Hydrophobic coatings can make any surface repel liquids, it does not matter if it is absorvent or non-absorvent.

1. Characteristics and uses
Hydrophobic Coatings

2. What are these coatings?
Hydrophobic Coatings is the name we can also give to Liquid Glass Coatings.
Hydrophobic Coatings makes any surface resistent to water, oil and other liquids.
Thanks to the protection they give to the surface, drops of liquid are repelled and they do not get into it.
Hydrophobic coatings can be also used in absorvent surfaces.

3. Performance in absorvent surfaces
It is more difficult to understand the performance of hydrophobic coatings in absorvent surfaces, as they usually let liquid get into them easily.
In the other hand in absorvent surfaces it is easier to see how it works as it is more surprising.
In order to know how hydrophobic a surface is, we have to look at the drops. The less they are in contact with it, the more hydrophobic is the surface.

4. Performance in non-absorvent surfaces
Surfaces such as glass may seem hydrophobic to the naked eye, as they seem to repel liquid.
Non-absorvent surfaces have small holes in which liquids and contaminants can adhere and spoil the surface.
If we apply hydrophobic coatings to these porous surfaces, the holes will be protected and the surface will be able to repel any liquid.

5. How does it work in non-absorvent surfaces?
Once we use hydrophobic coatings in a non-absorvent surface, there are two test we can make in order to check its hydrophobic capacity.
Speed test The quicker the liquid is repelled, the most hydrophobic the surface is.
Beading test When a liquid is spilt over a surface it shears all over the surface, but when this surface is hydrophobically protected the liquid stays together in little beads.