6 ms·
Waterproof anything with a spray
- sycren 15y agoThey describe 'wet' as having a liquid on the object its used on. I wonder how the object feels with this applied.. ie. does a glossy object feel rougher
- gggritso 15y agoNot necessarily. Surface roughness that creates the most hydrophobic surfaces is around 0.1-1 microns which is much less than the width of a human hair.
- jarin 15y agoWow, this is incredible. Assuming it isn't crazy expensive, I'd put this on everything from my car to my walls. I do kind of wonder how you'd wash clothes coated in this, though. It would be kind of tricky if dirt can get into the fibers but water can't. Edit: Also, I would love to prank a bartender at my local watering hole by spraying this on his bar rag when he's not looking :)
- VMG 15y agoHere are some more details: http://www.neverwet.com/product-characteristics.php http://www.neverwet.com/product-characteristics.php They don't mention how durable it is - maybe it rubs off from your car.
- uptown 15y agoIf it works similarly to how Rain-X works, it'll last for awhile, then eventually you'd need to re-apply it. Rain-X is pretty cool stuff. You can drive down the road in heavy rain, and not even need your wipers 'cause rather than spreading out when the rain hits the windshield, it beads up, and "rolls" up the windshield over the car.
- damoncali 15y agoIf it works like Rain-X without causing the streaks that show up painfully in sunlight, that would be a pretty big deal.
- beej71 15y agoHelmet visors, too... there are some products out there for them, but these demo vids have some really impressive performance and look like it would work a lot better in fine mist.
- jwdunne 15y agoI think one video mentioned being resistant to specific types of liquids like oils and water. It might be possible to just wash the clothes with detergent, with dirt (and waterproofness) just vanishing.
- Newgy 15y agoThis stuff may not be safe for humans, especially as it degrades and flakes off. I don't really want my kids breathing it in.
- freehunter 15y agoRemember Scotch Guard?
- starpilot 15y agoIt's silicone (not silicon, as the article misstates) so it's probably safe. Silicone is used in breast implants, home window sealants, cookware (look up silpat) and yes, fabric, as silnylon (the ultralight backpacker's waterproof friend). With the last case, it is not breathable, which is why it's not used for jackets.
- artmageddon 15y agoI thought silicone in breast implants was discontinued in favor of saline due to the dangers of toxicity with implant leaks.
- bennylope 15y agoI am not a breast implant expert, but if I recall, silicone fell out of favor due to fears connecting the implants to mysterious immune-related diseases. However no connection between silicone breast implants and these diseases was ever borne out.
- SomeCallMeTim 15y agoThat was alleged, but IIRC, the studies showed that there was no toxicity, and that the women with leaking silicone implants didn't have a higher incidence of problems than other women their age.
- lostlogin 15y agoIt still used a lot. And they still leak.
- FrojoS 15y agoFor one, this could reduce maintenance costs for solar panels substantiality.
- JonnieCache 15y agoHow much to simply coat all my clothes with it? Even better, can I put it on my hair and go out in the rain without a hat? I suppose washing it might be a problem...
- mattmanser 15y agoI saw on reddit someone pointing out the big question there, does this leave fabrics breathable? If it doesn't it's useless for clothes and shoes. I just can't find anywhere on their site where they say one way or the other. TBH, their site is pretty light on details.
- andrewingram 15y agoIf you could coat sports equipment (including gloves), it would make a world of difference to playing sport in rainy conditions.
- brador 15y agoAny health issues studies on this? Can't imagine it being good to get a coating on your internals.
- mrleinad 15y agoForget about coating your internals. What about this: You spray it on your clothes, put them on, this thing gets on your skin, and blocks all of your pores. Isn't that kind of a healthy hazard?
- freehunter 15y agoSounds more like it would be an unhealthy hazard.
- TeMPOraL 15y agoI remember reading about similar technology before at least twice here on HN; it was 'glass in spray' then[1]. It was supposed to be here soon and revolutionize everything. I hope that this time it will actually become available to buy. [1] I think this one: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/-8216liquid-glass-spray-can-protect-any-surface-from-water-dirt-bacteria-heat-uv/3833 http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/-8216liquid-glas...
- Lost_BiomedE 15y agoThis can be bought in Europe for furniture. It is a family business, so I think they are building it up slow. They have had some good studies on their product, and I still hope we will see it in the next few years. I think it is legit.
- inconditus 15y agoThat's cool! Is there anything stopping it from being used for anything else besides furniture?
- thaumaturgy 15y agoNot to "rain" on their parade (heh), but the ability to pass water vapor effectively while also remaining hydrophobic for water droplets, and doing that for a long time on surfaces that are exposed to constant wear, is sort of the holy grail of the outdoor gear industry. The company's page for their product (http://www.neverwet.com/product-characteristics.php http://www.neverwet.com/product-characteristics.php) doesn't mention breathability. Considering that breathability would be a feature that would make them the next Gore-Tex, I'd expect them to trumpet it pretty loudly. There are already pretty decent spray-on coatings for outerwear, they just don't last very long in the fabric and have to be re-applied after a few uses. I used to work for Northern Mountain Supply back when they were a sort-of big deal.
- joezydeco 15y agoI'd like to see what happens when you flex the material a few dozen times and then reapply water. That shoe demo doesn't mean a thing if you can't walk in the shoe. These types of coatings also tend to fail miserably under salt water conditions.
- mattdeboard 15y agoI love the graph on that page, where 160-175 "degrees of hydrophobicity" are illustrated as a huge, exponential increase over 110 degrees. To me, more than the breathability or durability or whatever other technical issues, that graph is a huge red flag that this is 90% marketing, 10% engineering.
- networkjester 15y agoThe scaling, though not noted seems to be about 10 degrees per line. Which means the 160-175 is actually shy of where it should be (about 5 lines up from the 110). That bar actually shows it's at 150 degrees, which must mean their marketing is actually very conservative if we are to make grand judgement calls from one graph on a company's page. ;)
- inconditus 15y ago
- frogly 15y agoWonder what this does to your lungs when you inevitably breathe it in?
- jonnycowboy 15y agoWhat's the difference between this and RainX? (silicon coating used on car and airplane windshields)..
- inconditus 15y agoThe chart on their website: http://www.neverwet.com/product-characteristics.php http://www.neverwet.com/product-characteristics.php shows 50 degrees more hydrophobicity.
- aok 15y agoDepending on how this effects breathability (as mentioned by @mattmanser) this has the potential to change the fashion industry.
- kokoloko 15y agoI would like to see what happens to a swimmer with a suit coated with this thing. Would it go faster or slower?
- eisbaw 15y agoFaster: Friction is reduced.
- kokoloko 15y agoOr slower, since you cannot "push" so much water with hands and feet as it "slips" through. Who wins: lower friction or lower viscosity?
- kemiller 15y agoTypical swimsuit doesn't cover the arms or legs, does it?
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- phoobahr 15y agoThey used to, or rather there used to be the option. In the 2000's swim suit manufacturers played with all kinds of things including extremely high tech fabrics, even plastics, and suit lengths. In 2010 though the world governing body of swimming (FINA) rather controversially banned anything above the waist or below the knee for men, beyond the shoulder or below the knee for women and anything other than textile fabrics for either gender. A relevant article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/swimming/5900497/Fina-bans-hi-tech-swimsuits-with-only-textile-suits-allowed-from-2010.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/swimming/5900497/F... You can also find plenty of video of Ian Thorpe racing in suits wrist to ankle as early as 2000.
- dalke 15y agoThese people tested the question experimentally: http://gemini.cems.umn.edu/research/cussler/pool/ http://gemini.cems.umn.edu/research/cussler/pool/ . At twice the viscosity there was no noticeable speed difference.
- cantwaitman 15y agocan't wait to put this on my penis!
- ednc 15y agoAnyone else notice the air bubble coming out of the iPhone speaker hole at ~ 1:38 in the second video? A neat demo, but I suspect that phone is no longer working.
- katesmith098 15y agoWaterproof anything with a spray...@readers: you want to make $85 hourly and $7000 per month like me just working on laptop for few hours! Would you like to be your own boss!Opportunities like this don't come by often. Don't let this one pass you by! CashHuge. com
- mbell 15y agoLink below to their white paper, it has some more data on durability. Sounds pretty impressive and apparently it is already in use by some refrigerator companies (spillproof shelves). [0] http://www3.neverwet.com/l/4762/hite-Paper---Marine-111810-pdf/2DPNU http://www3.neverwet.com/l/4762/hite-Paper---Marine-111810-p...
- joshu 15y agoblog spam.
- leertaylor 15y agoI saw a live demo of this stuff at a trade show two weeks ago, and it was truly amazing. It put any other coating I've ever seen to shame (such as RainX). While they had a shirt and a shoe on display, the demo was mainly focused around commercially licensing it as a coating for stuff that you don't really want to clean, such as bedpans and toilet plungers.