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**TOGWT** · Mar 1, 2004, 11:53 AM

Quote: Petroleum Distillates in Rubber & Vinyl Protectants

~One mans opinion / observation~

Silicone:
Chemical polymers that can be engineered for exceptional water repellence, gloss, and bonding properties. The myth that silicone is bad is just that, a myth, and like most myths there is a little truth in it. Silicone are basically inert, it’s what’s added to them that them bad. Petroleum distillates can be further purified, re-distilled, reacted and combined with various other chemicals to produce a wide range of safe and useful products. In spite of the ability to re-distil and remove any harmful components (something that Meguiar’s actually does) this is rare in the automotive industry
The Good: Poly Dimethyl Siloxane (PDS) is water based, amino functional silicone that doesn’t migrate (dry out) the platicizers from materials, has less UV radiation absorption and dust attraction properties. Chemists also use silicones to create water-in-oil emulsions, reduce emulsion particle size, to stabilize emulsions, and to improve spreading and coverage of wax products.
Most modern silicone formulas are water soluble (no oil or petroleum), and are completely inert. The best way to describe most forms of silicone is to think of it as a man-made wax ester. Silicone is created by the reaction generated when you combine fatty acids with PDS.
The Bad: a cheaper additive to Silicone is Dimethyl, it contains petroleum distillates which are environmentally unsound and give a slick, oily finish, which attracts dust and dirt. It also causes rubber compounds along with sun iteration to remove the micro-wax in tyres as well as its carbon black (it’s what gives tyres their colour) they are often mislabelled as modern /synthetic Polymers by manufactures.
The Ugly: Silicone is an active ingredient in sun UV amplification. As a low quality silicone dressing evaporates away, the silicone is left behind, the sun then amplifies these residues, and the drying process is accelerated, all this causes rubber, EDPM, vinyl and plastics dry out, which turns them grey or brown, losing their flexibility and prematurely fail. Water-based dressings do not contain oils or petroleum distillates and provide a non- greasy, natural looking satin finish.

MikeP has an article on this subject on BetterCarCare.com

~ Hope this helps ~

Experience unshared; is knowledge wasted…/

justadumbarchitect * so i question everything*

**Mike Phillips** · Mar 1, 2004, 12:24 PM

Re: Petroleum Distillates in Rubber & Vinyl Protectants

Originally posted by RC46
Some people feel that petroleum distillates can be bad for rubber and vinyl in the long term. But it seems that most all dressings and protectants contain petroleum distillates.

I am interested in Meguiar's take on this and any comments by others. I am currently using the NXT protectant which I assume contains PDs.

Comments please.

Hi RC46,

Meguiar’s does not use any petroleum distillate that is harmful to rubber, vinyl or plastic surfaces.

NXT Tech Protectant contains a nourishing oil in addition to Meguiar’s trade secret ingredients that soften and makes the vinyl look and feel better. It is not harmful in any way. None of the Meguiar’s rubber, vinyl and plastic protectants contain plasticizers, which are sometimes used by other companies and are harmful to the surface.

As far as petroleum distillate go in general here is a portion of the Meguiar’s FAQ that addresses this topic.

Question 29 - I have been told that products that contain petroleum distillates are bad for my car’s finish. What does Meguiar’s have to say about this considering some of your products list petroleum distillates in the “Caution Statement” on the back labels?

Answer
Petroleum distillates are a huge category that includes thousands of products. In fact, the term refers to anything that comes from the distillation, or cracking process, of petroleum crude oil.

This includes gasoline, propane, paint thinners, mineral oils, paraffin wax, baby oil, Vaseline® and even Chap-Stick® just to name a few.

As you can see by the ingredients listed in Chap Stick® brand lip balm, (Petrolatums are a petroleum distillate), broad generalizations stating "all Petroleum Distillates are bad" is just as disingenuous as stating "Silicones are Harmful".

All of the above-mentioned products fall under the category of Petroleum Distillates. While some petroleum distillates can be very dangerous, others are very safe. To group all petroleum distillates into one category and label them harmful or dangerous is unfair. Like the dishonest claim that silicones are harmful, claiming that all petroleum distillates are harmful is also dishonest and disingenuous.

While it's likely there are car care products on the market that do use inexpensive solvents derived from petroleum crude oil in their formula's, Meguiar’s only uses ingredients, including petroleum distillates, that are combined in a way to create a product that is beneficial to the surface for which the product is intended to be used on. In other words, the product improves or creates beauty, it does not diminish or lessen beauty. Because we work closely with automotive paint companies, we know how to protect and maximize all aspects of automotive surface coatings as well as other components such as vinyl, rubber and plastic.

The petroleum distillates Meguiar’s uses are:

· Environmentally Safe
· Contain No Aromatic Hydrocarbons (these are like paint thinners, very harmful to viny, plastic and rubber)
· Contain No other Serious Air Pollutants

They are also distilled multiple times to remove:

· Carcinogens
· Reproductive Toxins
· Multiple other Impurities

You will be hard pressed to find another automotive appearance care company that goes to the extent Meguiar’s goes to in order to create products that are both environmentally safe as well as safe for use by their customers.

I hope this helps...

Mike