Bradley,
Sorry for not looking, although I did read the Wikepedia article before posting. As my first post revealed, I am not a physicist.
However, I am a former barrister with considerable experience in the area of consumer fraud, and prefer to believe that I know it when I see it.

My wife got it as a test product in a household setting.

All I can say is that water does not stick to it. It comes out dry from the toilet.

It does work.

As soon as I saw it, my mind also ran to the potential uses of this product.


ernie the eyeball

Forget the plunger, I want this on my car to keep the cats off and so birds can't mar my freshly waxed paint. Then I want this on my shoes so I can walk on water.

This stuff simply makes it very difficult for water to stick to a surface. So water won't stick to the fibers of fabric. Water can still get between the fibers. Once it does, it will make it all the way through and you will get wet.

If water hits a sweater treated with this stuff most will roll off. However if it lands on a flat surface such as your shoulder it may sit there. Then when the next rain drop hits the first the resulting pressure will push water between the fibers. Any more rain drops that hit will drive the water further through the fabric even though the water is not sticking to the fibers. So a sweater treated with never wet will stay dry but water will still make it through to your skin. It would take longer but in the end you will get wet. Fleece would be the same.

A very smooth surface with densely packed fibers (nylon or similar fabrics) treated with never wet would work better but there is still space between the fibers. space that water can occupy and move through.

think of it this way. A bucket made from never wet treated fabric will hold a some of water but as more and more is put inside the pressure will eventually force the water into the space between the fibers, and eventually out the other side. Once one drop makes it through the rest will follow. The water won't stick to the fabric but it will stick to the water in the spaces between the fibers.

It was mentioned that a cell phone treated with this still worked after being submerged 1 foot in water after 30 minutes. This however is not a very impressive claim. for starters many printed circuit boards are now coated with a varnish or paint after assembly. This is done to keep it clean and dry. A well designed product would also have a gasket between plastic parts and buttons. Take the same treated phone and place it under 3 feet of water and it might fail in seconds due to the pressure driving the water in.

I'd love to spray NeverWet on my ski tops & bindings. Wet snow & ice would not be a problem again. Ski goggles would shed water and ice immediately. Gloves would not get wet, TENT STAKES would not freeze in the snow or ground, tent cords would be "untiable" in winter, boot tops would not hold ice, ski pole baskets would shed snow and ice...

And the list goes on. Rifle scope lenses would shed water and fog, rifle parts would be protected from rust, wooden stocks protected from absorbing water, slings made waterproof.

But... never, ever breath this stuff in. Wear a good mask when spraying.

Hi Mike,

Caught your post on ion-mask and while you say it never proved popular a few years ago, that has significantly changed as the following brands are using ion-mask technology on their products (footwear, gloves, hats) Timberland, Nike, adidas, Hi-Tec, Mizuno, Teva, KSwiss, Scott, Fox Gloves and leading Outdoor companies for example.

There has also been some comments about breathability and durability which due to the way ion-mask is applied it is able to offer both. Check out: http://www.p2i.com/ion-mask for more details.

It will be interesting to see how well this stuff really works. It never works as well as advertised since they only show you the best examples of it working. That said, I didn't think rain-x would work either. That stuff would be great if it lasted longer. It will works well (I noticed they mentioned it for comparison).

Some poor fool is gonna try bringing non-stick cookware to a whole new level with this stuff. Curious to see what happens when someone accidentally ingests it...

Maybe they can come out with a version that can be applied directly to roads and walkways. Imagine that, dry and ice-free roads!

"Then I want this on my shoes so I can walk on water."

Be careful what you ask for. The authorities are almost as paranoid today as they were 2000 years ago.

Bah, that video that Andre posted is private now. Anyone have an alternate link?

I remember reading this on a site for the new razr droid...

"A force field of water-repellent nanoparticles shields the phone against water attacks — even the electrical boards inside."

Is NeverWet already out there?

Holding judgement until the product actually hits the market... too many "coming soon" products never see the light of day.

But if it works, and it's safe, and it's clean, and it's durable... wow... Lots of possibilities.

Coat the underside of your tarp or tent to avoid condensation? Maybe leave the corners of the vestibule untreated so condensation is attracted to areas you're not sleeping under?

You are right. Many things are advertised to the market but in the end they never live up to the claims and don't get released to the market. And as another poster noted, often the videos of product X are the best of many trys; they probably shot many videos trying to get the one that they actually release to the public. On the positive side, I'm glad that they are working on technology like this. Good to see R&D working toward better products.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqGkC5uJ0yM
I think that's what he was trying to share

For posting that link.

I had a demo for TexCote and the guy doing the demo showed me a white fine almost dusty or fluffy material. They include it in the coating for waterproofness. Anyway, he had me dip my finger in it then put my finger in a glass of water. Looking through the glass, you could see how my finger had a bubble or sphere of air around it and when I'd remove it from the water it would be dry. Put the finger back in water and same results. Was a bit hard to get off my finger. Was a neat phenomenon, but not sure of the permenance of the material. According to him, it is non-toxic.

This is in lieu of 'Neverwet' which is becoming ,neverthere''. Instead i'm trying a new product from Aus. called 'Suface Screen''. Bought 2 375 ml bottles for $100 [ 39$ x 2 + 26$ shipping from Oz].
The objective is, to find a DWR that will last more than a few hours. More than that it should be a super DWR that makes the water bead up at a high angle and run away. Surface screen is claiming this version will last 6 months or one wash. In Q4 they are releasing one that will last 6?? washes [forgot real #].
I have applied it to ;
- an old ID event jacket
- some MEC cyling pants that already shed watere quite well [best rain pants ever]
- some ordinary canvas
- an old MEC nylon jacket
24 hrs and a big rain storm from now i will have some results.

So the 24hr drying time seems real [tests better now than earlier], works as advertised, but i'm not sure yet if their claim is applicable to heavy outdoor use. Beads up for sure at a good angle, will know more after a good walk in the rain, good beading after long exposure is the test. Even & sufficient application seems important. 'Probably' pushing my luck with porous materials.
Still hoping for 'neverwet/neverthere', their claims were tougher.

I know this is an old thread, but this product is currently available and looks pretty good (though potentially a bit toxic?)

http://www.gizmag.com/hydrophobic-coating-repels-liquids/26286/

So what ever happened with neverwet?
Prove to not be all that it claimed, and therefore died before release? Or is it out there, and I just haven't seen anything about it?

There are a handfull of companies attempting to market superhydrophobic coatings right now, including NeverWet, Nanopool, Ceracoat, Aculon, Nano Diamond Shield, Ultra Ever Dry, and a few others. There is a recent thread about this:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=73303&skip_to_post=625079#625079

Jane Howe was the last to post to that thread, and she seems well-informed.