Cleaning off excess silicone sealant?

[johnelliott]

Any suggestions? The ideal reply would be something non-smelly, safe and effective, and that would work on silicone that had not yet set and residue that tends to be left behind when removing with a tool silicone that has set

John

 

[PowerTool]

Haven't tried it,but screwfix do a silicon eater

Andrew

 

[wizer]

i've used that silicone eater and ti works pretty well. It will eat any silicone it touches tho, so be carfeul with it. Smells of lemons iirc :wink:

 

[Woody Alan]

When I fitted a sink waste, bedding it in with silicone...and then had to remove it again (don't ask) I had trouble getting the silicone off tried a scalpel which removed most I then tried an isopropyl alcohol wipe (used for cleaning pcb's, optic fibres etc)which did clean it up and also worked well when I refitted another waste to clean the uncured silicone around it. not sure how good it would be for large areas or thick excess. I would suggest wiping excess off with cloth and then clean. It is slightly smelly and evaporates fast.

Alan

 

[Jake]

Before it has set,there shouldn't be a problem if you use one of those silicone plastic squeezy things (like the Karl Dahm set here, well worth a tenner) and give the bead from the gun a quick spray of water with washing up liquid in it. Avoids all the mess, the excess just scrapes off on the tool.

Afterwards, silicone eater (but I've yet to have to use it).