OT - Silicone calk

Tim, I don't wet my finger. Just recently learned to use silicone. Made the mistake of trying to wash my hands with soap and water. Spent 45 minutes with a scrub brush. Miserable stuff. Don't let it get near water. I just use a dry finger and keep plenty of paper towels around. Wipes off hands readily if you don't use water.

Ivan Vegvary

Isopropyl alcohol, aka "rubbing" alky.

Liquid dish soap. Place a small portion of favorite dish soap and add 25 to

50% water. Place your finger in the soap and smooth. Steve

Contractor's Solvent. Made by De-Solv-It. Gets silicone caulk off your hands in a minute. Lable warns you against getting the stuff in your lungs, so I replaced the spritzer with a simple squeeze cap -- I just turn the bottle upside down and squeeze some out onto a paper towel, then use the towel to clean up whatever needs it.

Tove

When I do that I use nitrile gloves and the soapy water. No mess, just throw them away. Steve

Vinegar?

Wes

Stoddard solvent - aka varsol

what I do is to keep my finger wet and just smooth it over - it doesn't stick if you lick your finger or dip it in water frequently - I used to use this technique when making fish tanks

On Tue, 26 May 2009 17:22:25 -0400, the infamous Wes scrawled the following:

I'm learning to always use my caulking tool. I love the damned little thang. Mine's white, but I guess they make colors, too.

Some similar tools:

This one looks great. |6289|caulking%20tool||S||2611749799&gclid=CMSZ27Xu25oCFRo-awodwQVr3Q

- Press HERE to arm. (Release to detonate.) -----------

I rarely ever touch caulking because I've discovered that trimming the tip on the tube, along with the proper angle between the tube and work, along with adjusting the delivery rate, will create a perfect fillet that doesn't require smoothing.

The very tip of the plastic tube will have a radius that can be used to form a very smooth concave bead that blends into the surface materials, when the angle and delivery rate are adjusted for the proper fill.

A good habit is to do some practice seams before doing any seams that will be seen. If the tip has been trimmed too far, cap that tube and trim another tip more carefully.

For perfect-fitting corners or seams with no gaps, a narrow concave or flat bead is all that's required. Vertical beads that are slightly convex aren't too bad, but horizontal beads that bulge out like quarter-round trim (or worse, like tubing in the seam), tend to catch water and dirt, looking hideous within a short time.

Looking at how the little rubbery tools remove so much excess caulking, it's easy to see that if too much wasn't put on, all that excess wouldn't need to be removed.

For wide gaps (within reason), a medium concave or flat filler bead is applied to just bridge the gap, then that is left to set up. Then the tip is trimmed for a wider bead to cover and form a decent fillet.

For wide gaps, redo the work with some skill (caulking isn't a construction material), or use a trim strip which can be caulked with 2 narrow beads.

Regardless of what the label claims, most caulking materials will shrink.

Always clean the seam area a couple of times to insure good adhesion. Plastics often have mold release residue, and you can't be sure any material is clean if you don't clean it yourself.

Thanks for all the input guys, you have certainly given me some new ideas. I often find it useful to seal welded sheet structures for dust, and silicone seems to be the best solution when seal welding is just not practical. I will give these a try.