How is silicone, silicone oil and petroleum distillates damaging to tires?
A. Tires are made with a mild UV and ozone protection built in the rubber sidewall. This protection works its way out during driving due to the flexing of the tire. This is why a tire that sits will “dry rot”. The elements wear off the protection then start breaking down the rubber. Silicone oil is the worst of the products since it is the hardest to remove. You can tell silicone oil because it does not dry, it stays oily for a long time acting like a dirt magnet. The tire has a wet look and even 4 or 5 days later you can wipe it off on your hands. Silicone, especially silicone oil, treatments do two bad things. The most important, they penetrate the sidewall and block the built in UV and ozone protection from coming out and doing the job intended. Since these products themselves provide absolutely no protection it does not take long for the elements (mostly the sun) to start breaking down the rubber sidewall. Second, the petroleum distillates in the product aid and magnify the effects
A. Tires are made with a mild UV and ozone protection built in the rubber sidewall. This protection works its way out during driving due to the flexing of the tire. This is why a tire that sits will “dry rot”. The elements wear off the protection then start breaking down the rubber. Silicone oil is the worst of the products since it is the hardest to remove. You can tell silicone oil because it does not dry, it stays oily for a long time acting like a dirt magnet. The tire has a wet look and even 4 or 5 days later you can wipe it off on your hands. Silicone, especially silicone oil, treatments do two bad things. The most important, they penetrate the sidewall and block the built in UV and ozone protection from coming out and doing the job intended. Since these products themselves provide absolutely no protection it does not take long for the elements (mostly the sun) to start breaking down the rubber sidewall. Second, the petroleum distillates in the product aid and magnify the effects
