HOW PTFE CAME TO CAR CARE

Many of you may ask the question: how did PTFE end up in the best car polishes on the market today. Well, before we dive into that, let me give you a little history.

Polytetrafluoroethylene is the longer name for PTFE, a synthetic material invented in the late 1930s almost by accident while a chemist was attempting to invent a certain type of  refrigerant.  He was actually trying to produce chlorofluorocarbon, but discovered Polytetrafluoroethylene instead.

This substance eventually became known as the patented Teflon®. But this Teflon did not hit our frying pans straight away; it took another 20 years before that happened and this is when Teflon made our saucepans and frying pans non stick.

PTFE was used in a number of useful applications; firstly, it was used to prevent the escape of radioactive substances from the premises used to host the production of the first atomic bomb in America (Manhattan Project). Essentially, PTFE was used as the  coating for the pipefittings to make them leak proof against any radioactivity.

Another application for PTFE is in the electronic industry. As it is non conductive, it has excellent insulating properties and therefore has a high resistance to electricity. In addition, it is hydrophobic, hence is resistant to water. It is also resistant to heat and corrosion, hence why it is so good at acting as a car paint protection system.

An additional property of PTFE is its very low frictional coefficient, which in essence means that it is very slippery. This attribute means it is great for  manufacturing parts that need to resist friction; examples include gears and ball bearings.

It was a gentleman named Marion Trozzolo, (founder of Laboratory Plasticware Fabricators) who introduced Teflon into our saucepan range – after finding out that a French gentleman was using Teflon as a non stick substance for this fishing gear, Marion decided he would treat his wife’s saucepans to the material. This was where Teflon was born and it was thanks to the gentleman Marion Trozzolo whose name later became a name of distinction in Plastics Hall of Fame.

The products expanded put into the car care market where all the properties above, made it an excellent car polish and car paint protection system.