I know of a local window cleaner who touts his cleaning solution as superior cause he mixes in Rain-X which obviously produces a hydrophobic coating on the glass. His claim to customers is that the windows will stay cleaner, longer.
Just wondering if you all think this is a bit of a gimmick. So far I haven’t found any info to indicate that hydrophobic glass repels anything but water. Seems like my car windows get just as dirty as the rest of the car in the same amount of time…
Seems like if anything he’s making things tough on himself down the road. Let him.
Sounds like window gang. A customer asked us about that not too long ago. We told them it’s nonsense and that it’s their way of attempting to stand out. Then we matched a $15 coupon and got the business. She then added the $15 as a tip. It’s great beating a franchise on a bid without gimmicks.
Total gimmick. Seems to last less than a week on my windshield it seems.
well, lets think about it.
if we wfp a hydrophyllic window it dries spot free.
if we do a hydrophobic the same way (no super extra rinsing) we get spots.
Good question. My experience with a sealant added to solution hasn’t been as good (durability & visible effects) as using a sealant applied after cleaning the glass. I now use Mr. Hard Water Sealer (I haven’t got a clear answer if it is a rebranded Envicoat sealant or a tweaked polymer based off Envicoat) Either way, in my area, I have found on sealed glass vs non-sealed…visibly, a sealed pane has the dirt spread out into small drops/specks over the whole surface, which appears “cleaner” over a reasonable amount of time 3-6 months than a pane that hasn’t been (in a climate that doesn’t get a lot of rain like in mine, western OK - which has plenty of dirt blowing around haha…obviously if you regularly have steady rains that fully rinse the windows, hydrophilic properties/sealants may work better). I offer it to my residential clients because many had several panes with hard water issues & I service them less frequently than my monthly commercial. Quarterly, 2x yr, Annually…The issue i encountered as @cactus27 mentioned is the difficulty of glide on subsequent cleanings. I will be trying out the Super Soap Cheetah 
in a few days on my quarterly round and looking forward to seeing how it performs. Just like everyone else Im interested in leaving the least residue possible with a soap but to have a nice glide which is a hard balance it appears. I use GG4, & through trying several different methods I now have an efficient system that leaves clear results. It may not work for everyone’s business model but its worked well for me residentially in a hard water area to seal the ground floor windows. Even those without direct exposure have been easier to maintain in the 4 years of using this method than the previous 3 years without it & testing many different sealants.
So does glass stay “cleaner” longer? I would say it depends on the sealant, how its applied, & the climate/area…along with others. As far as diluting/mixing a sealant with solution, dont expect as longterm results as one applied without water/soap. Im sure @Henry has a more scientific response…surface tension? 
Nothing more scientific. I fail often by over thinking. Good question! So just set up a side by side test. Ask the universe the question. The answer will surprise you. It always surprises me!
