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A method of forming a self-cleaning hydrophobic coating (SCHN) on glass substrates utilizing a scalable manufacturing process is described. The process initiates with roughening of planar glass surfaces using diamond micro-/nano-particle abrasives, which creates microscopic tortuous grooves. After cleaning the substrates, the roughened surface is vapor deposited with trichloro(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyl)silane (TCPFOS) under enclosure with controlled humidity. TCPFOS chemically binds with the substrate via covalent linkage. Due to the greatly reduced surface tension between water and the self-cleaning surface, the water droplet slides down leaving no trail (sliding angle of 14° for 0.1 mL water droplet). Due to the reduced adhesion of dirt to the self-cleaning surface, the dirt particles are washed away by sliding or rolling water droplets. The SCHN shows no change in transmission as compared to the original glass substrate. The coating is resistant to multiple environmental factors including: abrasion cycles, acid rain (pH = 3), saline exposure (10% w/v), and extreme temperature cycling (-10 to 60 °C).