Process for producing octamethyltrisiloxane

A process for producing low molecular weight linear siloxanes of the formula:

• MD.sub.x M
• wherein M is trimethylsiloxane, D is dimethylsiloxane, x is an integer greater than 0, said process comprising the steps of
• (A) mixing silicones comprising hexamethyldisiloxane units with silicones comprising diorganosiloxane units;
• (B) adding a catalytic amount of a rearrangement catalyst into the mixture of said step (A) causing siloxane rearrangement;
• (C) deactivating the rearrangement catalyst;
• and
• (D) collecting the low molecular weight linear siloxanes.