Only on Sundays.
Removing Bath Sealant
- Thread starter annaoneill
- Start date
Only on Sundays.
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I have tried all sorts of silicone eaters, all of which claim that you just daub on, leave for a while and remove all traces. All of these products lie!!! The only way is by the skilled use of a very sharp blade. I find a No 22 scalpel blade in a No 4 handle and a No 10 blade in a No 3 handle work a treat.
Plainly it goes without saying that these are specifically designed to cut flesh, they are not concerned about being outside the operating theatre! Watch for putting too much pressure on them or too much side flex as they can break without warning and you can easily find your fingers the wrong side of the broken blade.
Great care must be taken with plastic baths, as the blade will dig in and create a cut ridge which will attract filth and look horrible afterwards. Take the time to judge the correct angle of attack which removes the silicone without taking the surface off the bath. Polished aluminium shower screen channels etc are also a nightmare as the blade will scratch the aluminium extremely easily. I use a plastic scraper and try to rub the old silicone over itself to drag it off the aluminium as opposed to trying to get directly to the bare metal surface.
Once you have all the silicone off you must thoroughly clean the adjacent side surfaces and any gap to remove all traces of mould and slime as this will impair the adhesion of the new seal, I use W5 bathroom cleaner from Lidl! Then the bit that most forget in their haste to get it finished: dry the area thoroughly. Either with meths or as I do which I find is more thorough, with a hair drier which drives any moisture out of the gap.
Hope this helps, if you are going to replace the seal around the bath allow a couple of hours of hard graft to prepare the surface and then about 10 minutes max to apply the seal.
Plainly it goes without saying that these are specifically designed to cut flesh, they are not concerned about being outside the operating theatre! Watch for putting too much pressure on them or too much side flex as they can break without warning and you can easily find your fingers the wrong side of the broken blade.
Great care must be taken with plastic baths, as the blade will dig in and create a cut ridge which will attract filth and look horrible afterwards. Take the time to judge the correct angle of attack which removes the silicone without taking the surface off the bath. Polished aluminium shower screen channels etc are also a nightmare as the blade will scratch the aluminium extremely easily. I use a plastic scraper and try to rub the old silicone over itself to drag it off the aluminium as opposed to trying to get directly to the bare metal surface.
Once you have all the silicone off you must thoroughly clean the adjacent side surfaces and any gap to remove all traces of mould and slime as this will impair the adhesion of the new seal, I use W5 bathroom cleaner from Lidl! Then the bit that most forget in their haste to get it finished: dry the area thoroughly. Either with meths or as I do which I find is more thorough, with a hair drier which drives any moisture out of the gap.
Hope this helps, if you are going to replace the seal around the bath allow a couple of hours of hard graft to prepare the surface and then about 10 minutes max to apply the seal.
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