Removing mould

Merlin5

Merlin5

Merlin5

Soldato
Joined
17 Aug 2009
Posts
18,529
Location
Finchley, London
Hey guys, I need to redo the clear silicone on this small basin.

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I've put lots of HG Mould spray on but the mould is underneath so I'll need to remove it. I've got a couple of sealant guns, I think they're both standard size. Can I get a small tube of clear silicone to fit or does it need to be a certain size tube, and how long does a tube of silicone last? Because I know it'll never get used again for a long time and it would be a waste if it's a big tube.

The other thing is I have a few small black spots on white silicone at the back of the bath which won't scrub away, and again, mould spray not working. Any way to clear it without ripping the silicone off?

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Last edited:
Thebug said:
Once its inside the silicone you might as well cut it out and start again, just do both of them with the same tube, screwfix no nonsense stuff is only a few quid and I've not had any go mouldy yet

This one

https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-sanitary-silicone-white-310ml/47187
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Yeah, no nonsense is a good brand. Well in that case, as the sealant around the whole bath is white I might as well get white silicone and do the basin in white instead of clear. What's the best way to cut out and completely clear old sealant? I'll need to be careful not to scratch up the tiles. Also, when applying I'll put masking tape either side of the joint. Once I've squeezed it all along the joint, I saw a video saying dip finger in a washing up liquid solution and run finger along the silicone to smooth it. Is that a good way, and should I remove the masking tape immediately or once it's dried?
 
When my bath suddenly grew mushrooms from behind the silicone ( :eek: ) I stripped all the old silicone out and cleaned everything down with bleach before using some of that no nonsense sanity silicone linked above. It's been fine ever since. Bleach seems to work fine.
 
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Merlin5 said:
Yeah, no nonsense is a good brand. Well in that case, as the sealant around the whole bath is white I might as well get white silicone and do the basin in white instead of clear. What's the best way to cut out and completely clear old sealant? I'll need to be careful not to scratch up the tiles. Also, when applying I'll put masking tape either side of the joint. Once I've squeezed it all along the joint, I saw a video saying dip finger in a washing up liquid solution and run finger along the silicone to smooth it. Is that a good way, and should I remove the masking tape immediately or once it's dried?
Click to expand...

You can buy silicone remover which works well. I also found electrical contact cleaner spray (isopropl alcohol) worked really well - at least it worked great to remove silicone off my jumper when I eventually got it all over myself, spray it on, wait a few seconds, and it just lifted off - amazing!

You can get a remover tool though I just used a sharp Stanley knife and razor blades myself, you're unlikely to scratch tiles with a knife as you're going to be perpendicular to them most of the time rather than stabbing at them.

Washing up liquid works great to smooth it out, and remove the tape straight away.
 
Pho said:
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You can buy silicone remover which works well. I also found electrical contact cleaner spray (isopropl alcohol) worked really well - at least it worked great to remove silicone off my jumper when I eventually got it all over myself, spray it on, wait a few seconds, and it just lifted off - amazing!

You can get a remover tool though I just used a sharp Stanley knife and razor blades myself, you're unlikely to scratch tiles with a knife as you're going to be perpendicular to them most of the time rather than stabbing at them.

Washing up liquid works great to smooth it out, and remove the tape straight away.
Click to expand...
Hey Pho. Thanks very much, great reply. Actually, I have all those tools, forgot I had them. Shows how much DIY I do, lol. Bought them years ago and never used them. Well saying that, I've used the non nonsense sealant remover a few times to remove duct tape residue and some stuff that was stuck to my floor tiles and it's amazing stuff.
I've got a bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol which I use to clean CPUs. I never knew it's electrical contact cleaner. I was going to buy some to fix a radio but I guess I can just use the alcohol. Although, it's not in spray form, just a bottle. I could pour some into an empty spray bottle though.
 
For the bits near the bath, roll up toilet paper into tubes, lay it against the silicone then douse in bleach, leave for 48 hours and it should remove it.
 
PiKe said:
For the bits near the bath, roll up toilet paper into tubes, lay it against the silicone then douse in bleach, leave for 48 hours and it should remove it.
Click to expand...

Sounds good, will give it a try. HG Mould spray didn't work though and that contains bleach. What bleach do you recommend?
 
I have some mould that the HG stuff won't kill off anymore. It's gone into the grout as well, so even when I re silicone, it comes back.
 
Merlin5 said:
Sounds good, will give it a try. HG Mould spray didn't work though and that contains bleach. What bleach do you recommend?
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Supermarket (Tesco) own brand thick bleach is what I used.. I assume it's all the same!
 
I tried mould spray first with paper but it didn't shift it, neat bleach did.

The trick is keeping it pressed up against the silicone, that's where the toilet paper comes in.
 
I've got an old bottle of Parazone, I think it's neat bleach so I'll give it a go with the rolls of toilet paper and report back.
 
Bleach on some tissue and stick it on there to kill the mould. The next step is to address the ventilation issue. Prolonged humidity = mould.
 
Bleach doesn’t kill mould if it’s not in contact so any ‘roots’ not on surface etc will allow it to come back - it’s not really the best solution unless it’s just on the surface - a quick google will give you some other options for stubborn growth in grout etc.
 
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