[celiner]

I need to remove and replace the silicone sealant used in my shower stall. The present sealant has turned black from mould. The enclosure is plastic coated fibreglass. What tool or product should I use?

Not too sure if this is the correct category for this question.

[speedball1]

I ran across this on the web. Hope it helps. Tom

After checking around, there's much that can be used to remove
silicone sealant if it's uncured, but once it's cured, nothing short
of commercial solvents will be able to dissolve it. On a fish tank
messageboard, one user describes how he takes apart old tanks sealed
with silicone sealant (linked below):

"Commercially lye dissolved in tetra hydro furan is used to remove
cured silicon
rubber. this is extremely nasty stuff..."

General Electric's Sealants & Adhesives website has information on
removing cured and uncured silicone and says it is VERY hard to
remove. They give step by step instructions for removing silicone
sealant on different types of surfaces such as wood, tile, etc.
(linked below) The recommend using mineral spirits and rubbing alcohol
which are less abrasive than the stuff used by the guys above, but
will probably take longer to dissolve. GE's step-by-steps rely on a
little bit of elbow grease to speed up the process.


Additional Links:

Silicone sealant removal thread:
Glass Tanks


Search Strategy:

"dissolve silicone" sealant on google:
://www.google.com/search?q=%22dissolve+silicone%22+sealant

[celiner]

Thank you for reply. Have read all this info as well on the web. I do not like to use chemicals so will just have to sit down and remove it by hand with a very sharp knife (very, very, carefully!! )