Removing Silicone Sealant and Replacing

Jokester

Jokester

Jokester

Don
Joined
7 Aug 2003
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Location
Aberdeenshire
The sealant at the joint between the tiles and shower tray in my shower has seen better days (*cough* I should have looked after it better). What's the best way to remove the old stuff and any tips for replacing it without making a mess?
 
The easiest solution is to see if you can peal it off with a blunt blade.

If that fails then DIY shops sell liquids that will dissolve the stuff (and also your fingers), not sure of any specific names though.
 
Unibond does a 'Silcone Sealant Remover'.

Bought some earlier this week to try and get some sealant off the glass of my aquarium. It didn't work as well as I'd hoped, but we were talking a fine coating smudge on the glass, rather than removing big chunks of it that are stuck hard and fast.

I did get it on my fingers and the skin has pealed slightly, so probably not good!

They also sold a Unibond silicone remover tool, this was in Homebase.
 
The silicon sealer remover will make the existing sealant go softer, and stickier, it will go everywhere, you will content that this product is crap, you will shout and swear because not only is it now everywhere, but it smells, doesn;t wash off, and has covered your bath.

You will wait and then use a blunt blade to scrape it off.

I wouldn't bother, it sounds like it works, but it is more hassle than it is worth!
 
Craft knife down both sides, peel the thick stuff away in one, then go back and work on the residue with your thumb and or the knife.
 
Literally just done this job today (along with re-grouting as some of it came away) and the best advice I can give is...

- Use a long bladed craft knife to remove the silicone rather than a stanley knife. This will allow you to make two right angled cuts, near as damnit. The silicone will come away more easily than cuts that don't quite run right along the bath / tray.

- For smoothing the joint, use neat fairy liquid on your finger and only do about 8 inches with each stroke (fernar). The washing up liquid makes creating a neat joint super easy.

Also use the smallest diameter bead you can manage, i.e. the first snip of the silicone tube.
 
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If you're being a pansy about getting it on your fingers or need a bit bigger "bead" use an offcut of hose pipe.

(this also works exceedingly well for mortar joints)
 
A blunt chisel works well for scraping it off. A sharp one cuts in too much and will damage the side of the bath/sink/whatever. Give it a wipe down with bleach once it's off and let it dry completely before applying the new stuff. It'll stop any mould starting underneath it. Oh, and not always so obvious - make sure you use silicone mastic and not the silicone-alike 'sealant' that Homebase sell. Silicone will go on, stick like hell and not shrink. The fake stuff bubbles from behind, shrinks and seems to come with black fungus already integrated. If it doesn't smell like vinegar then it's not the right stuff :p
 
Silicone is an awful product for sealing anything in a bathroom. No matter what you do it'll go mouldy. Even the stuff that contains anti fungal chemicals will still go mouldy. And it isn't my bathroom that's the problem, every single house I've ever worked in its the same.

I even tried to outsmart the mould by using black silicone so that the black mould wouldn't show up. So now I get orange mould instead.

But I guess there isn't really anything to replace it and those sealant strips looks awful.

I just put a bead along and smooth it out with my finger. But it takes a lot of practise to do this without smearing it everywhere. Your best bet would be to put 2 lines of masking tape a few mm from the corner. Just be careful not to put it on too thick or it'll peel away with the tape.
 
I've used a butter knife in the past. I replaced the stuff round our kitchen sink a while back and once I got a decent amount up I was able to just peel the rest off slowly and it came up in one long manky string.
 
If its stuck well then the best thing to use is a razor blade. You can buy ones made for the job, they have a little grip at one side to hold. You can bend the blade so that its flat to the surface and it'll remove every last bit of silicone, without damaging the surface. Perfect for getting it off tiles.

Its not always possible to use them though. If the surface is textured or not flat.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/20-SINGLE-EDG..._Body_Shop_Supplies_Paint&hash=item255a7c121d

or a fancy version

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Stanley-Tools...Material_Paint_Varnish_MJ&hash=item3360e26703
 
When you bleached what did you use? Tried Domestos Grotbuster on my bath silicone,left it on for a good couple of hours and it came up like new:D
 
Robbie G said:
- For smoothing the joint, use neat fairy liquid on your finger and only do about 8 inches with each stroke (fernar). The washing up liquid makes creating a neat joint super easy.
Click to expand...

Don't do this (use neat Fairy liquid). Mix it with water instead or use clear washing up liquid.

I woke up this morning and there's a slight green tinge to the silicone! Lol, time to start again.
 
Robbie G said:
- For smoothing the joint, use neat fairy liquid on your finger and only do about 8 inches with each stroke (fernar). The washing up liquid makes creating a neat joint super easy.
Click to expand...

Just use water or your spit to smooth it out or else you get problems like the guy above me.

heh >.<
 
Jokester said:
It's funny you should mention orange mould, that's what I started with, then I bleached it and it went brown!
Click to expand...
Start cleaning with bleach rather than bathroom cleaner. Bleach kills that orange mould but it won't get the black stuff unfortunately.

Flash spray with bleach is the daddy.
 
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