Acetate fabric surface was treated with combinations of water glass and hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (HDTMS) to obtain hydrophobicity. Performance analysis was done by measuring the contact angle of water on the treated fabric surface. The chemical structure, morphology and surface roughness of treated fabrics were characterized by FTIR, SEM and AFM, respectively. Acetate fabrics with good hydrophobicity were obtained when treated with water glass and HDTMS. Such surfaces were obtained first by dip-coating the silica hydrosols prepared via hydrolysis and condensation of water glass onto acetate substrates, and then by modifying the surface of the silica coating with a non-fluor compound (HDTMS). This study demonstrated that the surface treatment using water glass and HDTMS is an inexpensive method for achieving hydrophobic acetate fabrics.