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Thread: G.E. Sillicone 2 tub Caulk won't dry.

  1. #1

    G.E. Sillicone 2 tub Caulk won't dry.

    Stripped off the old caulk between the tub and the fiberglass surround yesterday. made sure to get every last bit of the old caulk off. Got the surface nice and dry , then applied the G.E. Caulk. Checked it this Morning , and still soft and wet. Did that caulk go bad ? It's been 18 hours since I put it on. Should I give it another 24 hours ?

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    This has happened to me. Silicone caulk has a definite shelf life. Look on the tube for the expiration date, I'd bet you will find it has expired or is at least very near expiring. The only solution is to remove it and replace it with fresh.
    Larry J Browning
    There are 10 kinds of people in this world; Those who understand binary and those who don't.

  3. #3
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    My 2 experiences with silicone not curing, one when I bought expired tubes from a private party and the other when a contractor used expired tubes, is that it will not cure even after several weeks. Remove it and then use a chemical cleaner to carefully clean the surfaces after you remove it. Use clean surface of paper towel each time you wipe the surface. Don't repeat wipe surface with same area of the paper or cloth towel. Research for the cleaner to use to make sure all existing old silicone is removed.

    After chemical cleaning, use a sealant that has strong adhesion to fiberglass such as a polyurethane like 3M 5200 or a Sikaflex or use a silicone product formulated for your purpose. Lots of different formulations for silicone products. I am so nervous about using them that I have a hard time figuring out which one to buy. I try to buy silicone formulated for the purpose by someone like Dow Corning, DuPont, or one of their subsidiaries.

    It is a pain in the ... cleaning old silicone that hasn't cured (or for that matter - cured silicone) but it is important to do a thorough job of it. Will pay dividends down the road. You don't want mildew getting under the sealant or the joint leaking 6 months or a year down the road.

  4. #4
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    I am sure that what Bob says is correct and will work well. However, I did not go to the same lengths that he did to remove, clean and prep before reapplying fresh caulk. The caulk I reapplied to my fiberglass tub about 18 months ago is still if good condition and working well.
    I think the main take away from all this is that it is extremely important to use fresh silicone caulk and then throw away what ever is left, cause it won't be any good the next time you need it.
    Last edited by Larry Browning; 05-25-2016 at 1:05 PM.
    Larry J Browning
    There are 10 kinds of people in this world; Those who understand binary and those who don't.

  5. #5
    I've had this happen, too - old caulk, won't ever cure, and it's a disaster to clean up. I've given up on GE Silicone II - I used to think it was the only product to use, but I've had it get moldy, it's impossible to neatly apply or remove, and some of the new acrylic caulks seem to be much faster drying, mold resistant, and easier to clean up and apply.

    (Somewhat tangential: A countertop guy showed me a neat trick for tooling caulk lines - he took a giant damp sponge like you'd use for grouting tile, and used it to wipe a messy bead of water-based caulk. It "tools" it into a perfect concave bead - no fingertips required. This trick, alone, is a strong reason I prefer the water-based caulks, now)

  6. #6
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    Mineral spirits will clean up uncured silicone caulk. You have to wipe it several times but it will dissolve and remove it. I used to work with a guy who had worked in Dow's silicone group. He told me GE's silicone was better than Dow's so that's what I've used for the past 20 years. Never had a problem.

    John

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by John TenEyck View Post
    Mineral spirits will clean up uncured silicone caulk.
    Or alcohol.
    Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night

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