Unsaturated polyester resins (UP) and reinforced composite unsaturated polyester resins (RCP) were made superhydrophobic by plasma assisted methods. Both CF4-plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (CF4-PECVD) and alternative method were tested. The surfaces were characterized by water contact angle (CA) measurements and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Water contact angle results indicated that CF4-PECVD can significantly improve the wettability of UP surfaces, but suffer from difficulties for RCP surfaces. Alternatively, O-2 plasma followed by self-assembly of octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) self-assembled monolayer (SAM) was tested. It was shown that regardless of the filler percentage, O-2 plasma followed by self-assembly of OTS monolayer formation all led to superhydrophobic surfaces. The results provided a means to improve the wettability of reinforced UP resins (RCP). (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.