Sanitary Silicone

[Bob Smith]

Screwfix sell sanitary silicone for £1.79 a tube. Is this good stuff? I am used to seeing it for £6-7 a tube.

Bob

[BillR]

Considering the work in applying sealant and the trouble involved if you have to remove it and do it again, its not worth buying cheap stuff in a case like this. The SF stuff may be perfectly ok but I wouldn't risk it. e.g. Used some from Wickes a few years ago in a shower and now thats gone all mouldy. Its going to be a very tricky job to replace... I tend to favour this stuff these days as its a lot easier to apply than silicone.

[Dave Plowman]

I've a feeling that silicone sealants are silicone sealants, and all these special versions are a bit like 'special' paints - a pure con.

[Simon Avery]

Hello Bob

I used it about 3 years ago around a bath and shower. Shower now sporting lovely fungal growths and the bath has lifted (possibly movement related).

So is it anti-fungal? Not for long! OTOH, I've no experience of higher priced stuff.

[Bob Smith]

that I want to replace, so I am wary of water based sealants.

Bob

[Bob Smith]

Is any brand of silicone sealant anti fungal for long? The £6 tubes say they have a 10, 15 or 25 year guarantee - does this cover fungal growth? Or do you have to dry the bath after every use?

Bob

[PoP]

Perhaps I'm being a little thick here with the following response, but here goes anyway!

Surely fungal growth needs a culture on which to grow? And that culture surely won't form if the area is properly cleansed on a regular basis?

Isn't mould growth a symptom of something which isn't cleaned properly?

My garden still gets weeds growing if I don't tend to it occasionally!

PoP

[Bob Smith]

I think the mould seems to eat the sealant itself. Once there, the black dots never wash off.

I am actually replacing some crap acrylic sealant that has the consistancey of putty. You can put permanent dents in it with your fingernail. Water has got behind it, and now mould is growing behind the sealant.

Bob

[Bob Smith]

I can see the reason for different ones though. They need to have different flexibilities for different jobs.

Bob

[Peter]

[Bob Smith]

You ENJOY removing silicone sealant? You want my address?

I had a trawl on the intyweb yesterday. Apparently mineral spirits (turpentine) is a silicone sealant eater, except on "hard plastics and painted surfaces", where they recomend rubbing alcohol. Still have to remove most mechanically first though.

Bob

[Grunff]

Not really. It swells it a little, but that's all.

That definitely won't touch it - you might as well use water. I've used silicone to seal a tank which held ethanol and isopropanol, and it lasted about 2 years before needing re-sealing!

[Bob Smith]

is a company who make silicone sealant, so telling you a secret ingredient when they could sell it as a silicone sealant remover sounds a bit daft...

Maybe when it swells, it is a bit softer?

Bob

[Grunff]

correctness of the information.

It does get a bit softer, but it's nowhere near as effective as silicone eater - which dissolves silicone. Before you ask, I really don't know what's in it, it could be one of a number of solvents.