Is there a drill attachment to clean excess silicone caulk from tile

raphael49 · 15 Sep 2021

I feel a right mug. I've caulked the tile/baseboard, but due to the relief of the tile and the fact that I didn't tape it beforehand, its dried out a mess.

Instead of hours going over it with a Stanley blade, are there any quicker and more effective methods? I was thinking of scoring it then using a rubber wheel type attachment for a drill, or wire wheel. Thanks a lot

Swwils · 15 Sep 2021

Use some silicone remover and then you should be able to rub it off.

Fingers crossed the silicone remover doesn't react with those tiles!

opps · 17 Sep 2021

A wire wheel will make a mess of everything.

You said that you "caulked" it, do you mean decorators' caulk or silicone. If the latter follow Swwirl's advice. You will need a sharp chisel and some Webrax pads. Most silicone movers then need washing away with meths or isopropyl alcohol. They will only "eat" very thin layers of silicone so you need to remove as much as possible before hand.

If you used decorators caulk (which is the wrong product) then cellulose cleaners may help to soften it.

Again, as Swwirl suggests, try any products on an off cut of tile first.

If you did use silicone, dilute washing up liquid (possibly masking tape) and "profiling tools" will help you to get a better finish.

HERTS P&D · 17 Sep 2021

You can also try WD40.

Andy

opps · 17 Sep 2021

HERTS P&D said:
You can also try WD40.

Andy

I must admit that I have never tried that. I have always been worried about removing the residual WD40.

BTW- boring fact from the guy in the pub- WD40= Water Dispersal 40th attempt to get it right. Personally I am not convinced that it wasn't the 37th attempt but 40 sounds better.

raphael49 · 18 Sep 2021

Swwils said:
Use some silicone remover and then you should be able to rub it off.

Fingers crossed the silicone remover doesn't react with those tiles!

Quick update, I used a product called Desolvit contractors solvent. Its an orange coloured spray. Works really well, softened the silicone and made going over it with a Stanley blade much easier. It didn't dissolve the whole bead, just a thin layer enough to scrub off excess. No damage to the skirting or the tile. Cheers all

Swwils · 18 Sep 2021

opps said:
I must admit that I have never tried that. I have always been worried about removing the residual WD40.

BTW- boring fact from the guy in the pub- WD40= Water Dispersal 40th attempt to get it right. Personally I am not convinced that it wasn't the 37th attempt but 40 sounds better.

As far as I am aware the guy invented it at home, originally as a requirement coating for the atlas missile program but then sold it for a nominal fee to someone with a very similar name who made it a spray and marketed it further.

opps · 18 Sep 2021

Glad it worked for you.

BTW... if you really want to know if it removed the silicone, sprinkle the area with a fine powder such as flour. Then lightly wipe the area with a dry cloth.

Sorry, I am not being critical of the product per se, but I have removed more than enough silicone to know that in many cases it looks to be silicone free when it isn't.

As a rule of thumb, if it takes 10 mins to apply silicone it takes over an hour to remove it (properly). Silicon does not adhere to silicone very well. In your case it won't be much of a problem but in a shower enclosure...

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Is there a drill attachment to clean excess silicone caulk from tile

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