silicone
- Thread starter airjames
- Start date
.There are actually “good� silicones and “bad� silicones. Silicone has some good and even necessary traits that enhance rubber , plastic and vinyl, at least when it’s the “good “kind. One of the the good kind is Polydimethylsiloxane or PDMS for short. This good silicone is water-based ( "water borne" ), dries to a non-oily hard surface, doesn’t migrate the plasticizers from the material , less absorption of UV rays and non dust attracting. Good attributes.
The “bad� silicone is Dimethyl silicone. D/S is oily, migratory ( pulls the plasticizers from the plastic/vinyl. Plasticizers are what give elasticity and color to these materials ), attracts dust , non water –borne ( contains petroleum distillates which give the “oily “ feel ), and can actually cause degradation of some rubber compounds in tires with sun interaction , removing “micro-wax� that all tire manufacturers put in their tires . And “tire browning� is associated with the D/S variety too, but that’s a story in itself which I’ll pass on for now. Sufffice it to say though, D/S is bad for tires in the long run.
Guess which one cost more? Yup , The PDMS variety . This is one reason Armor –All gained such a reputation; it contained the “bad� dimethyl silicone, as well as high solvent content. It was/is an inexpensive product, in part because the dimethyl silicone is cheaper to produce than the PDMS. Ever get in a car that had a real oily , sticky finish to all the plastic and vinyl, even leather? = dimethyl silicone. Kinda like slime all over your interior from the petroleum distillates in it. I never liked that look back when I used it, used to wipe it and buff it as much as possible. Whatever floats yer boat I guess. Dimethyls also remove the carbon black from tires, the pigment that gives a tire it's color. The other thing of serious detriment with dimethyls is how they sling off tires and permanantly stain paint, a process called "photo-spotting". Very bad indeed. There are still products out there that use the dimethyl, unfortunately, the manufacturer dosen't typically list it on the label. You have to call them to get the facts.
[credits to Guitarman for this research]
The “bad� silicone is Dimethyl silicone. D/S is oily, migratory ( pulls the plasticizers from the plastic/vinyl. Plasticizers are what give elasticity and color to these materials ), attracts dust , non water –borne ( contains petroleum distillates which give the “oily “ feel ), and can actually cause degradation of some rubber compounds in tires with sun interaction , removing “micro-wax� that all tire manufacturers put in their tires . And “tire browning� is associated with the D/S variety too, but that’s a story in itself which I’ll pass on for now. Sufffice it to say though, D/S is bad for tires in the long run.
Guess which one cost more? Yup , The PDMS variety . This is one reason Armor –All gained such a reputation; it contained the “bad� dimethyl silicone, as well as high solvent content. It was/is an inexpensive product, in part because the dimethyl silicone is cheaper to produce than the PDMS. Ever get in a car that had a real oily , sticky finish to all the plastic and vinyl, even leather? = dimethyl silicone. Kinda like slime all over your interior from the petroleum distillates in it. I never liked that look back when I used it, used to wipe it and buff it as much as possible. Whatever floats yer boat I guess. Dimethyls also remove the carbon black from tires, the pigment that gives a tire it's color. The other thing of serious detriment with dimethyls is how they sling off tires and permanantly stain paint, a process called "photo-spotting". Very bad indeed. There are still products out there that use the dimethyl, unfortunately, the manufacturer dosen't typically list it on the label. You have to call them to get the facts.
[credits to Guitarman for this research]
imported_Intel486
New member
Home run Hero, Dressings can contain dimethylpolysiloxane and still stay slick and greasy. Almost all petro based dressing I have used stay slick and greasy even if they do contain a safe silicone.
The safe silicones are from the siloxane or amino family. The bad silicones are petroleum based too so if it is in a water-based product, then it is a safe silicone.
The petroleum distillates used in the product also attacks the plasticizers in the parts.
Some compounds and polishes will have silicone in them. In this case it can be used as either a filling agent or as a lubricant.
F-150_91, If they are from PRO (prowax.com) then they contain dimethylpolysiloxane. It is on the MSDS sheets. Call PRO and request them for the product you have.
The safe silicones are from the siloxane or amino family. The bad silicones are petroleum based too so if it is in a water-based product, then it is a safe silicone.
The petroleum distillates used in the product also attacks the plasticizers in the parts.
Some compounds and polishes will have silicone in them. In this case it can be used as either a filling agent or as a lubricant.
F-150_91, If they are from PRO (prowax.com) then they contain dimethylpolysiloxane. It is on the MSDS sheets. Call PRO and request them for the product you have.
Old Rattle Flat
New member
Guitarman - Nice Picture!:xyxthumbs
Would you mind giving the Detailing details?
Would you mind giving the Detailing details?
Thank you, nice of you to say... the process wasn't anything exotic...
!). Painted myself with DuPont Chroma in 1997. The car was silver,and had perfect paint (which made this decision even harder), but after a couple fender benders, the shops that did the repair work couldn't match the metallic silver, I got fed up and decided to paint it black myself. I put 4-5 coats of clear on, and probably sanded one or two (about ~2 MILS) off getting it flat.
2) Wet sanded (blocked) flat with 1500&2000 grit.
3).Compounded/ polished out with (at the time) 3M Fine cut RC and Finesse-It-II Finishing Material, then Meguiar's #9 with a finishing pad. I Used a rotary. Today, I use the 3M Perfect- It III RC and 3M Machine glaze to do the same thing.
4).Presently over 100 layers of Zaino.
(Had about 30-35 layers at the time of that pic). Cheers.
!). Painted myself with DuPont Chroma in 1997. The car was silver,and had perfect paint (which made this decision even harder), but after a couple fender benders, the shops that did the repair work couldn't match the metallic silver, I got fed up and decided to paint it black myself. I put 4-5 coats of clear on, and probably sanded one or two (about ~2 MILS) off getting it flat.
2) Wet sanded (blocked) flat with 1500&2000 grit.
3).Compounded/ polished out with (at the time) 3M Fine cut RC and Finesse-It-II Finishing Material, then Meguiar's #9 with a finishing pad. I Used a rotary. Today, I use the 3M Perfect- It III RC and 3M Machine glaze to do the same thing.
4).Presently over 100 layers of Zaino.
(Had about 30-35 layers at the time of that pic). Cheers.