silicone caulk clean-up

[Ashful]

I don't use a lot of silicone caulk, in fact pretty much only ever on shower jobs, which don't come up all that often for me. So for jobs that can't be easily masked before tooling, I'm wondering what others do to clean up that inch of shiny surface left by the atomically-thin skim of caulk left after tooling it into the joint. It can always be scraped off with a finger nail, but if you don't time that right, it can leave a torn edge where you separate it from the slightly thicker meniscus approaching the bead.

I'm about to try some denatured alcohol on an area that was caulked and tooled almost exactly 24 hours ago, but figured I'd check the wisdom of that, before making a mess of an otherwise very neat job.

 

[Tonty]

Don’t tool it unless you absolutely have to. A thin, non-tooled bead looks and works much better, IMO. It CAN be done, but I’ll admit it took me quite a bit of time and practice to learn how. Cut your tip to as small an opening as possible to fit your intended job, and fill the joint slowly, smoothly, and with as few stops as possible.
If you must tool it, do it carefully so as not to spread the bead out beyond the edges of the seam or corner that needs the bead.

 

[Ashful]

Don’t tool it unless you absolutely have to. A thin, non-tooled bead looks and works much better, IMO. It CAN be done, but I’ll admit it took me quite a bit of time and practice to learn how. Cut your tip to as small an opening as possible to fit your intended job, and fill the joint slowly, smoothly, and with as few stops as possible.
If you must tool it, do it carefully so as not to spread the bead out beyond the edges of the seam or corner that needs the bead.

I used to do as you describe, lay a careful bead and not tool it. Definitely can work nicely, but takes an awful long time when you have a lot of linear footage to cover, and there's almost always going to be a spot or two that doesn't come out perfect when laying 20 or 30 feet of bead. By accepting that I'm going to tool it (silicone triangle with radiuses), I can lay a fast bead and tool it in a few seconds. Wastes more product, but it's oh so fast, and the tooling ensures no gaps or variation.

 

[zrock]

cut your tip to the proper size.. Once you get you r tip to the proper size and get your speed right their will be next to no tooling needed and very little to none where you do not want it

 

[Ashful]

I appreciate the advice, but again, the job is done. It'll likely be a year or three before I'm using silicone caulk on another job, as I generally hate and avoid the stuff, but I can play with tip size and method again then.

For now, what's the preferred clean up for that thin shiny skim that always remains? It's literally half the thickness of a sheet of tracing paper, really just a slight sheen left on the surface in the tooling area, extending about 0.5" to 1" from the fillet in each direction.

 

[mellow]

I use mineral spirits.

 

[NickW]

Paint thinner, although weaker than mineral spirits, also works. Just installed a stainless sink with silicone and made a mess, cleaned up well with the thinner.

 

[Ashful]

Thanks, guys! Works even after dry? For some reason, I had thought denatured alcohol would've been the go-to.

Can do it tonight, caulk will be 48 hours old, by then.

 

[semipro]

I'd try acetone. I've found it will dissolve stuff better than most other solvents.
Sidenote: there are two basic types of GE silicone out there now, versions I and ll. One contains acetic acid and can cause corrosion. The 2nd version cures differently and is not corrosive. It also has a fairly short shelf life. I found this out after I used some I'd had around for a while and it never cured -- what a pain to clean up and replace.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

We tool our sealant with a finger. In order to control the squish, keep the hole small. You can always go over the work twice.

To remove the silicone, we carry wipes on our trucks. I can’t think of any name brands at the moment, but there are lots of them. Our trucks, tools, and ladders eventually get covered by the stuff.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The $1/pair nitrile dipped polyester gloves work grey at keeping it off your fingers. They last much longer than the disposable nitrile gloves.

 

[SpaceBus]

Can you make a cut line with a utility razor and then peel off the stuff you don't want?

 

[Ashful]

Can you make a cut line with a utility razor and then peel off the stuff you don't want?

Too thin to peel. It's basically zero-thickness, just a sheen left by an atomically-thin layer of the stuff, about 0.5 to 1.0 inches out from the bead on each side. If left alone, half of it usually goes away on its own from regular cleaning, but what remains picks up dirt and just looks dirty until rubbed off with a stiff finger.

I'm going to just try a few things on it tonight, starting with alcohol, since I know that won't damage any surrounding finishes. If that fails, then paint thinner or mineral spirits. I'm hesitant to go to as harsh as lacquer thinner or acetone, as I worry they could hurt the factory finish on the metal components of the shower door frame.

 

[GrumpyDad]

I don't use a lot of silicone caulk, in fact pretty much only ever on shower jobs, which don't come up all that often for me. So for jobs that can't be easily masked before tooling, I'm wondering what others do to clean up that inch of shiny surface left by the atomically-thin skim of caulk left after tooling it into the joint. It can always be scraped off with a finger nail, but if you don't time that right, it can leave a torn edge where you separate it from the slightly thicker meniscus approaching the bead.

I'm about to try some denatured alcohol on an area that was caulked and tooled almost exactly 24 hours ago, but figured I'd check the wisdom of that, before making a mess of an otherwise very neat job.

I use two pieces of blue tape and put down a decent sized bead, then finger smooth it. Dont like it? Run over it again gently to smooth it again, then remove the tape pulling AWAY from the bead at a decent pace and you are left with what looks like a premade piece of rubber. Be careful though and too much silicon and you'll have too much of an edge. Too little pressure and when you pull the tape youll actually pull some silicon away completely from the surfaces. Once you do it a couple of times, you'll never go back.

 

[brenndatomu]

Mineral spirits (get the odorless version for in the house) will take it off...but I'd try not to get it too much on the caulk that stays though...I'd worry it'd soften it or something.

 

[mellow]

I had to recaulk my camper last year, had to strip all the old caulk and clean it and put new on, now that was a job. I used my finger to smooth the caulk but dipped my finger in water mixed with dawn so the caulk didn't stick to my finger and went on smoothly. You can also use a spray bottle to spray the area with the water/dawn.

 

[Ashful]

I use two pieces of blue tape and put down a decent sized bead, then finger smooth it. Dont like it? Run over it again gently to smooth it again, then remove the tape pulling AWAY from the bead at a decent pace and you are left with what looks like a premade piece of rubber. Be careful though and too much silicon and you'll have too much of an edge. Too little pressure and when you pull the tape youll actually pull some silicon away completely from the surfaces. Once you do it a couple of times, you'll never go back.

Yeah, this is also how I do smaller jobs. But in this case, I'd have needed to lay down almost 60 linear feet of tape, and about half the tape would have been on a porcelain tile that won't hold regular masking tape. So, I'd have to have found a high-tack tape (maybe even duct tape), which is thick and leaves an edge all its own. Not an ideal scenario for taping.

 

[EbS-P]

I’d get a thin straight edge and a 3m pad if it was on something hard like tile. Just “sand” it off. I’ve Never done it so don’t take my word.

 

[SpaceBus]

What about a magic eraser?

 

[Ashful]

Worked at the computer 6:30am until almost 1:30am last night, then got back up at 6am and spent today digging up a septic system d-box, chasing drain lines, and then moving oak trees. Too busy yesterday, and now too tired tonight, to deal with it. So keep the ideas coming, I'll get back to this!