ptfe in waxes/polishes

[hardisk88]

hi. i'm new here so hope this question is not offending anyone.

i have a few confusions which i would like to clear :

1. does the addition of ptfe to waxes / polishes actually enhance the beautification and protection mechanism ?

2. are such ptfe polymers water soluble and hence will gradually wash away ?

3. do they provide protection from Ultraviolet rays

4. do they actually provide a slick surfact that will repel dry dirt

5. how much % ptfe is required in wax/polish to actually make it effective.

thanks a lot

hardisk88

[Murr1525]

What is the full name of the ptfe? just to make sure we are using the same abbreviation.

[Mike Phillips]

If you're talking about products that state they contain ******, then for the longest time Dupont, the inventor of this product, for the longest time stated that it was not functional in a car care product. Now days they sell a product that includes ******

Go figure...

Just as with any product, usually the best thing to do is to research, like you're doing here, and then if the information presented convinces you this is the right product for you and your car, then purchase some and give it a go.

[Rio2005]

I use a PTFE product from QMI about 7 years ago on a new 98 Jeep, It works, cannot tell you if it is better or worse than traditional wax as I wax so often. I have been researching the 5 star shine claim, but cannot find any comments about this product other than what is posted on the 5 star shine web site. I don't hold a lot of faith in that. 5 star shine is $69.00 QMI is $14.00. I just purchased the Next Tech product and then top coated with Gold Class on a new Rio Yellow Pearl S 2000. It looks great. Everyone has their own spin on what works best, it is difficult at best to sort it all out. I also use the Next Tech on my tires, it works very well.

[Mike Phillips]

For the $70.00 for the 5-Star Shine product you get 2 bottles with 2 ounces of product each. One is a car wash, (2 ounces of car wash), the other is their paint sealant, (2 ounces of wax).

That would $35.00 for the wash and $35.00 for the wax.

[the other pc]

Personally, I'm a huge fan of polytetrafluoroethylene! It's fantastic in ski pants, saucepans, shop-vac filters, microwave transmission lines, hip socket replacements, spacecraft electrical wiring, chemical processing equipment and a plethora of other wonderful things.

As for car care products?:

1. does the addition of ptfe to waxes / polishes actually enhance the beautification and protection mechanism ?

If you listen closely to the commercials the makers of the product don't even say they do anything but help keep dirt from sticking. Any wax does that.


2. are such ptfe polymers water soluble and hence will gradually wash away ?

PTFE polymers as we normally see them aren't soluble in much of anything. That's why they're used to make tubing, valves and fittings for processing nasty chemicals. Of course, being so inert and slippery why should they even stick to the car in the first place? (note: industrial PTFE coatings are melted on at absurdly high temperatures.)


3. do they provide protection from Ultraviolet rays

I've never heard anybody make that claim.


4. do they actually provide a slick surfact that will repel dry dirt

Any wax does that. Do PTFE additives make those products slicker and repel better than standard products? They never actually make that claim.


5. how much % ptfe is required in wax/polish to actually make it effective.

I have a whole bunch of waxes and polishes that are highly effective with 0.0% PTFE content.


PC.

[Mosca]

I'd heard that theh inclusion of ptfe increased spreadabilty and lubricity during application, but that it wasn't an active ingredient.

I have no source for that, I only remember reading it somewhere.


Tom

[Murr1525]

So PTFE = ******?

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Murr1525
So PTFE = ******?

From what I understand...

http://www.2spi.com/catalog/chem/******_ptfe.html

Just to be careful, I have just placed the word T eflon in the banned words list so that it will not show up on our forum but instead, the asterisks will show up. For example: ******

(We don't want any problems)

[Murr1525]

Not a problem.. thanks Mike

[the other pc]

PTFE In a nutshell:

PTFE is short for polytetrafluoroethylene.

PTFE is a plastic with many wonderful physical properties (including being very slippery).

PTFE was originally invented by DuPont but there are other manufacturers of PTFE.

Tefl*n is a trademark name owned by DuPont. They use it for their family of PTFE products (but are free to use it any way they darn well please).

DuPont is very protective of its trademarks and very particular about how they get used commercially.


PC.

[gbackus]

There are air cured Flurotelemar resins, of which PTFE is derived from(obviously PTFE is not air cured, but it comes from the same Flurotelemar resin family).

[Mike Phillips]

Note:

This thread was moved out of the Hot Topics forum and into the Detailing 101 Forum.

I've moved this thread out of the Hot Topics forum as even though you might think it might be a hot topic, and it very well may be, you don't get to post it in the Hot Topic forum. The threads in the Hot Topics forum are threads that I place in there when they become hot topics for a wide audience of people on our forum.

I keep the Hot Topics forum open so people can Reply to the topics that have been placed in there, otherwise if I close the forum nobody can do that.

Your question belongs in Detailing 101. When in doubt, post questions to the Detailing 101 forum.

Thanks....