How to remove silicone sealant from the floor?

Silicone is the best building sealant. Its properties of elasticity, durability and water resistance allow sealing of any surface. Lightness and ease of use, as well as the strength of protective seams, give it great popularity in use. However, with all its advantages, there is still one negative point - the sealant penetrates deep into the structure of the material. How to deal with traces of sloppy work and how to remove silicone sealant from the floor from tiles or other materials? This is what we will talk about in our article.

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Solvents for silicone sealant

In order to dissolve hardened silicone sealant, the following products are used:

• Aerosols - shake before use.
• Liquid - apply with a swab.
• Pastes - distributed using a small spatula.

When they are exposed, the silicone mass begins to soften and turn into an easily washable mixture, which is easily rubbed off.

Important! In some cases, under the influence of these substances, the treated surface is damaged. To avoid such troubles, it is advisable to conduct a trial application on a separate piece to check the harmlessness of the solvent for a specific base.

The structure of sealants can be different, therefore:

• Residues of acid foam can be eliminated with a concentrated 70% essence.
• Alcohol-based foam is removed with a 100% alcohol solution.
• The neutral sealant is perfectly eliminated by acetone, gasoline, white spirit.

Important! Without knowing the composition of the sealant, it is better to use factory products that are acceptable for different foams (Antisil, Penta - 840, Dow Corning DS-2025, Dow Corning OS-2).

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Remove from tile

Often there is a need to remove the silicone sealant from the tile, so you need to clean it from foam, combining chemical and mechanical methods. For this:

1. Remove a wide portion of material residues with a knife or razor. At the same time, try not to touch the tile or the bath itself.
2. Apply dissolving agent to sealant residue.
3. Soak for 2-3 hours.
4. After softening, the foam should become like jelly - pry it off with a knife and completely remove from the tile.
5. Next wipe the sealant with a dry cloth.

Important! Sometimes it happens that after cleansing, a dark stain appears on the surface, which can be removed using table salt, previously wrapped in a wet towel.

In some cases, the sealant may not be removed with a hollow tape. This may be due to the wrong softener or the not very good quality of the sealant itself. Then you need to treat the surface with a cloth soaked with solvent several times, achieving rolling of the sealant. After - you need to remove the formed pellets with a rag.

Important! If silicone is removed from the porous tile, the softened sealant is removed by means of a sharp scraper or pumice.

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Remove from acrylic bath

The surface of the acrylic bath is extremely sensitive to any mechanical stress, so you need to know how to remove the silicone sealant from the acrylic bath so as not to damage it. To do this, proceed as follows:

1. Apply special agents to the hardened sealant: white spirit or Dow Corning OS-2.
2. After softening the foam, remove it with a wooden scraper.
3. Remove any remaining marks with a rag.

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Remove from plastic

Since silicone has not too much adhesion to plastic, it is very simple to remove from such a surface using any of the above foam solvents:

• First apply on foam
• Soak for about an hour.
• After the specified time, rinse with any degreasing solution.

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Alternative cleaning method

To remove silicone sealant from the floor, you can use another method. True, it will be more expensive:

1. Reapply fresh sealant to one that has already set in a 1: 1 ratio.
2. After the old layer has softened, remove it with a spatula previously moistened with soapy water.
3. Wipe off small residues with a hard washcloth or foam sponge with detergents.

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Stock footage

Thus, removing silicone sealant from tiles, floors, countertops and other surfaces is not an easy task, so it is best to prevent such a building mixture from getting into any unwanted areas. When working, try to use gloves and a protective suit, apply sealant to small areas, squeezing it in small portions and protect the place where it should not be with polyethylene.