Polydimethylsiloxanes - more commonly known as silicone fluids or silicone oils are colourless and odourless liquids available in various viscosities commonly used throughout many industries. In the car care world they are extremely useful for 4 of their unique properties. These are:
Excellent lubrication properties and slick finish
High gloss
Water repellency and weather resistance
Rubber conditioning
Generally speaking any detailing product which enhances gloss on paintwork, vinyl, plastic or rubber (with the exception of cutting compounds which mechanically remove imperfections to improve gloss) will use silicone fluids as a primary active ingredient to do so.
For many years it has been commonplace to see valeting products advertised as 'non-silicone' or 'silicone free' or even non silicone versions of popular silicone products. There is a very simple reason for this and one that is not commonly known outside of the professional market. There appears to be growing confusion and misinformation spread by those who wrongly assume silicone must be bad for your vehicle in some way because they have seen that some products are specifically advertised without it.
Silicone fluids have one very undesirable property which does not affect the vast majority of end users, but can cause expensive consequences for those who work with paint. Silicones fluids are extremely hydrophobic and difficult even for most other oil based materials to bond with. This is great for repelling water and dirt from your vehicle but bad news for those working in bodyshops or other painting industries.
When paint is applied over a surface contaminated with silicone, the paint is unable to bond properly and small spots appear in the wet paint surface known as 'fish-eyes'. No matter how many times the panel is sprayed, the paint will always be repelled away from these spots and the only solution for the paint sprayer is to strip the panel down and start from scratch. To someone who has never witnessed this it is truly incredible how little silicone is required to compromise a painted surface. We have heard stories of vehicles compromised by someone using a product several buildings away within an industrial complex, the mist of product carried by the wind, brought in to the air within a bodyshop by the extraction system and eventually settling on a prepared vehicle. Some products contain what are known as volatile silicone fluids, which actually evaporate and become airborne even if they're not actively being sprayed. It has therefore become industry standard for most bodyshops and paint sprayers worldwide to insist on only silicone free products within their shops to completely rule out any chance of contamination.
Within the car care world this is the SOLE reason for non-silicone products. The creation of non silicone formulas and any non silicone claims on car care products are purely to cater to the bodyshop market. Any other information you may hear or read online is simply incorrect. Many cleaner products such as wheel cleaners and glass cleaners do not require silicone to effectively do their job and you will find these will usually be silicone free in any case. However, most polishes, tyre dressings, trim and bumper dressings, detailers and waxes will contain silicones unless otherwise stated. Unless the product is to be used within a silicone free environment such as a bodyshop, superior results will almost always be acheived with the silicone version of one of these products. By choosing not to use silicone products you are missing out on it's 4 beneficial properties listed above. A silicone product will almost always give higher gloss, a slicker finish and improved rubber care and moisturisation vs it's non silicone counterpart.
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