Teflon for cars?

First, how does Teflon work?

Teflon is a DuPont trademark name for polytetrafluoroethylene. It's a vinyl-type polymer made of carbon and florine atoms, arranged like this:

Fluorine is the most electronegative atom on the periodic table, so it grabs electrons from other atoms readily. When it's bonded to carbon like this, the F atoms are very "happy" with the electrons from the carbon. Therefore, the F atoms will only react to other atoms under high pressure and/or high temperature.

That's the long way to say that Teflon is chemically inert - nothing sticks to it.

If nothing sticks to it, how do they get it to stick to pans/screws etc.?

The first layer of a Teflon coat isn’t pure polytetrafluorothylene, they replace some of the F atoms with other atoms (or groups, I’m not sure), and the other atoms stick to the surface. The second layer is usually pure Teflon since Teflon will stick to itself (like dissolves like, or rather molecules of similar polarity and electron density don’t mind being neighbors). The third layer is Teflon with hardeners is applied for physical (scratching) protection of the inner Teflon layer.

My opinion of Teflon coatings for cars:

The Simonize treatment is a lot like what they do for nonstick pans. They put a layer of something sticky, a layer of Teflon, and layer of sealant (or something close to that process). Polyfluoroethylene is actually white (not black, they add coloring to make pans black). Now what I don’t get is, how do they get it clear? Teflon needs many layers to be effective, so it should at least be white.

I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, so let’s assume there’s a layer of Teflon on the car. Great, the car’s paint should be protected from chemicals (bird droppings, hard water deposits, tree sap, etc.). Chemically, the only problem I can see with it is that oxidizers/UV can get at the binding chemicals and eat away at the coating. Not at the Teflon itself, but on the binders used to keep the Teflon on there. They probably add UV absorbing chemicals in there to compensate.

The Teflon won’t protect your car from scratches. Then again, nothing really will. The ClearBra or 3M polymer films are the best, but no polymer/wax coating available will. Therefore, I don’t like the Simonize thing since you can’t reapply it over a scratch or worn down area. That’s the purpose of waxes/polishes – they’re made to take damage and wear down, and you reapply them when they’re used up.

So what about those new Teflon polishes?
I checked the DuPont Teflon wax, and it says it’s a Carnuba wax. That means to me that it’s a Carnuba wax with added Teflon. Which means that it should wear off just like a Carnuba wax (in what, 3-4 weeks?). Which also means to me it’s pretty useless having the Teflon in there, since it’s going to wear off in the same time as a normal Carnuba wax. Yes it may give you more chemical protection, but a good layer of wax should protect your paint anyway.

To sum up: I think the Simonize is too expensive and you can’t reapply it, so I wouldn’t use it. The Teflon waxes don’t sound like they really put a layer of Teflon on your car. Plus it’s a Carnuba wax which means you have to reapply it once a month. I may want to read some reviews of the stuff before I’d use it or write it off.

For now, I’m going to stick to polymer polishes (Zaino) since they’ve been proven to work well over the years.

Refractory

Teflon for cars?