Removing old sealant in a shower

[Keefiedee]

Having installed a new quadrant shower last year on a stone base, retiled, and sealed the junction between tiles and base with silicone, I found that the new sealant very quickly went mouldy. I have now purchased a cartrige of super "kill everything" sealant, so of course have to remove all the old sealant.

This is not proving to be very easy! Has anyone any tips to make the job easier? Is there any solvent that will help loosen the grip of the sealant, for example? Or is just a case of perseverance?

Keith

[Nthkentman]

Go buy some silicone sealer remover in a tub.

Well worth the effort

[Baz]

B&Q do Silicone Sealant Remover 100ml....£6.00. Never used it, but the reviews say it works.

Also they have a unibond silicone sealant remover 261099 150ml. But reviews say "Totally useless"

Baz

[Adam Funk]

Let us know how the brand of super kill everything sealant works. I'd like some genuinely mould-resistant stuff.

[Another Dave]

I use a paint scraper (mine uses Stanley knife blades) to remove most (i.e. nearly all) of the sealant. Then, and only then, use sealant remover. Wait the recommended time. I then use my magic thumb to rub off the remaining sealant. I've never found a short cut :(

Another Dave

[Keefiedee]

That was my next question - does any mould resistant sealant do what it says on the cartridge?

Keith

[Jules Richardson]

Can you get the GE bathroom stuff there? That's what I used and it seems to be holding up well.

Maybe a lot of it's down to things such as water temperature, how warm the house is, how often the bath/shower is used etc. though, and different environments are simply more prone to mould regardless of what's used?

cheers

Jules

[NT]

Silicone sealant is basically mould food. Mould resistant ones go mouldy too, they cant help it. If you want mouldproof, go to polysulphide instead. It doesnt mould, but it does go offcolour - which is better at least.

Cut most of sealant off, then use sillykill or similar to remove the remainder.

The other day I cleaned some silicone with diesel, and some of it just peeled off. I've no ide aif diesel softens it yet, might be worth a try if you have some.

NT

[Lobster]

Horrible job. I asked the same question here a few months ago - you might find the answers helpful:

(or I'd particularly reccommend all TMH's advice (especially the Hamilton scraper), a combination of which ultimately shifted it for me.

David

[John Rumm]

Yup, pretty sure I have seen it...

Indeed. A well ventilated room will attract less mould than one that stays damp for long periods. Also the quality of application seems to matter. A nice smooth bead will resist mould longer than one that has any "texture" on the surface to help trap spores etc and retain moisture.

[John Rumm]

>>

Yup, I have just shamelessly plagiarised that for the section in the wiki:

[Steve Firth]

Remove as much sealant as possible by scraping. I have some plastic silicon scrapers that work well but can't recall where I bought them. Possibly B&Q. Then use silicone remover.

If you are feeling cheap and can stand the smell, diesel is an effective silicone softener.

[The Medway Handyman]

>>>>>>

Number 9 being the most important item on the shopping list :-)

[kent]

Would any of these solvents damage a plastic shower tray?

[Moonraker]

All the recommendations have been made, I had to redo mine a while ago. What I do now is keep and old towel and wipe the shower down with is after use. This stops the mould and keeps the glass from getting badly marked with calcium, as we live in a hard water area. I would strongly recommend this action once the re-sealing is complete.

[ARWadsworth]

Diesel is a trainspotters favourite Eau do Cologne:-)

[Martin]

A dab behind the ears keeps the birds away.

[ARWadsworth]

There was a group of them in the local last night. How the f*ck can comparing photos of the same train from slightly different angles be fun?

[Huge]

[20 lines snipped]

I learned a while ago not to criticise other people's hobbies, given that mine may appear just as bizarre to others, but trainspotting is incomprehensible to me. I mean, they're *appliances*. Why would anyone care?

[John Williamson]

incomprehensible

In my day, they were all different, but then again, in my day, they were steam engines. (OGM>

Nowadays, the owners just dress 'em up with different paint schemes to make 'em less boring. For *really* boring conversation, listen in to the bus spotters.

As you say, though, what would they think about my hobby of looking at many tiny multicoloured dots behind a piece of glass?