Tropi-Care TC-15SF "Silicone Free" Tire & Trim Dressing

Setec Astronomy · 03-23-06, 03:46

The Tropi-Care TC-15SF "Silicone Free" Tire & Trim Dressing has gotten a little discussion here before, but I can't find exactly what I remember reading about it, so I thought I would ask a couple of fresh questions. IIRC, this product was compared to Zaino Z-16, and they are at the same price point (which is pretty expensive, $12.96/16oz, no bulk pricing).

Is "Silicone Free" a misnomer? They actually use the quotation marks on the bottle, I'm interpreting that to mean that it has no silicone oils, since they have a TC-15 product which appears to be a clear oil product, but TC-15SF must be a PDMS dressing, as I believe Z-16 is. Of course, there are some other slippery products which seem to be devoid of silicone at all, such as CK Quickshine and FK 425, is the TC-15SF really not silicone-based?

Is the experience with this product better/same/worse than other water-based dressings? I'm referring to longevity/gloss.

Does the tire need to be cleaned of other PDMS dressings before application? The TC website has a Tire Prep which is a "Solvent based cleaner which effectively removes silicone based dressing prior to application of TC-15SF “Silicone Free” Tire and Trim Dressing. Deep cleans the surface to allow dressing to adhere properly." Or does that only apply to oil-based dressings? I realize best-practice is to thoroughly remove old dressings before new, but they make this sound like a decon procedure.

John Styrnol · 03-23-06, 04:49

I did a review of this last year in Feb I believe. This is a very good product, lasts a very long time thru snow/rain. Yes, you have to clean/prep tires first with the other product. It gives your tires a very glossy finish, but you can buff off to a lesser gloss. One thing you will notice is, the product will stick to your fingers and will crack/peel off with a few washes. For me this stuff lasted longer than any other product I've used in the past. One thing I did not like about it was that it cannot be sprayed onto your tires.

Setec Astronomy · 03-23-06, 04:53

Crack/peel off your fingers? So it really is some sort of a coating rather than a dressing in the traditional sense? That WOULD make it completely different than Z16 or any other tire dressing, more like Sonus Trim & Motor Kote or Engine Kote. What kind of consistency does it have?

wannafbody · 03-23-06, 05:50

this is a polymer sealant type of tire dressing. I use it for the hard cowl plastic on my TA. IT lasts for roughly 3 months. It dries and will not run from washing or rain. This is the best Tropicare product.

John Styrnol · 03-23-06, 06:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Setec Astronomy

Crack/peel off your fingers? So it really is some sort of a coating rather than a dressing in the traditional sense? That WOULD make it completely different than Z16 or any other tire dressing, more like Sonus Trim & Motor Kote or Engine Kote. What kind of consistency does it have?

Yup. I guess you could call it a coating. The consistency was kinda milky.

John Styrnol · 03-23-06, 06:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by wannafbody

this is a polymer sealant type of tire dressing. I use it for the hard cowl plastic on my TA. IT lasts for roughly 3 months. It dries and will not run from washing or rain. This is the best Tropicare product.

Polymer sealant would be a very good description. It sure does last a long time. Does not sling at all either.

Twister · 03-23-06, 05:47

I liked it a lot but the only thing I didn't like was the amout of cleaning I had to do to get the tires clean so I could use the dressing. If you don't clean the tires enough then you will get this brown dirty shine that doesn't look right. It took me a few times to figure out how much cleaning is needed but for an average person I'm sure they wouldn't have the same problem lol