Silicone Wrist Bands Causing Defects

Q. I have had several people inform me that the colored, fund raising, wrist bands people wear supporting different causes will indeed cause paint defects due to them being made of silicone. I have done everything I can to try to make the wrist bands cause a defect. This includes tying them to racks going through the cure ovens, which showed no signs of defects. Do you have any proven facts about this subject. J. P.

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A1. The wrist bands are made from silicon rubber, which is a stable compound and until now, I was not aware of any film defect problems associated with their use. While it is true that silicone contamination can cause paint film defects, it is also true that these problems usually are related to air-borne silicone particles. Silicone contamination can also be caused by transferring silicone mold release, silicone grease, silicone-containing cosmetics and other transferable sources.

A1. I read your response to J. P. regarding wrist bands. It is not the wrist bands themselves that cause the problem, rather the mold release agents that are on the wristband—with sweating they cause the problem. W. S.

A1. Thank you J. P. for bringing this problem to my attention. Thank you W. S. for clarifying the problem. Sometimes, you do bad things by doing good ones. Every cause involving these wrist bands seems to be a worthy one. Painting Clinic entertains further substantiated technical comments on this issue.