You may be thinking to yourself, what is platinum catalyzed silicone? Why do I need platinum catalyzed silicone? I thought silicone was just silicone? Are there more types of silicone? The short answer is that platinum cured silicone is "the best silicone money can buy". However, instead of just using that old cliché, let us delve a little deeper.

When silicone is in its raw state it is known to be "uncured". At this stage it is pretty much the consistency of Jell-O. In order for the silicone to take a shape it must be cured with a catalyst. The catalyst can be one of several different chemicals, but the two most commonly used are dichlorobenzoyl peroxide and platinum. The majority of the silicone hose you have seen for sale at the corner auto parts store is made using a peroxide curing system. Most manufacturers use this system for a couple of different reasons. The first of which is that it is much cheaper to produce. On average a peroxide system will cost about 40-50% less per pound than platinum. The second reason has to do with the manufacturing aspect of the silicone itself. Peroxide silicone has a mixed shelf life of about 6 months, whereas a platinum silicone must be put into production within hours of mixing. This very short shelf life, accompanied with the higher cost of the silicone, can create a large amount of scrapped raw materials. Therefore it is much easier for manufacturers to make peroxide cured silicones.

Now here is where it is a benefit to you. Platinum silicones are far superior in physical properties over a peroxide system. In some cases you may see increases of up to 60% in tensile, elongation, and tear strength. Platinum silicones are less prone to kink or collapse. Because of the tighter cure, they always want to return to the original shape it was cured in (straight). That means when you want to run a vacuum line with a tight bend or corner to turn, you won't have to worry about Verocious Motorsports Silicone Vacuum Hose collapsing on you. They are brilliantly colored, remain shiny and are easy to clean with alcohol. When you add up all of the benefits of using Platinum Silicone, you can see it is "The best silicone money can buy"!