whats the deal with silicons?

[Corvette_Kid]

I have been doing some research on the perfect shine, and tried several products on my truck before I attempt to tackel my 1980 corvette. so heres the deal. i have acheived a briliant shine by alpying a sealant, then two coats of liquid glass, a coat of mothers pure carnuba wax and finaly a glaze called " glaze it". the result was amazing. so to further my search for "the perfect shine" i tried to buy a carnuba wax from a perfesional detailing supplier. I purchased "Ultimate Carnauba" produced by Car Brite. This product contains silicons. so to my original question. Are Silicons bad? should I worry about it? or go ahead and attempt the next step in my perfect shine conquest. thanks for the help

[imported_Intel486]

I wouldn`t really worry about silicons. I`ve looked at a lot of MSDS sheets and they all contain a safe silicon.



Basically it helps to fill in imperfect. In polishes silicon is used as a lubricant.

[foxtrapper]

Silicones are bad news for paint repairs. They don`t come out of or off of paint well, and cause lots of fisheye and similar problems on a repaint. That is what is "bad" about silicones.

[ntoddalbert]

My girl got silicones 2 months ago, couldnt be happier

[Cam]

Originally posted by FalconGuy

My girl got silicones 2 months ago, couldnt be happier

That`s the most useful comment on the topic of silicones that I`ve ever seen. Thanks! :xyxthumbs

[Redcar GUY]

LOL....

[Accumulator]

Corvette-Kid- Welcome to Autopia! Heh heh, back on-topic- no silicon is *not* a problem. Really. Any decent paint shop can clean them right off if doing a repaint (I know from first-hand experience involving Griot`s Undercarriage Spray, which is about as silicon-rich as products get). There are a few other threads on this with info from people whose knowledge of chemistry far exceeds mine- the short answer is that this is a non-issue.

[94BlkStang]

Originally posted by foxtrapper

Silicones are bad news for paint repairs. They don`t come out of or off of paint well, and cause lots of fisheye and similar problems on a repaint. That is what is "bad" about silicones.

Although your statement is somewhat true, it is very misleading. Silicones in a body shop are bad for the reasons you mentioned, but away from a painting environment they won`t pose any harmful effects. A car waxed with silicone based products can be easily cleaned and repaired if it ever needs to go to the paint booth.

[Matt M, PA]

Matt M, PA <----- not even gonna get involved.

[Dennis H.]

I`ve always loved the silicone question! It always strikes up some good conversation heated or not.



So far I`ve learned this about silicones in the last 30 or so years of developing car care products. In and of themselves silicones are not a bad thing. Generally they are inert until you do not want them to be. When they are modified, let`s say to cross-link they bring something new to the table. In this mode they are more tenacious and are given the ability to bond to things. What properties they have including durability and look are another post and much subjectivity encroaches on that conversion. True with proper paint prep they can be removed. With emphasis on Proper Paint Prep. A large percentage of the body shops out there do not prep paint properly. They are in the business to make money, time is money and proper paint prep takes a little more time. What we see is a small percentage of the body shop customers notice the fisheyes and from that a small percentage actually returns the car with a problem. Not to mention silicones are just one of many reasons for fisheyes.



Choose your body shop wisely! Ask for a tour, check out the line dryers, the spray booth, the cleanliness of the area. Where is the detailing area compared to the spray booth, and believe it or not, which way does the wind blow hopefully the booth is upwind from the detailing area. No pun intended, it’s the little things that cause fisheyes.