Browse Forums DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair 1 Oct 20, 2010 7:27 pm Hi folks When the builders installed the bathroom mirrors/vanity etc (in both bathrooms), they ran a line of rubber silicone sealant at the bottom of the mirror - all good. But when they wiped it to smooth it in, they have left a film on the bottom of the mirror (and a bit on the taps). It makes it look like I haven't cleaned the mirrors properly. Does anyone know how I can remove this? it is just like a film of it, it's not a blob I can pick off. Thanks, Ceebs Re: Removing excess rubber sealant 2Oct 20, 2010 8:00 pm http://www.selleys.com.au/Can-t-Remove- ... fault.aspx I've used petrol to remove silicone from steel, but never on glass ..that's your call, might be safer to use the Selleys product. Re: Removing excess rubber sealant 3Oct 20, 2010 8:07 pm Thanks TheOK, I'd need to make sure I didn't get any remover on the actual sealant that we want to keep if using this product. But thanks for the link and I'll def keep that in mind. I was hoping there was going to be some 'easy' way of removing it - like using metho or something (petrol is close, but not sure if I'm confident using that). Thanks again. Ceebs Re: Removing excess rubber sealant 4Oct 20, 2010 8:26 pm you're welcome.. try acetone it won't leave any residue, caulkers use it to clean an area before they caulk, I'm just not sure if it'll remove excess, but worth a try. ..let me know how it goes.. cheers Re: Removing excess rubber sealant 5Oct 20, 2010 8:30 pm Ceebs Hi folks When the builders installed the bathroom mirrors/vanity etc (in both bathrooms), they ran a line of rubber silicone sealant at the bottom of the mirror - all good. But when they wiped it to smooth it in, they have left a film on the bottom of the mirror (and a bit on the taps). It makes it look like I haven't cleaned the mirrors properly. Does anyone know how I can remove this? it is just like a film of it, it's not a blob I can pick off. Thanks, Ceebs Just scrape it with a blade Re: Removing excess rubber sealant 6Oct 21, 2010 10:12 pm Hi Grinder, Not sure I could - a) I would be worried I would scratch the glass, and b) it's such a fine film that it's not like I could get a purchase underneath and scrape/peel it off, I would need to really scratch it off and hence might scratch the glass. At the moment, it just looks like a dirty/foggy/uncleaned patch on the mirror, it isn't obviously sealant - hence not enough to scratch off with a blade I don't think. A 'smear' if you like . Thanks for the suggestion though, and who knows, might pull out a blade and give it a shot if nothing else does the trick. Ceebs Re: Removing excess rubber sealant 7Oct 22, 2010 12:13 am Ceebs Thanks for the suggestion though, and who knows, might pull out a blade and give it a shot if nothing else does the trick. A blade is the first thing I thought of too. We used to use them all the time on fish tanks to get rid of algae. We never had any probs with scratching. However, if you are going to try one, then try it on an inconspicuous part first. At least that way you'll get an idea if it'll scratch or not. Best of luck, Chris Re: Removing excess rubber sealant 8Oct 22, 2010 7:41 am We had it smeared on tiles and glass. I just used a blade and it came off perfectly without scratching. Just take your time and be careful The only thing I'm struggling with is some horrible silver looking pencil (it's not pencil as it's hard to remove) off some of our floor tiles. No idea what it is. Life is; then you tell yourself a story. Re: Removing excess rubber sealant 9Oct 22, 2010 9:07 am Don't bother with proprietary potions to remove silicone residue, they don't work. Silicone is too inert once its gone off to be cleaned unless you use some really nasty stuff like MEK. You can, as already suggested, scrape it with a blade or just rub it hard with green kitchen pad. Silicone doesn't actually stick that well and so its pretty easy to get it moving with a bit of rubbing. If its Sikaflex or some other polyurathane, you've got a harder job on your hands... Good luck. -------------------------------------- I'll have a go at that, how hard can it be? PM me your email. I have a build excavation calculator you can use based on your plans to double check what your builder is telling you. Cheers Simeon 1 10484 Hi there, looking to have a gym in a new build. Planning to install some sort of rubber mat flooring (on concrete) i.e. Asking the builder to not do floorboards in the gym… 0 2411 6 11451 |