In this paper a surface treatment is described for preparation of hydrophobic sol-gel coatings that simultaneously offer antistatic properties for an appropriate finishing of textiles and refinement of polymer foils. Sol-gel based formulations are modified with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic components simultaneously. Hydrophobic components are, e. g., alkoxysilanes modified with alkyl chains while the hydrophilic ones are amino-functionalized alkoxysilanes. The basic idea is that due to an enrichment of hydrophobic groups at the solid/air interface the surface of the as prepared coatings will be hydrophobic while the deeper region will be more hydrophilic. Textiles finished with these coatings exhibit sufficient water repellence and simultaneously absorb sufficient amounts of humidity in the deeper areas of the coating guaranteeing antistatic properties. This concept offers interesting approaches for the preparation of multifunctional surface coatings not only focussing on combining water repellence with antistatic properties for textile materials. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.