Petroleum Distillates?

[Calais]

Are products containing large amounts of petroleum distillates inherently bad for paint? I understand that pretty much every product contains solvents and carnauba waxes obviously must but I've noticed that very few Meguiar's products smell strongly of distillates, with the exception being MPPC, and used extremely low quality products containing ungodly amounts of distillates thus I assumed that this meant that they were probably to be avoided.

Does Meguiar's avoid including such high concentrations of distillates for a reason? The reason why I ask is because I just ordered two LSP's that seems to have high spirit content and I wanted to get a second opinion before I go ahead and use them. For the record they are highly regarded products, Natty's Red and Pinnacle Souveran.

I figured they must be OK to use since everyone loves them so much on other boards. (Excuse me if this is a foolish question, but I must be a foolish person )

[Calais]

Re: Petroleum Distillates?

Come on pros, no answers for me? I am disappointed in you Mike Stoops.

[Murr1525]

Re: Petroleum Distillates?

Dont over think it.....

I am sure plenty of Meguiars products are mostly oils of some sort made from petroleum.... perhaps they just hide the smell better than other companies.

[Blueline]

Re: Petroleum Distillates?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Petroleum Distillates?

Come on pros, no answers for me? I am disappointed in you Mike Stoops.

Well gee, at the time you wrote both this and your original question I was juggling 35 people at our Open Garage. Still disappointed? Have you ever juggled 35 people? Oh, sure, juggle tennis balls or bowling pins is easy, but try it with live people!!! OK, a bit sleep deprived here, and just having a bit of fun right back at you.


Anyway................the term "petroleum distillates" is a very, very broad term. As the term implies, it encompasses a group of products produced via the distillation of petroleum. That can include extremely potent solvents that you would never want to put on your paint, all the way down to such a highly refined distillation process that you've actually got a food grade, FDA approved product. Think ChapStick and other lip balms, Vaseline that has been applied to baby's behinds for years, and even lubricants designed for use on machinery involved in food manufacturing - yep, those are food grade lubricants that contain petroleum distillates. Google is great, ain't it??

As mentioned, it's a pretty broad term - like "plant". Celery, lettuce, potatoes and corn are all plants and we eat them all the time. They're actually good for us. But poison ivy is also a plant and you probably wouldn't even consider eating that now, would you?

[Mister B]

Re: Petroleum Distillates?

Check out this link from the Meguiars Car Care FAQ

Petroleum Distillates

[Calais]

Re: Petroleum Distillates?

Well gee, at the time you wrote both this and your original question I was juggling 35 people at our Open Garage. Still disappointed? Have you ever juggled 35 people? Oh, sure, juggle tennis balls or bowling pins is easy, but try it with live people!!! OK, a bit sleep deprived here, and just having a bit of fun right back at you.


Anyway................the term "petroleum distillates" is a very, very broad term. As the term implies, it encompasses a group of products produced via the distillation of petroleum. That can include extremely potent solvents that you would never want to put on your paint, all the way down to such a highly refined distillation process that you've actually got a food grade, FDA approved product. Think ChapStick and other lip balms, Vaseline that has been applied to baby's behinds for years, and even lubricants designed for use on machinery involved in food manufacturing - yep, those are food grade lubricants that contain petroleum distillates. Google is great, ain't it??

As mentioned, it's a pretty broad term - like "plant". Celery, lettuce, potatoes and corn are all plants and we eat them all the time. They're actually good for us. But poison ivy is also a plant and you probably wouldn't even consider eating that now, would you?

I juggle Cadillacs, beat that.

So I shouldn't be worried with these products? I know that every carnauba product must contain solvents but IME with mostly Meguiar's products, they generally don't smell strongly of petroleum while these do. So, I shouldn't be concerned simply because these products smell strongly and have warnings about distillates? If you say that I'm good to go, I'll take your word for it.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Petroleum Distillates?

I juggle Cadillacs, beat that.

So I shouldn't be worried with these products? I know that every carnauba product must contain solvents but IME with mostly Meguiar's products, they generally don't smell strongly of petroleum while these do. So, I shouldn't be concerned simply because these products smell strongly and have warnings about distillates? If you say that I'm good to go, I'll take your word for it.

The two products you mention are quite highly regarded boutique waxes, but it is surprising that they contain warnings about distillates. Do you have the copy from the label?

Regarding Meguiar's use of petroleum distillates - if there's no need to put them in a product then we won't use them, or anything else that doesn't serve some purpose.

[Calais]

Re: Petroleum Distillates?

The two products you mention are quite highly regarded boutique waxes, but it is surprising that they contain warnings about distillates. Do you have the copy from the label?

The warning seems to be related to eating them, which is obviously none of my concern, but I have never read a Meguiar's label that says:

"Caution contains petroleum distillates.
If swallowed, do not induce vomiting. Call a physician immediately."

This is the Natty's Red label. I may be reading too much into this as said before. You guys don't seem too alarmed, so I'm feeling a lot better abouut it.