Visio Dry review | Rain repellent tested

Date reviewed: January 2024 | Tested by: John Milbank | Price: From £13.99 | visiodry.fr

Visio Dry is a water repellent spray that can be applied to your visor, glasses, screen, mirrors or anywhere you want rain to – literally – bounce straight back off.

I was hugely impressed when I first got it, and it does work incredibly well, but further use over the past couple months while riding various bikes has shown it to have some limitations that are important to understand…

What is Visio dry?

Visio Dry is a superhydrophobic spray that comes in a 35ml aerosol that should cover up to 18 visors for £21.99, or a 15ml pump spray that should cover up to 12 visors for £13.99. Basically, it’s a liquid that rapidly evaporates to leave a coating that’s really scared of water, and by my maths, the aerosol works out at £1.22 per visor treatment, and the pump spray is £1.17.

It’s very important that it’s applied to a totally clean surface, so if it’s on your visor, make sure to wash it properly and don’t leave any cleaner or polish on there. Then, just spray it on evenly, wait 30 seconds for it to dry and you’re good to go.

But… it’s very fragile, which not only means that touching it or brushing it against even a piece of clothing can stop it working, this delicate nature can also affect its performance at speed.

Visio Dry demonstration video

See how water actually bounces off a surface treated with Visio Dry

Is Visio Dry safe to use on my helmet’s visor?

The polycarbonate used in motorcycle helmet visors is easily affected by inappropriate chemicals. While these can take a while to cause damage, tiny cracks can start to form along the edges, and the overall structure can be compromised. It’s vitally important that you’re very careful with what you use on it, and your bike. To find out more about how some cleaners can damage your bike and visor, see our cleaners test here.

For Highly Accelerated Life Testing, I soaked a piece of polycarbonate – with a stress riser fitted – in Visio Dry for a week and saw no issues at all. As promised by the French company, Visio Dry is safe to use on your visor.

Many people use Rain-X Plastic (make sure you buy the one for plastic, not glass), so I also did the same with this and found it to be completely safe too.

Furniture polish sprayed onto polycarbonate can cause it to crack, as demonstrated with this sample piece and stress riser

However, furniture polish is another product that some use, and this DID crack the polycarbonate test piece. Helmet manufacturers have always said that furniture polish shouldn’t be sprayed on helmets, and this shows why.

Of course, there’ll be plenty of people who’ll tell you they’ve had no problems when using it, but the damage can occur over a long period of time and be hard to see.

How easy is Visio Dry to apply?

Visio Dry is sprayed on from about 10cm, and left to dry for 30 seconds before use. That’s easy, but I have found that it can be a little difficult to get a good, even coat at times, needing a second go for it to be properly effective.

The pump spray atomises well across a large area, but whichever you use that cleanliness is really important for a good coating.

It’s easy to remove Visio Dry – just a quick wipe with a microfibre takes it off quickly.

Is Visio Dry totally transparent?

After letting it dry, Visio Dry is clear, but there is a very slightly matt sheen left on your visor. I think I could just about see a very tiny amount of hazing around lights when riding in the dark, but as I also wear glasses, and it’s been extremely cold, I can’t say for sure that it wasn’t my specs.

Visio Dry is as near-as-dammit transparent, and certainly hasn’t impaired my vision at all.

I treated half the visor with Visio Dry before this ride in the fog… you don’t need me to tell you which

Visio Dry performance in fog

After riding for about 90 minutes in the fog I was thoroughly impressed with Visio Dry. I tested it by only spraying half the visor… and immediately regretted it as I was constantly having to wipe the untreated side. The side I’d sprayed was completely clear throughout the journey, except one fingertip-sized spot where I’d touched it.

Without doubt, Visio Dry is the most impressive water repellent I’ve used in fog and mist.

By the time I arrived at Mum and Dad’s, the Visio Dry had shown some signs of degrading

Visio Dry performance in rain

Products like Rain-X work to create a smoother surface on what they’re applied to. On a visor, it doesn’t do a very good job of making the water roll off when you’re sitting at the traffic lights, but as your speed increases it makes it easier for the raindrops to blow away.

Visio Dry, however, makes the water drops bounce off as soon as they touch the surface. It really is impressive to see, and given the performance in fog I was very excited to use it in the rain.

Unfortunately, in my testing on a fairly new visor that was thoroughly cleaned, I found that – especially in heavy rain – at speed it soon wears off and becomes ineffective.

I’ve had mixed results over several rides, sometimes due to finding I didn’t have a good coating once I was out on the bike, but a typical example was riding 20 miles to see my mum and dad. The rain wasn’t overly heavy, and my visor was fairly clear of droplets, if not totally, by the time I got there.

By the time I got back home though, the Visio Dry wasn’t working at all. It’s possible I’d brushed the helmet against a fleece that was hanging in the passageway, which may have removed some of the coating, but this fragility is something you need to be aware of.

In heavier rain, once up to reasonable speeds I’ve found that Visio Dry can wear away quite quickly due to the pounding from the water and general crap thrown up from other traffic.

Sometimes, a single patch will wear away first, leaving rain drops in that area, but as soon as you try to wipe them, you inevitably damage the surrounding coating.

If you’re riding in urban environments at lower speeds Visio Dry can be very effective in the rain, and its performance in fog – at any speed – is outstanding. But at higher speeds, it’s just not proven tough enough to be effective for very long, at least on my rides.

However, if you ride a bike with a large screen that keeps the wind and rain off your helmet, this could be very effective at preventing droplets from building up, especially when stationary.

Does Visio Dry work inside the helmet?

Visio Dry is brilliant in the fog on the outside, but that’s tiny water droplets, not the condensation you find inside. Pinlock inserts are hydrophilic, which means they really love water, whereas Visio Dry is hydrophobic and really hates it.

So, you can’t use Visio Dry to stop ‘fogging’ on the inside of your visor, or indeed on your glasses when you wear them in your lid.

But, if you’re walking around in your glasses, Visio Dry is great at keeping them clear if it’s raining.

This was at the end of my ride in the fog. The right side of the visor is untreated, but the centre shows where the product rubbed away while opening and closing

Three alternatives to Visio Dry

There’s nothing else that I know of that can make water literally bounce off your visor at a standstill, but here are some other options…

• Rain-X Plastic creates a smoother surface to promote beading, and from which those beads can be more easily blown away at speed. It’s no more effective than a clean, smooth visor at a standstill though. I tested it to make sure it was safe to use on motorcycle visors, but do use the version designed for plastic, not the standard one intended for glass.

• S100 Quick Cleaner is what I often use to clean my helmet and visor. S100 is very careful to ensure that all its products are safe on all surfaces, and while not leaving a deep shine, this does get visors back to being very clean and smooth, making it harder for water to stick to.

• Despite what many will claim, furniture polish is NOT safe to use on your helmet’s visor as over time it can cause damage to the polycarbonate. Remember that a visor is there to protect you from stones and other debris that could be travelling at AT LEAST 70mph, maybe even a lot more if pinged up by another vehicle.

Visio Dry review: Verdict

When I first tried Visio Dry it was in fog and proved to be an incredible product that, while expensive, was arguably well worth it for the safety advantage it gives.

However, further testing as shown that its fragility means that at speed in the rain it can quickly wear away, leaving you having to wipe the visor with your finger.

Thicker coatings of Visio Dry do seem to help, and it can be very effective in some conditions, but I’ve just found it to be too unreliable to be something worth investing in for riding in the rain out of town on my R1250GS or the VFR800, as on every trip I’ve ended up having to wipe the visor again.

There are situations where I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Visio Dry both on and off the bike, but sadly the promise of a clear visor at speed in the rain just isn’t achieved here, so while it’s very handy to have, it’s not the all-round solution I’d hoped it would be.

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