Silicone based tire shine

Silicone based tire dressing is a product that dissolves the ingredients needed for a tire dressing in a silicone. A silicone is a material that resembles rubber in its qualities. An important quality of silicone is that it withstands heat. This makes way for them to be used in a wide number of applications such as sealants and lubricants. A quality silicone based tire dressing brings a high quality shine to your tires. If you are looking for the longest lasting tire shine, silicone based tire dressing is the way to go – it lasts much longer than water based tire shine. The quality of the silicone that is being used to make the dressing is a very crucial factor, as with the quality of any product that you buy. When you are buying the product of a trusted and reputed manufacturer, you know that the quality is top notch. This brings us to the aspect of cost. A real high-quality silicone based tire dressing is going to be quite expensive but is worth the price as it delivers shine and a host of other features along with not getting slung off the tire, as might be the case with a few low-quality dressings.

The type of solvent that is used is a very important factor when it comes to a high-quality solvent-based tire dressing. There are materials which are harmful to people and then there are others which actually are not conducive to rubber. Imagine using solvent based products that are prone to harming the rubber. You could not make a worse decision than that, wouldn’t you? A water based silicone dressing removes this part of the problem. At the same time, it would need to be as close as possible to the silicone based dressing when it comes to the durability of the product. So in order to tackle that problem, you need to pay attention to what silicone based tire dressing you are buying.

The Solvent-based silicone dressing can utilize silicone itself as the solvent while the component that is suspended in it and which accomplishes the dressing/shine is silicone oil. So, when you put it in a solvent, the solvent will get out of the way by evaporation while the silicone oil stays put and does the intended job. In a water-based silicone dressing, you do not have any solvent. So, it is directly between the tire and the silicone itself. When using the solvent-based product, you need to be careful about getting a silicone stain on your rim. Another problem is that you might experience some part of the product getting slung away from the tire after the job has been completed. Both of these problems do not exist with a water-based tire dressing.

Solvent-based products can harm the tire by getting them to dry out. However, this problem is non-existent if you go for a high-quality product which brings us back to the issue of cost. Hence, a water-based product seems to be the best alternative unless you are open to high expenditure. Let us now see what products are there on Amazon in the water-based silicone dressing category.

Top 3 silicone based tire dressings

The following silicone based tire dressings are of high quality and they are good at reducing the damage that silicone does to the tire. They can be useful if you are looking for a long lasting tire shine.

Magic Blue – Solvent Based Tire Dressing

This tire dressing is great for all hard surfaces, not just tires. Magic blue does not sling off the tire, like many competing products do, but rather ensures you with a long lasting tire shine. Because it is silicone, it will not go away when there will be rain and it might last for a while. That is why 1 gallon of this product can be enough for around 2 years of usage. The tire shine can last approximately 10 washes.

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Chemical Guys TVD103 Blue Guard II

This dressing will make your tire look wet for an extended period of time. Since it is silicone, it might sustain around 10 washes. Therefore it has also a good resistance to rain. 1 gallon of the dressing will last you for a long time unless you own a carwash. Still, it is possible to get it delivered every few months, when you expect to run out of it. It offers UV ray protection and good weather resistance.

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Jax Wax Super Blue Commercial Grade Solvent Based Dressing

This dressing dries fast and provides a long lasting tire shine. It withstands rain quite well and it will not harm tires that badly. That is also the reason for slightly higher price. The tire shine will last for weeks even if you drive regularly and in rain. You must however make sure you always apply enough of the dressing. It is also not very dangerous for painted surfaces.

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Longevity and other details

When the same water-repellant aspects of a silicone based tire dressing is available with a water based product, it seems to be the clincher.  In terms of longevity, solvent based products do better but also present the problem of silicone stains which is totally absent from the water based products. The most important aspect is that there is no negative impact on the rubber.

You also do not have to scrape off the previous layer when it is a water based product. You would.t want the longest lasting tire shine come with a need to put in lots of extra effort just to get it on. Especially, when rains can cause a mess even to the silicone based product. You do not have to put in much effort with a water based product. Just get your tires clean and you are done in a matter of minutes with the application of the product. When you need a little bit more shine, you can apply it a second time over.

Should I choose silicone based tire dressing?

Depends. It might be bad for tire and car, but if you are choosing a quality one (one of the reviewed ones or those that are usually in higher price range), you will not do a big mistake. Now, every silicone based tire dressing will indeed do harm to your car, but the listed ones will not make a big damage. So choosing by your own choice. You will have a longer lasting tire shine, but there are costs…