Now the two are not the same. Hydrophobic verses superhydrophobic. Its all about micro/nano surface texturing coupled with chemistry. This is one very entertaining video. Watch it with a beer.
Henry
6 Likes
this was a pretty epic video. I seriously want to get some and put it all over my van, and maybe some windows…
Edit It doesn’t dry clear… drat
I would like to see how it works in a video that was not made by the manufacturer. The 3M Glass Cleaner showed some great results that have not been happening for me.
This is true guys. Probably not a product for us. BUT The video definitely teaches. AND I am working on a hydrophylic sealant for glass that is transparent, UV stable, and alkali resistant. I already have a company that specializes in this chemistry to work with. Which company is exposed in my newsletter on Soap N Seal. Which product is hydrophobic. Although no where near as hydrophobic as is demonstrated by this video.
This movie is focused on hydrophobic surfaces which are not “self cleaning” unless the contact angle is greater than 160 degrees. There are more problems with self cleaning hydrophobics than with self cleaning hydrophylics. I am focused on the latter because it is best for our WFP work also.
Henry
1 Like
HBM,
Tell me about your 3M Glass Cleaner. The name and so on. It could just be the difference of the surface you were working with. As we now know the reason for the difference in hydrophobic/hydrophylic properties of glass surfaces has to do with the chemistry of the contaminants. The product might have been effective at removing some contaminants but not others?
Henry
Yeah, there was a ted talk on this a while back:
@Henry
I’ve been using 3M Glass Cleaner at two banks for over 3 months on 6 bathroom mirrors (water splashes) that I clean 6 times per week and the interior glass of the entryways (hand smudges) a couple of times per week. I have not seen a protective seal build up on the surfaces. I got identical results with Trisodium Phosphate (TSP) and now with Liquid Squeegee.
I wonder if dwell time is required? The manufacturer does not have specific instructions other than spray & wipe. If dwell time is required I don’t have time to stand around and wait for a product to dwell.
I bought a 12 pack of 1 qt. bottles for >$40, so they cost $3.43 each (free shipping with Amazon Prime). It is more cost effective to use my other soaps, Liquid Squeegee requires only a capful per gallon.
A positive is that the product has excellent glide and does not leave a sheen of any sort and the 1 qt. spray bottles work nicely.I’m not going to reorder after this pack gets used up. I would like to know if any other forumites have comments on this product.
First let me say that 3.43 per quart is really cheap. Of course 3M likely buys a thousand 55 gallon drums at a time. I looked at the MSDS for your product. Watched the video too. The MSDS said that the operative ingredient (up to 30%) was in fact a trade secret. However they gave it a number and said that it was a nonionic surfactant. So I am expecting it is a wetting agent that leaves a surfactant film on the glass. This film gets between marker paint and fingerprints and the glass. So they come off much easier. The ionic surfactant is a wetting agent or hydrophylic so it is an antifog as well. Hence the no fog effect in the video. It probably has trouble when the glass surface has been contaminated with a hydrophobic residue that won’t come off with a little alcohol. Alcohol was also listed on the MSDS.
The Soap N Seal product I have developed/discovered would definitely give you the kind of effect you are looking for. It is hydrophobic. It is an organo silane that forms a covalent bond with the free oxygen atoms of glass. Not a topical (sits on top) carbon based surfactant/detergent. To maximize its effect you would want to pretreat the window. Although this isn’t necessary. Further the initial expense is about a hundred bux for four ounces. Then it drops substantially. My four ounces will make about 100 ounces of product. Or about three quarts. I can get this down to 20 bux. So about six bux per quart. Can be used with a squeegee or paper towels. I don’t sell this product/chemical. It is only one of many others that I will be researching over time.
And JaredAl, I do love those Ted Talks too! For those that don’t know TED stands for Technologically Entertaining Discussions.
Henry
2 Likes
