Any tips for removing old silicone from around a plastic bath?

Thanks

"Steve" wrote in message
...
Any tips for removing old silicone from around a plastic bath?

Thanks

Good luck: even on flat tiles it takes ages with a chisel or razor blade.
If there is an easy way to get it off plastic, I'd like to know too.

S

"Steve" wrote in message
...
Any tips for removing old silicone from around a plastic bath?

Thanks

Good luck: even on flat tiles it takes ages with a chisel or razor blade.
If there is an easy way to get it off plastic, I'd like to know too.

S

Steve wrote:
Any tips for removing old silicone from around a plastic bath?

Buy one of these
http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.js...&isSearch=true

Buy a pack of spare blades. They snap regularly.

Keep the blade flat to the bath surface, push into the silicone, then go
sideways, so it acts like a big flat knife. Now keep the blade flat against
the tiles/wall, push down & then sideways. Most of the silicone will peel
off.

Use gently as a scraper to remove any missed bits. As long as you keep it
flat you can't damage the bath.

Stanley knife with new blade for corners etc, same technique.

Next - microfibre cloth & white spirit to clean residue.

And don't even try to apply new silicone without one of these
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/28167/...oy-Kit-1-BMFG1

You won't believe how good they are until you try one.

HTH


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

Steve wrote:
Any tips for removing old silicone from around a plastic bath?

Thanks

Yes, silcone eater is a solvent that destroys silicone, you may have to read
the blurb as I'm not sure what else it eats

--
Phil L
RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008

"Phil L" wrote in message
news:XUm6o.43871$LU.31081@hurricane...
Steve wrote:
Any tips for removing old silicone from around a plastic bath?

Thanks

Yes, silcone eater is a solvent that destroys silicone, you may have to
read the blurb as I'm not sure what else it eats

--
Phil L
RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008


Hmm: as this data sheet says to use a bead at least as thick as the bead to
be removed, yet it only seems to come in small expensive quantities, it
might prove pricey. I'd be interested to know what is really in it. As it
warns against using it on anodised aluminium, one would suspect some alkali,
though it says it is not water based.

http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/480527.pdf

S

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Steve" saying
something like:

Any tips for removing old silicone from around a plastic bath?

Aerosol brake cleaner has a loosening action on it, but it's not a
solvent. I discovered this by accident.

"Steve" wrote in message
...
Any tips for removing old silicone from around a plastic bath?

Google for silicone remover.
Small bottles of the stuff, smells like a cross between oranges and vinegar.
I got an really expensive whirlpool spa bath off Fleabay that had silicon
still attached, plastic bath and front panel.
Painted this stuff on and waited around 10 mins and removed every last trace
using a plastic car filler scraper. No damage whatsoever.

Steve wrote:

Any tips for removing old silicone from around a plastic bath?

Peel off as much as possible being careful not to scratch the bath. Then
use diesel or central heating oil to dissolve the residue. The hideously
expensive "silicone eater" appears to be nothing more than
diesel/kerosene ackaged with a gelling agent.

I discovered the power of diesel to dissolve silicone sealant when I
made the mistake of trying to secure a spout to a diesel can using the
sealant.

On Aug 5, 1:03*am, "Spamlet" wrote:
"Phil L" wrote in message

news:XUm6o.43871$LU.31081@hurricane...

Steve wrote:
Any tips for removing old silicone from around a plastic bath?

Thanks

Yes, silcone eater is a solvent that destroys silicone, you may have to
read the blurb as I'm not sure what else it eats

--
Phil L
RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008

Hmm: as this data sheet says to use a bead at least as thick as the bead to
be removed, yet it only seems to come in small expensive quantities, it
might prove pricey.

It's worth it. Just make sure you remove *ALL* trace of it before
applying fresh silicone (don't ask). Even at the risk of getting water
where you normally don't want it, flood the area and remove *ALL*
trace of the damn stuff before applying fresh silicone[1]

Also a £2.99 plastic silicone remover tool from B&Q. I was surprised
how effective it was.

MBQ

[1] I said *ALL*, every last little molecule.

On Aug 5, 6:45*am, (Steve Firth) wrote:
Steve wrote:
Any tips for removing old silicone from around a plastic bath?

Peel off as much as possible being careful not to scratch the bath. Then
use diesel or central heating oil to dissolve the residue. The hideously
expensive "silicone eater" appears to be nothing more than
diesel/kerosene ackaged with a gelling agent.

I discovered the power of diesel to dissolve silicone sealant when I
made the mistake of trying to secure a spout to a diesel can using the
sealant.

Greater than 60% Naptha http://msds.orica.com/pdf/shess-en-c...0000010571.pdf

MBQ

"Man at B&Q" wrote in message
...
On Aug 5, 6:45 am, (Steve Firth) wrote:
Steve wrote:
Any tips for removing old silicone from around a plastic bath?

Peel off as much as possible being careful not to scratch the bath. Then
use diesel or central heating oil to dissolve the residue. The hideously
expensive "silicone eater" appears to be nothing more than
diesel/kerosene ackaged with a gelling agent.

I discovered the power of diesel to dissolve silicone sealant when I
made the mistake of trying to secure a spout to a diesel can using the
sealant.

Greater than 60% Naptha
http://msds.orica.com/pdf/shess-en-c...0000010571.pdf

MBQ

Essentially napalm then. Interesting the detail the Ozzy data sheets go
into compared with uk ones. Now I come to think of it, I do now recall
slimy globs of early silicon rubber sealer ending up blocking carbs, however
thinly applied, so, indeed, the stuff is not as impervious as one tends to
think. OP should have no problem after all. (But will I remember this next
time...)

S

Man at B&Q wrote:
On Aug 5, 6:45 am, (Steve Firth) wrote:
Steve wrote:
Any tips for removing old silicone from around a plastic bath?

Peel off as much as possible being careful not to scratch the bath.
Then use diesel or central heating oil to dissolve the residue. The
hideously expensive "silicone eater" appears to be nothing more than
diesel/kerosene ackaged with a gelling agent.

I discovered the power of diesel to dissolve silicone sealant when I
made the mistake of trying to secure a spout to a diesel can using
the sealant.

Greater than 60% Naptha
http://msds.orica.com/pdf/shess-en-c...0000010571.pdf

MBQ

Naptha is a general name for petroleum spirit. It isn't the active
ingredient which does the dissolving, just the carrier.

Steve Firth wrote:
Steve wrote:

Any tips for removing old silicone from around a plastic bath?

Peel off as much as possible being careful not to scratch the bath.
Then use diesel or central heating oil to dissolve the residue. The
hideously expensive "silicone eater" appears to be nothing more than
diesel/kerosene ackaged with a gelling agent.

I discovered the power of diesel to dissolve silicone sealant when I
made the mistake of trying to secure a spout to a diesel can using the
sealant.

I find that interesting. I made a silicone sealing ring for a carburretor
many years ago, and it outlasted the car. The silicone would have been
basic bath sealant. Perhaps diesel has some additives which do rot silicone
rubber.

On 5 Aug, 15:16, "Fredxx" wrote:
Man at B&Q wrote:
On Aug 5, 6:45 am, (Steve Firth) wrote:
Steve wrote:
Any tips for removing old silicone from around a plastic bath?

Peel off as much as possible being careful not to scratch the bath.
Then use diesel or central heating oil to dissolve the residue. The
hideously expensive "silicone eater" appears to be nothing more than
diesel/kerosene ackaged with a gelling agent.

I discovered the power of diesel to dissolve silicone sealant when I
made the mistake of trying to secure a spout to a diesel can using
the sealant.

Greater than 60% Naptha
http://msds.orica.com/pdf/shess-en-c...0000010571.pdf

MBQ

Naptha is a general name for petroleum spirit. It isn't the active
ingredient which does the dissolving, just the carrier.

IME silicone eater doesn't *eat" or *dissolve* silicone it just
loosens its adhesion to surfaces and enables you to get any last
little bits off after hacking and cutting the bulk out as discussed
earlier.

"Components CAS Number Proportion
Naphtha (petroleum), heavy alkylate 64741-65-7 60%
C10-14 alkylbenzene sulfonic acid 85117-49-3 10-20%
Sulfuric acid 7664-93-9 1%
Ingredients determined not to be hazardous - to 100%"

so which is it then?

Jim K

Fredxx wrote:

Naptha is a general name for petroleum spirit. It isn't the active
ingredient which does the dissolving, just the carrier.

What I like about comments like yours is that it shows a particular
world-view in which ignoring the preceding evidence in order to parrot a
pet theory is seen as the way forward.

"Steve Firth" wrote in message
.. .
Fredxx wrote:

Naptha is a general name for petroleum spirit. It isn't the active
ingredient which does the dissolving, just the carrier.

What I like about comments like yours is that it shows a particular
world-view in which ignoring the preceding evidence in order to parrot a
pet theory is seen as the way forward.


Apols folks but he is right: both 'naptha' and 'petroleum spirit', are, like
'white spirit', general terms, for particular distillation ranges of the
mixture of paraffins and other hydrocarbons one gets from 'cracking' 'crude
oils' - and, in the case of white spirit, recycled solvents. (White spirit
can be almost anything: I used to test deliveries of it, and some drums
could be loaded with water and rusty at the bottom. That's why sometimes it
will work in your blowlamp, and other times you can hardly warm your hands
on the flame.)

When you specify naptha or petroleum spirit for the lab you just buy by the
lowest and highest boiling point you would get if you distilled that
particular mixture. This is when you are only interested in the general
properties of paraffins, as general purpose solvents and cleaning/burning
properties. If you wanted a particular paraffin for a special purpose
(rapid or slow evaporation for eg - don't try mouth filling a pipette with
n-pentane folks!) , you can buy pure pentane, hexane, heptane, octane etc -
but at a much higher price.

The numbers after the name refer to a more detailed specification and Shell
describes this mixture as:

"A complex stream of predominately C9 to C12 hydrocarbons; exact composition
will
vary."http://www.chemcas.com/msds_archive/part2/cas/gi_msds/whitakeroil_com---Mineral_spirits-odorless.asp

So, in this case, there will be many unbranched and branched isomers present
in a mixture with the general properties that the maker of the silicone
'eater' desired.

Amusingly, another name for these mixes is 'pet ether', so you were actually
dead right: this is pet theory.

I would imagine that the surfactant properties of the other benzene
sulphonic acid ingredient are what releases the silicone rubber from the
substrate, as this is a key ingredient of industrial detergents:
http://www.focuschemist.com/Linear_a...onic_acid.html

S

"Fredxx" wrote in message
...
Steve Firth wrote:
Steve wrote:

Any tips for removing old silicone from around a plastic bath?

Peel off as much as possible being careful not to scratch the bath.
Then use diesel or central heating oil to dissolve the residue. The
hideously expensive "silicone eater" appears to be nothing more than
diesel/kerosene ackaged with a gelling agent.

I discovered the power of diesel to dissolve silicone sealant when I
made the mistake of trying to secure a spout to a diesel can using the
sealant.

I find that interesting. I made a silicone sealing ring for a carburretor
many years ago, and it outlasted the car. The silicone would have been
basic bath sealant. Perhaps diesel has some additives which do rot
silicone rubber.


As I noted above, this was actually the mistake I made with motorcycle
carbs, and got blocked jets as a result. Mind you, I would have been
assembling it as a thin smear, wet. If you actually made a gasket and cured
it before assembling, you might get away with it. Also, the jets on car
carbs might be big enough to suck the goop right through.

Also worth noting is that diesel would be more the composition of the
solvent mix used in the remover compound than would the lighter fraction we
call petrol or gasolene. Looks like Steve may have missed out on a
moneyspinner...

Turned out to be another interesting post indeed.

S

Spamlet wrote:
"Fredxx" wrote in message
...
Steve Firth wrote:
Steve wrote:

Any tips for removing old silicone from around a plastic bath?

Peel off as much as possible being careful not to scratch the bath.
Then use diesel or central heating oil to dissolve the residue. The
hideously expensive "silicone eater" appears to be nothing more than
diesel/kerosene ackaged with a gelling agent.

I discovered the power of diesel to dissolve silicone sealant when I
made the mistake of trying to secure a spout to a diesel can using
the sealant.

I find that interesting. I made a silicone sealing ring for a
carburretor many years ago, and it outlasted the car. The silicone
would have been basic bath sealant. Perhaps diesel has some
additives which do rot silicone rubber.


As I noted above, this was actually the mistake I made with motorcycle
carbs, and got blocked jets as a result. Mind you, I would have been
assembling it as a thin smear, wet. If you actually made a gasket and
cured it before assembling, you might get away with it. Also, the
jets on car carbs might be big enough to suck the goop right through.

Also worth noting is that diesel would be more the composition of the
solvent mix used in the remover compound than would the lighter
fraction we call petrol or gasolene. Looks like Steve may have
missed out on a moneyspinner...

Turned out to be another interesting post indeed.


The seal was in place of an O-ring. It didn't need to adhere to anything.
I would have left it to cure for a long time. It it came away then the old
symptoms would have returned, so I'm pretty sure it stayed intact.

"Fredxx" wrote in message
...
Spamlet wrote:
"Fredxx" wrote in message
...
Steve Firth wrote:
Steve wrote:

Any tips for removing old silicone from around a plastic bath?

Peel off as much as possible being careful not to scratch the bath.
Then use diesel or central heating oil to dissolve the residue. The
hideously expensive "silicone eater" appears to be nothing more than
diesel/kerosene ackaged with a gelling agent.

I discovered the power of diesel to dissolve silicone sealant when I
made the mistake of trying to secure a spout to a diesel can using
the sealant.

I find that interesting. I made a silicone sealing ring for a
carburretor many years ago, and it outlasted the car. The silicone
would have been basic bath sealant. Perhaps diesel has some
additives which do rot silicone rubber.


As I noted above, this was actually the mistake I made with motorcycle
carbs, and got blocked jets as a result. Mind you, I would have been
assembling it as a thin smear, wet. If you actually made a gasket and
cured it before assembling, you might get away with it. Also, the
jets on car carbs might be big enough to suck the goop right through.

Also worth noting is that diesel would be more the composition of the
solvent mix used in the remover compound than would the lighter
fraction we call petrol or gasolene. Looks like Steve may have
missed out on a moneyspinner...

Turned out to be another interesting post indeed.


The seal was in place of an O-ring. It didn't need to adhere to anything.
I would have left it to cure for a long time. It it came away then the
old symptoms would have returned, so I'm pretty sure it stayed intact.

Put like that, it sounds like a good idea. And now you come to mention it,
the 'o' ring seals in our 25 litre drums of iso propyl alcohol looked
exactly as if they were indeed made by just a circle of blue RTV bead: and I
will now think of making o rings like that in future.

Funny how things all fall into place: serendipity.

Nice one.

S

Spamlet wrote:

"Steve Firth" wrote in message
.. .
Fredxx wrote:

Naptha is a general name for petroleum spirit. It isn't the active
ingredient which does the dissolving, just the carrier.

What I like about comments like yours is that it shows a particular
world-view in which ignoring the preceding evidence in order to parrot a
pet theory is seen as the way forward.


Apols folks but he is right:

sigh

Jersey is one of the Channel Islands.

You see I can post something that's "right" amd also irrelevant.

I'll spell it out. Diesel is perfectly capable of softening silicone. I
mentioned this in a previous post.

So rattling on that naptha is a general name for petroleum spirity
(true) and that it isn't the active ingredient (false) shows a
remarkable talent for ignoring that which went before.

And everything you posted was largely irrelevant and another example of
the sort of comment that I referred to.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Spamlet"
saying something like:

I find that interesting. I made a silicone sealing ring for a carburretor
many years ago, and it outlasted the car. The silicone would have been
basic bath sealant. Perhaps diesel has some additives which do rot
silicone rubber.


As I noted above, this was actually the mistake I made with motorcycle
carbs, and got blocked jets as a result. Mind you, I would have been
assembling it as a thin smear, wet. If you actually made a gasket and cured
it before assembling, you might get away with it. Also, the jets on car
carbs might be big enough to suck the goop right through.

Hmm. First time I discovered the incompatibility of silicone sealant
(proper gasket stuff) and petrol was approx 1977 on a VW Beetle carb.

"Steve Firth" wrote in message
. ..
Spamlet wrote:

"Steve Firth" wrote in message
.. .
Fredxx wrote:

Naptha is a general name for petroleum spirit. It isn't the active
ingredient which does the dissolving, just the carrier.

What I like about comments like yours is that it shows a particular
world-view in which ignoring the preceding evidence in order to parrot
a
pet theory is seen as the way forward.


Apols folks but he is right:

sigh

Jersey is one of the Channel Islands.

You see I can post something that's "right" amd also irrelevant.

I'll spell it out. Diesel is perfectly capable of softening silicone. I
mentioned this in a previous post.

So rattling on that naptha is a general name for petroleum spirity
(true) and that it isn't the active ingredient (false) shows a
remarkable talent for ignoring that which went before.

And everything you posted was largely irrelevant and another example of
the sort of comment that I referred to.

Your observation of diesel's solvent properties was not in dispute, and I
was pleased that this led me to rediscover solvent principles that I had
forgotten. I found it all relevant, but am sorry if you found it unhelpful.

S