Dan
06-29-2008, 03:07 PM
Silicones are in many products, from polishes to dressings. However, there are good and bad silicones. The bad ones to stay away from are solvent based. These solvent based silicone dressings are usually a clear gel. The good water based dressings are usually a milky white liquid. MANY of the OTC dressings contain harmful solvent based silicones.
The solvent based silicone dressings usually give you a greasy and shiny surface. They can remove the protective waxes on tires, thus turning them brown and can cause side wall failure. The sling they produce can also stain paint (and rims) which will require a repaint to fix. Sometimes that wont even fix it, as it will come through the new paint. These dressings can also remove the plasicizers in your dash, etc., which will in turn cause your dash to turn a white chalky color.
Silicones in paint can also give you SEVERAL problems when trying to polish it, or apply waxes/ sealants. This is a common problem when dealerships, body shops, or high volume detailing shops buff cars.
Here are some links with more information.
http://www.detailuniversity.com/forums/4348-post1.html
The solvent based silicone dressings usually give you a greasy and shiny surface. They can remove the protective waxes on tires, thus turning them brown and can cause side wall failure. The sling they produce can also stain paint (and rims) which will require a repaint to fix. Sometimes that wont even fix it, as it will come through the new paint. These dressings can also remove the plasicizers in your dash, etc., which will in turn cause your dash to turn a white chalky color.
Silicones in paint can also give you SEVERAL problems when trying to polish it, or apply waxes/ sealants. This is a common problem when dealerships, body shops, or high volume detailing shops buff cars.
Here are some links with more information.
http://www.detailuniversity.com/forums/4348-post1.html