Removing Bath Sealant

[annaoneill]

Does anyone know an easy way to remove bath sealant? Mines been slapped on in a hap-hazard fashion and gone mouldy in parts. I'm going to replace it, but do I have to sit in the bath for hours digging it out?

Thanks chaps
Anna

 

[Diyisfun]

You can use a stanley knife to cut it, then remove the blade & use this with care(you can remove the blood with water ) I think there is a solvent available though.

 

[gcol]

Not this one again. Have a look here:
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=72441

 

[annaoneill]

oops, thanks for the directions

 

[ModernMaterials]

listen to the chisel and thumb options but dont clean with white spirit specially if you want silicon to stick for any period of time afterwards

 

[gcol]

...but dont clean with white spirit specially if you want silicon to stick for any period of time afterwards

White spirit is fine as a degreasant, but it does need to be wiped up with a paper towel to make sure it's bone dry before applying your sealant.

 

[ModernMaterials]

Hmm how come when i clean paint off my hands with white spirit.. i need to wash the greasiness off with fairy liquid?

and a proper de greaser does not need to be wiped off...ie a true spirit like meths

 

[masona]

Evostick glue remover is good but it's getting hard to find one because of the solvent abuse, a very strong smell though and don't breathe it in unless you want to be happy all day

 

[gcol]

Masona, Evostick remover is very harsh and will readily attack plastics - be careful if you use it on your plastic bath.

ModernMaterials, Regarding your question about white spirit, the "greasiness" you describe is purely the fact that white spirit will not mix with water so when you rinse your hands the water just beads on top of the white spirit that's soaked into your skin. White spirit will not leave a greasy surface when it's evaoprated, however it does take a while to evaoprate which is why I suggested to wipe it dry. Yep meths is better, but while we're on the subject, Isopropyl Alcohol is the daddy for cleaning and evaporating quickly leaving zero residue.

 

[ModernMaterials]

At the risk of sounding off for a particular product i am absolutely sure that cilit bang degreaser is the business for this job. its basically ammonia.

so wipe that off with a paper towel and reap the rewards

cus it wont repel water

 

[gcol]

 

[qaz]

This works fairly well if used properly. Squirt it on with a gun and smudge over the sealant with a brush, leave for a couple of hours and most of the sealant comes away quite easily. If you have heavily applied sealant you might have to have a couple of goes at it or do the remainder with a stanley knife. It comes in short tubes, about a third of the size of tubes of sealant so it's expensive.

 

[Sealant1]

Its remarkably easy to remove bathroom sealant with the right tools and approach. Forget chemicals, at least until right down to the very final stage, it is a physical job.
Having removed the plastic strip and and loose sealant one is faced by an annoyingly sticky and resistant line of sealant. If you don't get rid of it any new seal will leak. After 15mins of frustration you think perhaps a set of new fingernails is the solution, "or there must be a clever chemical"...Wrong, you'll be there for hours.

Get a small (SMALL) wire brush - the head should be same size as your thumb. They are cheap and most DIY have them (I only see them sold in 3's as they are cheap (2$/3)). 30s of self learning will teach you all you need to know about how to use it. A 6ft section of two lines of silicone can be removed in about 10min.

Finish off the job with a white spirit rub. make sure its 100% dry before reapply the new seal etc.
Oh - and do fill the bath when fitting the seal, unless you want the fun of doing it again in a few weeks time (which some dubious contractors do).

all the best

 

[WimWam]

Found this thread while looking up which spirit to use, but I thought I'd add my own discovery about tools.

I quickly found that a stanley knife isn't great for cutting out sealant as it doesn't allow you to get flush to either surface, in fact, nowhere near. I reached into the kitchen drawer and found a flexible kitchen knife - a Global GS11. Now, I know its expensive, but I can't image a better tool for the job. It's very thin and quite flexible, perfect for flexing flat against walls and removing literally all traces of sealant. If you have one, or something similar, I'd recommend using it.

 

[joe-90]

Does it cut spam?