Rain-X Company Spotlight: Wiper Blades, Glass Treatments & Car Care Products

Few automotive car-care brands have managed to make their name virtually synonymous with one specific weather condition quite like Rain-X.

Ask most drivers what Rain-X does and the immediate answer is probably:

It makes rain bead off your windshield.

That’s certainly where the story started, but modern Rain-X is considerably bigger than the familiar bottle of windshield treatment many of us remember keeping in the garage.

Today, the Rain-X automotive portfolio stretches across windshield wipers, glass cleaners, water-repellent treatments, anti-fog products, windshield washer products, car washes, detailing products, plastic treatments, bug and tar removers, windshield repair products, headlight restoration and interior car care.

And despite that expansion, the company’s core philosophy remains remarkably consistent:

help drivers maintain visibility and protect their vehicles from the elements.

Here is a closer look at Rain-X, where the brand came from, and the major Rain-X products available to drivers today.

What Is Rain-X?

Rain-X is an automotive appearance and visibility brand best known for its hydrophobic windshield treatment.

The original concept was simple but effective:

change how water behaves when it hits automotive glass.

Instead of allowing rain to spread into a continuous film across the windshield, Rain-X treatment encourages water to collect into beads.

Vehicle speed, airflow, gravity and windshield wipers can then move those droplets away from the driver’s field of vision.

That concept eventually expanded into an entire ecosystem of products designed around:

• Windshield visibility
• Water repellency
• Wiper performance
• Automotive glass cleaning
• Exterior cleaning
• Vehicle appearance
• Headlight clarity
• Interior protection

Today, Rain-X describes its mission as helping motorists:

“Outsmart The Elements.”

Visit the Official Rain-X Website

The History of Rain-X

Rain-X can trace its roots back to 1971, when Howard Ohlhausen founded the Unelko Company in Chicago.

Ohlhausen developed and patented an early invisible coating intended to make nonporous surfaces resistant to water, soil and stains.

In 1972, Ohlhausen and his sons trademarked Rain-X as a glass treatment and rain repellent.

That makes Rain-X a brand with more than half a century of history behind it.

The company later expanded into products including:

• Anti-fog treatments
• Glass cleaners
• Windshield washer products
• Automotive appearance products

A major expansion arrived in 2001 with the introduction of the first Rain-X windshield wiper:

WeatherBeater.

That product category would eventually become a huge part of the Rain-X business.

In 2011, Illinois Tool Works acquired the car-care business portfolio containing Rain-X.

During the following decade, Rain-X continued expanding into newer automotive technologies, including water-repellent wiper blades, silicone blades, ceramic appearance products and graphene-based products.

Read the Official Rain-X History