dissolving Glue like substances

[help]

A few years ago, I had a my wooden kitchen window replaced. I was left with a small gap between between the frame and the tiles, which the window frame company covered up with plastic trimmings. Recently, I had the kitchen tiles replaced. I have also ripped out the plastic trimming and tiled right up to the window frame. However, having ripped up the plastic frame, I am now left with what appears to be very elastic opaque plastic like substance. I don't know what it is but it's extremely tedious to remove and in fact I could only pick out a little bit at a time,

Are there any chemicals (preferably non-volatile, non-toxic) which I could use to dissolve/remove that kind of elastic glue (without damaging the wood/wood paint)?

[Grunff]

First you need to identify it - there isn't a sovent that will dissolve all 'glue like substances'.

If it's silicone, you can get silicone eater from a number of places, including plumbers merchants and Screwfix. Or you can use some petrol to soften it.

What colour is it? What is it like? Rubbery? If so then probably silicone.

[help]

It is rubbery and white/opaque. It's like silicone, but it's different in the sense that for silicone, once I get a grip on part of a piece of silicone, I could rip the whole silicone out. But with this, I find it extremely difficult. Perhaps it's because it's 'flat'. I recal the guy who put it on put the stuff (it was in a tube like those for silicone), on to the plastic triming and then the plastic trimmings onto the window frame. I think it was called something like mastic.

What do I need to dissolve this?

[Andrew McKay]

Grunff has already given you an answer - why not try that and see?

Andrew

[Dave Plowman]

I've never been that lucky with silicone. I've never found it comes off cleanly from most surfaces

[Simon Avery]

Hello Dave

Piece of softwood batten rubbed hard along it *usually* does the trick for me. But no, it only peels off when the surface wasn't clean to begin with, ime.