Hi btrueblood,
I applied the coating I mentioned to a red Tenson brand jacket that we bought cheap used from a charity store. We also applied it to an umbrella. The water repellence on the umbrella was incredibly. The crops bounced off so well that you spray people for yards around.
The secret is that the trichlorisilanes are very reactive so they bond chemically to the fabric (that's not marketing speak, I am 1. a PhD chemist and 2. not trying to sell you anything).
The easiest source for the silanes for testing is
that's where I got mine. Commercially, good sources are Momentive, Evonik, Dow Corning and Wacker (contact me if you want contact names to friends who work there and are technical experts).
The hydrocarbon silane is what I used.
Trichlorododecylsilane
I searched and see this fluoro version which will cost more but give an even more hydrophobic and oleophobic coating.
Trichloro(3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,8-tridecafluorooctyl)silane
Chris DeArmitt PhD FRSC CChem
Consultant to the plastics industry