Homebase All Purpose Silicone

[Usenet Nutter]

Bought some silicone yesterday from Homebase ...simply because I needed it and happened to be there to buy a piece of acrylic sheet...all the silicone I had at home was white and I wanted clear. Tried it later on when I got home and it is 'orrible stuff to work with .has an unpleasant texture when coming out the nozzle unlike any other stuff I have used .. perhaps the instructions hould have warned me ..It says it skins over in 5 minutes but takes 48 Hrs to be fully dry .It is described as "a neutral silicone sealant" which apparently means it does take forever to set completely . Even now some 12-14 hrs later some of the silicone that I scraped off is still very sticky . Anyone used it before? The only good thing about it was the screw -on cap on the nozzle.

[Fredxx]

There were always two type of silicone, one which was odour free, and the other which gave off acetic acid which is also very corrosive. I presume you have the former, which at one time was far more expensive than the latter.

Does it smell of vinegar?

[Usenet Nutter]

I know the smell you mean but while this does have some odour it is not the vinegary smell.

[fred]

In article , Usenet Nutter writes

I have used neutral cure silicone and it set in a similar time to acetoxy cure (vinegar smell) stuff. I did have a number of tubes that had gone off partially in the tube and the consistency wasn't right so perhaps that is what has happened with yours.

I'd say give it a bit longer before giving up on it then take back the empty tubes and beat them over the head with them.

I think you did the right thing using neutral cure on acrylic sheet as I'm not sure how it would react you vinegar (acid) given off in acetoxy cure.

[ransley]

Here in the US tubes are dated, look for a date code. If its at the code expiration date it may never cure. If its a birth code 6 months is the oldest you should consider. Buy from a store with big turnover in stock for fresh product. If you call the manufacurer the first thing they will ask you for is the date imprinted, call them to find out what you bought. Ive bought many worthless tube products over the years, its a headache.

[Mark]

I'm not suprized. Homebase products are usually s**te.

[The Medway Handyman]

Expensive s**te at that.

[Steve Walker]

Not as bad as Focus....