Silicone oils are clear, colorless, neutral, odorless, hydrophobic liquid silicones with a very wide viscosity range.
Silicone oils are insoluble in water and also insoluble in methanol, glycol, paraffinum liq. Silicone oils are miscible with ethanol, cetyl alcohol, lauric and stearic acid.
Silicone oils are usually dimethylpolysiloxanes with different chain lengths. They are water-repellent, heat-resistant and are not attacked and decomposed by dilute acids and alkalis.
There are also very low-viscosity silicone oils, e.g. the simplest silicone oil, hexamethyldisiloxane. Hexamethyldisiloxane is suspected of being carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic to reproduction.