was wondering about it....have you tried it yet?

Literally just got it today, so not yet. The sofa will be the first test case. I'll have to try some glass later.
I am curious as to how it would perform as an external firearm protectant. How hot can you get a 10/22 barrel?
(heresay seems to be 1000' glowing red hot in daylight)

[olyinaz]

Interesting! In the past, some water repellent chemicals have over time proven to be strong carcinogens and that concerns me regarding some applications. In other cases I can see how it would not matter. Thanks!

[Panzercat]

Alright, after action report.

The stuff is great for fabric, but will "frost" it. Likewise, softer fabrics will become rougher but still pliable without flaking. Works great with woods, exibiting minimal discoloration. Glass didn't fair so well. It will defintiely frost the glass over, making visability translucent at best. The coating seems to have adherance issues to it as well, probably requiring a heavier coat than I gave it. The coating didn't appear particular durable for glass, but seemed okay on other materials. To be fair, glass wasn't listed as an ideal use for this stuff.

In all cases, water beaded and literally slipped off on the coated areas. As long as a frosted appearance isn't undesirable, it seems great for outdoor fabrics, shoes, etc. In some cases it might not even be noticable. We didn't end up using it on the sofa as intended in order to preserve the color. I'm sure i can find some field used for it, however.