Safety/Harm of using Pledge

Z

ZaneO

New member
I understand that Pledge is sometimes used on show cars for added "pop" before showing or judging.



I don't have any desire to use it or try it, but I have been having a discussion on another forum about it.



I'd like to hear opinions/facts on the effects of using Pledge on your vehicle.



Hopefully the true chemists will show up for this one ;) :)
 
People are very adamant about its greatness, but I have been told by two different chemists a completley different story.



I am interested in as much information as possible.
 
I don't see why this would be harmful to your automotive paint, IMO the finish in your coffee table is a lot more sensitive; try leaving some water on it overnight and see if it stands up as well as your car.
 
Wood and paint are extremely different things.



I believe it's harmful to paint due to its contents: propane, butane, isobutane, isoparaffinic hydrocarbon solvent, silicone, etc.
 
ZaneO said:
Wood and paint are extremely different things.



I believe it's harmful to paint due to its contents: propane, butane, isobutane, isoparaffinic hydrocarbon solvent, silicone, etc.
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Pledge isn't designed for unfinished wood. Wood is finished with various products, including laquers...which is paint.



The propane, the butane, and the isobutane will be gases at room temperature and pressure. Those are likely the propellants to get it out of the can. Silicone is safe for automotive paint. Isoparaffinic hydrocarbon solvent? I would consider gasoline to be a similar hydrocarbon solvent, with a lot of aromatics in it, and it doesn't wash your paint right off.



Many chemical paint cleaners such as MPPC, etc., have solvents in them; no one hesitates to apply them to automotive finishes.
 
It is safe for Automibile paint and it's an old trick. You would have to be around 40 or older to remember when people did this at some car shows. It makes the surface look ok but offers no long term protection, not even a couple days worth. I haven't heard anyone doing this recently, but I guess you guys have? This used to be done as a quick detailer because 25 years ago there was no such thing. Someone would wax their car a couple days before a show, and then drive to the show. Instead of waxing they would break out the pledge, windex or many other type of cleaners and QD their car. Remember, what ever they used had to be easy to use with terry towels because MF was basically unheard of. Also, they didn't have any CC on cars, so optics weren't as important. Stuff didn't have to be "clear" just glossy and clean. Now we have fancy detail sprays but if a car is waxed good this stuff would still work ok as a QD. I wouldn't use pledge these days personally but to each is own.
 
Check the percentages of each of the chemicals you mentioned. By far, the largest percentage is isoparaffinic hydrocarbon solvent. This is the exact same ingredient that you'll find in many cleaner waxes, polishes, swirl removers, etc. #16 is 30-60% isoparaffinic hydrocarbon solvent. Propane, butane, and isobutane are contained in many automotive products and they typically evaporate very quickly. Silicone is a very non-specific term. There is a multitude of different forms of Silicone. It could be anything from food grade silicone to DiMethyl Silicone oils which are usually refered to as "bad" silicones.
 
Without getting into an argument here, and I don't use Pledge on my car, but, furniture has some pretty inferior coating on it in relation to car paint, and dimethyl silicone oils or not, if Pledge doesn't take the finish off of my coffee table, I'm sure not going to worry about it on my car, which could get gasoline, motor oil, antifreeze, road salt, tar, etc. on it, none of which I would want to drip on my table. The discussions on here about "bad" silicones, based on my search, seem to center on their effect on vinyl and plastic, not paint.
 
I'm not saying the chemist is wrong, but I don't know how he made that determination. If you look at the MSDS for pledge, the CAS# used for what they call "Silicone" is the same CAS# that's used for dimethyl silicone oil, PDMS, food grade silicone, and probably several other forms of silicone. Perhaps some of the other ingredients tipped him off, I don't know, but it's hard to tell with any certainty just by looking at the MSDS.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Pledge isn't designed for unfinished wood. Wood is finished with various products, including laquers...which is paint.



The propane, the butane, and the isobutane will be gases at room temperature and pressure. Those are likely the propellants to get it out of the can. Silicone is safe for automotive paint. Isoparaffinic hydrocarbon solvent? I would consider gasoline to be a similar hydrocarbon solvent, with a lot of aromatics in it, and it doesn't wash your paint right off.



Many chemical paint cleaners such as MPPC, etc., have solvents in them; no one hesitates to apply them to automotive finishes.
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Excellent post, exactly what I was gonna write but ya beat me to it. After all i said and done, the only thing left on the paint is the oils. I don't know why anyone would want to do this anyway, for it just leaves a streaky mess.....anyone ever try it? Better off using a QD or a glaze like 3M imperial hand glaze if all ya wanna do is add oil.
 
I've been advised not to use Pledge on (high quality) furniture lest its solvents damage the finish. People who really *know* good furniture/furniture finishing regard Pledge the way we regard TW RC and "5 year sealants".



I've seen people use Pledge on cars at shows; I thought the results looked awful. It was incredible to watch them do it and act like they'd done something worthwhile. Streaky, uneven, slimy- it looked just like what you'd expect if somebody sprayed some furniture stuff on your car :rolleyes: This is the sort of thing people use at crappy carshows where the winning car looks worse than an Autopian's beater. Absolutely no advantage over a QD and plenty of disadvantages.
 
Using any type of furniture polish on wood besides orange oil actually damages the furniture. The only reason I know this is because my in-laws own a furniture restoration business. Orange oil is the best thing to use on wood.
 
Ok, as I said previously, car paint is a lot different than furniture finish. If Pledge is damaging to furniture (which I'm having a hard time with, but anyway), that doesn't mean it's damaging to automotive finishes, which was the point of this thread.



As an aside...what happened to when furniture polishes had wax in them? Then "wax buildup" became a national tragedy (which I never experienced) and the wax went the way of the dinosaur.
 
Several years ago I used pledge on my P/U.



I was just OK. No damage.



I started worring about it and called their 800 number and asked if it was OK to use on car paint.



I was told not to use it that it was not desighed for car paint.



I asked if it would harm my paint and they would not asnwer me only said its not desighed for car paint.



Bob

Stockton Ca
 
Accumulator said:
I've seen people use Pledge on cars at shows; I thought the results looked awful. It was incredible to watch them do it and act like they'd done something worthwhile. Streaky, uneven, slimy- it looked just like what you'd expect if somebody sprayed some furniture stuff on your car :rolleyes: This is the sort of thing people use at crappy carshows where the winning car looks worse than an Autopian's beater. Absolutely no advantage over a QD and plenty of disadvantages.
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I agree, but were all the people older? This is an old school thing that many people used to do and I can see an older person doing this but not someone who is in their twenty's or early thirties? Many old schoolers are probably still using turtle wax for 2 bucks a tin and their laughing at use spending 100's of dollars chasing the perfect shine. I disagree with Accumulator that there are no advantages because there is one advantage, price.
 
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