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The Chemist

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Hi All! I have participated in many forums over the years but am new to Autopia. I am a research chemist and have spent the past 30 years developing products for the automotive appearance and repair markets. I am here just to offer my chemistry expertise to anyone who would like to utilize it. I have no agenda with any product labels or brands and do not currently work for a company that sells automotive appearance products into your industry. Therefore, my comments and opinions will be completely non biased with no agenda. Just here to help the hard working detail trade associates and consumers as best I can. Thanks for allowing me to be a part of your respected forum!
The Chemist
 
Welcome! :autopia:

What other names have you went by on the forums?

Who have you developed products for?

With your expertise, why are you currently not working for a company that makes automotive appearance products?
 
Welcome. I am sure there may be some myths or misinformation that could always use more discussion. Since even fellow chemists do not have to agree, I am not expecting the final word.
 
Welcome.

Maybe we can have a page devoted to Myth Busters. :)

Does a tire dressing really penetrate deep below the surface and hydrate a tire?:inspector:
 
jammerz101 said:
Welcome! :autopia:

What other names have you went by on the forums?

Who have you developed products for?

With your expertise, why are you currently not working for a company that makes automotive appearance products?
Click to expand...

Hi Jammerz!
Excellent questions! I have only gone by the name The Chemist on forums. I'll answer your second two question together. The company I worked for sold all of their appearance products line out to another company. Over the years I have developed the line that we had in addition to numerous other private label accounts. These accounts included some well known retail companies such as Turtle, Prestone, etc etc. Although I am not working on appearance products at my company, I am currently consulting with companies that do sell appearance and repair products. Hope I answered your inquiry.
 
Mr. Gloss said:
Welcome.

Maybe we can have a page devoted to Myth Busters. :)

Does a tire dressing really penetrate deep below the surface and hydrate a tire?:inspector:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the question. Tires, like nearly all surfaces, does have some porosity. Therefore there is some penetration into the rubber from whatever you put on it. We did an absorbtion test on tires and found that the absorption was very low ( less than 1%) but absorption nonetheless. As you may suspect, different tires have different absorption rates and you can get different results with any product on different tires. The key to tire dressings is to get a product that works well on the most variety of rubber. By the way...tire dressings is not one of my specialties even though I did quite a bit of work on them.
I wouldn't use the term "hydrate" when talking about the absorption on rubber. Products don't really hydrate, or "wet" the tire. Products absorb into the surface of a tire to a very small degree and actually dissipates in a relatively short period of time. Be careful however as some silicones tend to "brown" the tire and give it a bad appearance. Another key to these products is to get one that does not leave the tire greasy but also is not easily dissolved by moisture because you want it to have some longevity. Hope that helps.
The Chemist
 
The Chemist said:
Hi Jammerz!
Excellent questions! I have only gone by the name The Chemist on forums. I'll answer your second two question together. The company I worked for sold all of their appearance products line out to another company. Over the years I have developed the line that we had in addition to numerous other private label accounts. These accounts included some well known retail companies such as Turtle, Prestone, etc etc. Although I am not working on appearance products at my company, I am currently consulting with companies that do sell appearance and repair products. Hope I answered your inquiry.
Click to expand...

Then it would be safe to say or not? That a lot of companies (smaller in nature) are out sourcing their products to large manufacturing facilities and having them private labeled? Sighting one BMW has a line of car care products, that comes with their new cars. On a BMW site I've read remarks that some only buy this line, thinking that BMW has some special formula that can only work on BMW. I understand the mind set.
 
Chemist,

Thanks for taking the time to answer my tire dressing question.

IMO the only advantage to a penetrating, hydrating dressing would be if a tire lasted a lifetime (during normal use). So, hydration and penetration is minimal and a film of dressing is more or less what we're buying?

For me it's cosmetic appearance, finishing with an even matte finish. Durability isn't important to me since I actually enjoy cleaning and dressing the tires on at every washing.

This thread probably needs to be moved.
 
The Chemist said:
As you may suspect, different tires have different absorption rates and you can get different results with any product on different tires.
Click to expand...

I'll second that. I've noticed different brands of tires respond differently to different tires. For example IME, Pirelli and Michelin seem to accept water based dressings about the same ( AA and Z16 for example) while they look flatter on Continentals. Gel dressings seem better on them--more even, more gloss, longer lasting.
 
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