Any tips for using silicone over a period of time?

I squeeze some sealant out and have a glob of it covering the end of the nozzle to make it harder for the bit at the nozzle itself to set. Usually I do this with a 2nd nozzle, full of sealant, stuck over the 1st. Some nozzles have a screw-on cap for this: again I squeeze some sealant out into the cap before putting it on.

Works for me or unscrew the nozzle cover the end of the cannister with a double or quad layer of cling film and screw the nozzle back on.

Put ali foil over the nozzle, tie it tight with 0.4mm metal wire, and that lasts ages, as long as you dont break the weak foil.

NT

A day?? A single tube of silicone lasts me for months and even years. All you have to do is clean the nozzle out with a long thin screwdriver before each use. The main tube won't go hard for ages especially if you store it somewhere cool and dry. Moisture is what cures it. It helps to have a spare screw-on nozzle cleaned out ready for use. Swap them over when you're ready to use the tube and let the full nozzle set completely hard for a day or two. Then you can extract the silicone in it easily as a single plug by sliding a thin screwdriver up the side of the large end and hooking the plug out and that's now the clean spare nozzle. Trying to firkle out a nozzle that contains partly cured and partly soft silicone is a more messy procedure and usually ends up with little lumps of cured stuff in amongst the soft. Better to let it all set hard first.

Having said that the part used tube I've had sat in the kitchen since 2003 has finally gone to the silicone rest home in the sky it seems. Sticking a screwdriver inside the tube just now there's no liquid silicone evident down to over 2 inches from the top so I think we'll call that a gonner. I'm pretty sure I've had opened tubes stay good for a couple of years though. I think the specs usually say at least 6 months.

Vaseline on the thread where the nozzle screws onto the cartridge, and vaseline again on the thread where the cap screws onto the nozzle.

Remove 'extender' nozzle. Squeeze a little silicone out of the stubby nozzle. Put nozzle end of tube into polythene bag (don't remove the silicone you've just squeezed out). Screw extender nozzle onto the stub, so that the polythene seals it. That should prevent the silicone in the tube from going off.

When you next use the tube, the silicone in the extender nozzle will have gone off, so you'll need to poke it out with a nail or a straightened coat hanger. It should come out cleanly in one piece, as cone. It's a good idea to keep an old nozzle specifically for the purpose of re-sealing the tube (so you don't need to clear it out each time you use it).

TLC & my local BM both sell packs of spare nozzles cheaply. I just use a new nozzle if the old one is bunged up.

Thanks everyone for the tips. I honestly never knew silicone could be used for a prolonged period of time. I've always used the whole of the tube on the same day or just thrown it away.

Thanks again.