Dap kitchen and bath caulk still tacky?

I let caulk dry for 2 weeks.

Huge beads of silicone will often shrink and cause gaps. This is a drawback to silicone.

That said, it should be dry by now. I have had brand new tubes of kitchen and bath caulk (non-silicone) that would never set, not even two weeks later.

JK

If it is an old tube it may not cure, look for an expiration date

Nate Nagel wrote on 11 Nov 2007 in group alt.home.repair:

Don't poke it. The "three hours" thing is only for the surface of the caulk. It won't cure all the way through for a few days. A thin glaze of cured caulk on the top is good enough to protect what's underneath from water as long as you don't get vigorous. Curing time also depends on temperature and humidity.

Did you clean well with scrapers, scrubbers, detergent, and some type of solvent first? Did you get all the solvent off? A contaminant might mess up the chemistry of the caulk, slowing or stopping the cure process. I recommend denatured alcohol as a cleaner. It evaporates completely in a few minutes.

I tell my clients to wait a minimum of 24 hours before using the shower. It's safer. No one has called me back yet to complain.

I did clean well, remove all old caulk (scraped surfaces with razor blades,) scrub with hot water and dish soap, dry with heat gun, and final wipe down with Windex before applying.

I couldn't find an expiration date on the tube; I did think to look for it before I threw it out this AM.

nate

Red/White tube? Kind of runny viscosity? Yuck!

no, gold tube... "adhesive caulk" with antibacterials (SWMBO insisted on this, she has a pathological fear of mold.) I haven't used Dap products in a long time, is why I posted.

nate

Does it still smell like vinegar? If so, it is curing.

Same stuff I used. Works really well but you have to let it dry thoroughly. That's why I waited 2 weeks. But I have a 2nd bath.

Jim

You have it backwards...the one thing silicones do better is minimal shrinkage on cure. Easily confirmed by checking manufacturers' specifications. The OP's problem is that the air was too dry to promote cure which requires moisture.

Joe

DAP makes second rate caulks. I used their "lifetime" guarantee silicone caulk on a shower, and mildew stains developed in two months. The texture of the caulk also became uneven. Try some GE caulk the next time.