Back a few weeks ago we came across a post detailing how using Rain X, the popular anti-rain liquid for car windshields, can help reduce finger print smudges on your phone.
Having applied the solution to our devices, we used them over the last two weeks and we figured we’d share our results.
The Theory
Rain X is “a synthetic hydrophobic surface-applied product that causes water to bead, most commonly used on glass automobile surfaces”. The keyword there is hydrophobic, meaning it repels water. That’s different though than oleophobic, which means to repel oil. That latter one is what we often find on the iPhone and other modern devices and it greatly helps reducing fingerprints and smudges. It doesn’t completely remove them of course, merely reduces their appearance.
In that sense, Rain X doesn’t seem to be the ideal solution for this problem but being a –phobic product it’s not too far off the mark either.
By applying Rain X ($3.99, super markets, auto stores) to a cleaned smartphone display, you simply wait until it dries and then wipe off the excess, giving it a good "polish". This “process” took no more than two minutes, meaning it was hardly a project.
Results
Truth be told, Rain X in of itself is great for cleaning screens and for that reason alone it’s not a bad idea. The smudges, on the other hand, seem just as apparent as without the Rain X usage—at least initially.
We will say over the following few weeks, our devices were perceptibly cleaner and less “smudgy” than without the Rain X coating. At the very least, wiping the display with a cloth was a lot easier to clean than without the Rain X.
So the conclusion? Rain X certainly helps keep the display cleaner and we’re putting it on all our glass screens (it’s not advised to use it on plastic, but that should be a thing of the past). It’s not a 100% home run and you still will see smudges, but over the following days post-application, you should notice a reduction in the amount of fingerprints on your Windows Phone. You could do a lot worse and we don’t see any negative side effects in our usage, just keep expectations in check and you should be happy with the results.
Do you have a tip for this problem? Share your experience in comments.
Via: Netbook Network
Daniel Rubino is the Executive Editor of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft here since 2007, back when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, Microsoft Surface, laptops, next-gen computing, and arguing with people on the internet.
