Don't Throw Dried Silicone! Reuse Dried Silicone With This Method 

I have used the duct tape method to seal silicone tubes for as long as I can remember, must be 40+ years. works a treat.

Use those extra long golf tees and put in the end. Put a little wd - 40 on the tee for a release agent and stick it in and it will keep channel open through the dried up stuff . This works for a while but not for ever. Also works well with liquid nail, just dont forget the release agent wd -40. I like this video method as well. Will try it !!

Thanks for the excellent tips. Although strictly speaking we're not reusing the dried silicone, but that which has not yet dried.

Brilliant and of course I chucked out a load of "dried up tubes" only last month. Lesson learnt, thank you.

Once one has used some silicon from the tube, whether the large or the small, remove the spout and make a small indentation in the neck of the tube, with a pencil. Then smear a dollop of petroleum jelly into the indentation. This makes a perfect seal and I have experience the silicon remains usable for many weeks/months.

After years as an HVAC contractor, I learned how to prevent silicone from curing in the nozzle. Take a few inches of duct tape and spiral it around the nozzle to make it a few inches longer. Then squeeze the caulk into the extended tube and pinch it shut when it nears the end. How this works. The ascetic acid in the caulk reacts with oxygen to begin the cure process. By squeezing the caulk that has been exposed to air into the tape, it cures there but not back into the nozzle. This won't work forever, oxygen can get through the tape but it does let you reuse a tube once opened.

I just tried this and it works! 😮 cut the last few inches off a recently emptied tube and popped out the plunger (wouldn’t have worked if the tube was empty for very long). Figured out it helps to use the back end and plunger of the empty tube as a form to stretch the tip over, before putting it down over the full one. Also, you don’t need tape of it’s something like silicone. The residue will glue the two halves together.

Thought you were going to show us a use for a slug of dried up silicone maybe a vibration absorbing bushing. I have cut open old tubes before to salvage the still useable contents. Neat trick to make it gun-able again. Wish all tubes had the removable nozzle which greatly extends the open time life of a tube.

EXCELLENT!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I have taped the nozzle end for yrs, but it doesn't always work for any length of time...cutting open the tube & restructuring the nozzle end is amazing....LOL!!!

Silicone has an expiration date. If you have it longer than a year, yes you might still have some that has not hardened but if you try to use it, the silicone won’t cure.

THAT WAS SUPER USEFUL THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS VALUABLE VIDEO

Thank you! You saved me many of tubes.

I love your videos! Straight to the point, no talking, no stupid channel intros etc but HEAPS of useful information. I love the finger wag and thumb up, I always watch every time I see a notification from you, thanks!

Very slick tips !!! Well done 👍👍👍👌👌👌

Use the dried silicone to clean the sawdust out of sanding belts or discs and material out of grinding wheels or flap discs and cut off discs etc

Thanks a lot for showing us many tips for doing our day easier and funny.🤩🤩

Bit of cling film between the nozzle and tube also works (unless you leave the tube for years and then find a lump of bouncy silicone inside 😆)

You have no idea how many silicone tubes I have thrown away because they dried up. Thanks for the tips.

Congratulations to you for your Excellent Presentation. Not only helpful to the user, but also helps to stop unnecessary dumping of extra waste material.

What good usage can you do with dried silicone? I have 10+ completely dried tubes.

thank you for sharing useful knowledge

Great method for reusing dried silicone! It's such a shame to throw away perfectly good silicone just because it has hardened. Your video not only provides an effective solution but also saves money and reduces environmental impact. The tips and tricks you shared, along with the cautionary advice, demonstrate your expertise in the subject.

Is this good for urethane for windshield bonding too ?

Very good suggestions, thank you !!

After use, the nozzle of the silicone tube does not need any kind of separate plug. Instead, I hold the gun in front of me with the nozzle towards the floor and squeeze the trigger very little until I get a few centimeters of silicone out and it hangs straight down towards the floor the whole time. At the rear end of the gun, the piston rod curves into a hook, so I leave the whole gun hanging from some convenient place with this hook, and the piece of silicone hanging down from the nozzle dries into a plug. After it dries, maybe I'll move the pistol somewhere for storage. This way I have a plug that fits the nozzle perfectly, which prevents it from drying out deeper. When I need silicone, this little disposable plug is easy to remove and get to work.

Keep it in the freezer until you need to use it again. Works every time and lasts for a very long time

great tips i need it for superglue nips though they always dry up after first use any tips for those too? thx

great to see ideas like this as opposed to the throw away world we live in

Also taking the nozzle completely off after use and cleaning it out with toilet paper before it dries and putting a small screw cap (ie toothpaste cap) over the main threaded outlet usually works as well.

Another tip: store the tubes inside an airtight bag together with a good amount of desiccant, like silica gel packets (that aren't yet saturated, obviously). Silicone kit cures due to contact with humidity, so storing it inside a dry environment will make it harden much more slowly. Same goes for cyanoacrylate glue.

Get one of the red rubber tips for a few cents and you don't have to worry about this. Caulking shouldn't solidify in the tube unless you're storing it improperly or the tube is damaged.

How to convert dry silicone to usable soft. Any thinner will do?

Very useful tips. I didn't know that most of the tube could be salvaged. 🙂

예상은 했어요. 속은 안굳어있을거라는거. 저는 그냥 그래서 커버를 자르지는 않고 꼭지만 구멍뚫어서 다시쓰고 다음에도 또쓰고 해왔는데.^^ 그렇게 해도 몇번은 반복해서 쓰게되드라구요.^^ 이방법은 진짜 원초적이고 근본적인 방법인거 같네요.

Where in UK can you get empty tubes to cut up as he does at 1.19? Thanks.

That was helpful to this old lady. 😮 Thanks.

Another tip. At the open end nozzle tip, take cellophane wrap, a few square inches and tie it at the nozzle with a rubber band. Then squirt a small amount into the cellophane to make a small bubble. Since it is not exposed to air, it will stay soft till your next use. Just discard the amount in the cellophane.

Very clever. Good video.

Great idea, I learned a lot

Great tip, I had never thought to do this !

Muito boa suas dicas gostei muito. Aprendi também valeu forte abraço Deus abençoe

OK, so not reusing dried silicone but removing the dried stuff. Very useful in itself. But what when the whole tube has hardened? (happens very often)

I like that there is no waffling on about subscribe to this and click that....straight to the point, well shot clip :)

Thanks for these great ideas.

DID NOT SHOW "Reuse Dried Silicone" AT ALL, at no time was "DRY" silicon reused, misleading title, scam, whatever you want to call it

Valeu pela dica 👍

briliant dude some of those tricks i have done but not all ..thanks.

I don't get the shrink wrap bottle neck and using a bottle cap solution, surely that's going to leave a pocket of air around the tube which will simply accelerate curing?

Fantastic!

Eu sempre coloco uma fita crepe enrolada na ponta e sempre deu para utilizar depois

Wow. You are a genius. Thanks.

some great ideas thank you for that

Love this. Take a few minutes and don't be wasteful. More power to ya.

this guys got more time than money

Before you slip the water bottle over the silicone tube, run a bead of silicone to the inside of the water bottle. Then use the heat gun. It will insure a more airtight seal. 💖🌞🌵😷

WOW that's a great idea, put that in my brain bank, thanks !

Ein paar wirklich nette Tips. Aber was hat das Video mit trockenen Silikon zu tun? Da sehe ich keine Verwendung.

Hola , se agradecen los concejos , pero al final el título no va con lo que muestra , como utilizo la silicona seca , la saco y la dejo a un lado , pero no la recupero , otra cosa es que se seque la punta y la parte de adelante y se pueda gastar la parte de atrás , quitando el tapón delantero , muy amable , no caer en la trampa de la mayoría de RU-vidrs con los títulos , solo para llamar la atención 😅

Amazing tricks - thank you. I don't know how many times in the past i have thrown away silicone tubes that are half full.

I learned a little bit about this...... thanks

My tip is when finished unscre the top and put cellophane wrap over the hole then screw the top back on over it. The stuff inside the top will dry and need removing next time you use it but inside the bottle bit will be ready to go 👍

Very useful tips. However, despite how you seal the cartridge/tube after use it always solidifies after time. I suspect that once the silicone has been exposed to air then it commences an unstoppable reaction!

The ideas are so great, thank you channel owner

Thanks! Great Idea's!

All clever ideas. Another way to block the end of the nozzle is simply to keep the end bit that you cut off, then turn it round and push it into the end of the tube like a cork.

Sometimes, it's a $100.00 saddle on a $50.00 horse.

Bonjour ! Et un grand merci pour cette astuce, bravo à toi !!! Mr Didier.

Very good. Thank‘s for the Tip

Instead of using 2 tubes, couldn't you just cut the front lower, take out the dried silicone and reuse the front the way he used the front of the second tube?

Стоящие полезные советы. Спасибо тебе, хороший человек. Буду использовать👍

Good tips for storing. However, with any old silicone or mastic tubes, I just put a long 1/4'' drill into it, to see if there is anything usable. Keep the drill on while drilling into the tube -while squeezing the tube applicator. If nothing appears, bin the tube and try another.

Thank you very much !!!

Con todo esto entiendo que la silicona seca ya no sirve. Que sólo hay que evitar que se seque.

А где использование повторно засохшего силикона?

Nice idea, still I‘m wondering if it‘s worth the effort for a 3€ silicon cartridge.

Avoid dried out silicon by storing it in an air tight box together with activated silicagel. This reduces unwanting curing of the silicon by reducing water vapour. Water vapour is the curing agent. Second best is by wrapping the whole cartouhe tightly with aluminium foil to barr water vapour.

Some good tips, but I know from experience that the hook screwed into the end doesn't create a good enough seal to stop it from going off

Great idea! Be nice if the majority of caulk mfg.'s had screw off nozzles.

I've tried some of these ideas for keeping the tube from drying out. All that I've used Eventually still dry out. I might go Years without using some type of caulk. I wish I could see a Rating--how many months each idea is good for.

Thank you for this idea

While I applaud your non-wastefulness & willingness to get the very last bit of product, I think my boss would kill me if I spent that much time salvaging the last 1 1/2" of silicon from a tube instead of just cracking a new one.

Ценность, новизну и потрясающую глубину сей чУдной идеи крайне сложно переоценить... НО ! Один маленький нюанс : "высохший силикон", это - искусственный )(уй ! А на видосе - просто способ выработать тубу, когда она почти высохла ... )))

More than wonderful, very, very good luck and permanent success in your good work

Bonjour et merci 👍car encore une fois, de très bons et judicieux conseils 😊🙏 !

Теперь как повторно использовать пакетики для чая, пожалуйста!!!))))

А я наоборот немного оставляю чтобы высох. Засохшим(именно высохшим уже) прекрасно чистятся наждачные круги. Собственно уже много роликов на эту тему.

thanks for the good ideas!

Bonjour le Dépanneur et merci de cette vidéo instructive et bien pratique. Vos trucs et astuces sont ingénieuses 👍 ! Merci pour le partage, Michèle

А что с засохшим силиконом ?

the headline said how to re-use DRIED silicone - still waiting for the information on how - all you showed was how to seal the tube after opening - wasted time watching this - there are many ways to re-seal the tube - but your video headline said to re-use DRIED silicone - BAIT and SWITCH video - BIG LIE!

Not bad,Thanks for sharing again.( RCL veterans)🇨🇦🇺🇸🇫🇷🇹🇼

Genioooo muchas gracias amigo por enseñarme!!! Saludos cordiales desde Bs As Argentina

Спасибо, без слов, только необходимые советы из личного опыта, без выращивания лайков, подписок и желания выглядеть как маститый режиссер. Ещё раз спасибо.

А ещё можно заармировать, проварить хорошенько электродами по чугуну и залить бетоном. Затем обработать жидким стеклом и покрасить масляной краской... Сперва валиком, а потом макловицей, зашкурить и через час покрыть гудроном.

Is the time and efford worth to save a half tube that worth few bucks ?

Thanks, useful information.

Можно, кстати, еще накидать, фиг ли нет?)) Совершенно случайно помимо технического фена или клеевого пистолета, вдруг, нашелся еще и пистолет для монтажной пены? Презик. Спонтанный акт закончен!? А резко кинутый до того момента силикон засыхает? Не выкидывай! Подкуривались спичками, а напарник, вдруг, накопил на зажигалку!? Арсенала хватит на несколько коробок с силиконом!! Просто по приколу (?) тупо на кончике "запоял" сопло зажигалкой? (О, НЕЕЕТ! придется провести обрезание!!) Неприлично много заработали на прошлом объекте!? Наконец можно выкинуть одноразовую вилку из досирака! ИЛИ НЕТ!? (ЧЕТЫРЕ затычки, КАРЛ!!!) Напарник не ходил в детстве к стоматологу, не особо ухаживает за зубами и постоянно ковыряет в зубах?? Зубочистки!!! (ну, вы поняли) Услышал очень неудачный ремейк своей самой любимой песни по радио? Или просто случайно зацепился своими любимыми (но все еще проводными) наушниками!? Доселе застывший носик на новый одеть? Пластилином любит младший брат/племянник играть? Шариковая ручка перестала писать? В аэропорту цель визита просят назвать? Сосед слишком часто лишнего любит сказать!? Хватит терпеть это всё!.. ...вашу мать!!! Всмысле в "лайвхаке" забыли нам изоленту синюю показать!?.....

Столько ухищрений. А не проще ли было родной колпачек не проепать?

Thank you for the good idea! ❤

THANK YOU!!