Great tips. A 'slightly' less messy way to get to the good goo in a part cured tube is to just drill through the cured material to create a fresh path, flush the 'kerf' out and fit a new nozzle (and often the cured sealant plug will pull easily out of a used nozzle).
I can't believe a didn't see the diy version! I put kitchen plastic wrap around the nozzle and squeeze a little bit of material from the tube forming a "blob cap" that gets trapped in the film sealing the tube, later I remove the dried top and its ready to use, so far worked fine for me. This is one of my favorite channels on yt, thanks for your content it's really informative and entertaining.
I run a small building team in the NHS where we fit home adaptations including occasional wall mounted shower chairs and grab handles. We don't use enough silicone to warrant wielding a gun and had boxes of spare refills going off in the store or van. We now use toothpaste tubes of sealants - much more easily carried in a tool-bag and our spend has reduced by 75%
@@meetim2931 not theory. I have a team of 6 Technicians using them daily for over 3 years since we switched from the guns ;;; works well for us and saved a fortune. They'd soon let me know if there was a problem
Hi Stuart, I’ve been using those caulk cap covers for well over a year. They do “nearly work”. I have had far better results combining taping the end of the tube and then fitting the caulk cap cover over the top. Another thing I do is cut off the ring tab around the tapered tube. This is for transport I think and that then allows the tapered tube to be screwed on more fully. One more thread.
Guys, just throw your opened sealant and adhesives into the freezer! It just works! You don't even need to close the nozzles or use condoms if you don't want to! The sealant/adhesives react with the water (humidity) in the air, not the air itself! A freezer is for the most part a zero humidity(no liquid water) environment. You will lose nothing by trying it! I've got sealant /adhesives in my freezer that is still usable after 7 years! Using the freezer even works for my opened superglue ( cyanocryalate) which is still usable after 3 years! Maybe Proper DiY could do a show and tell on using the freezer for preserving sealants /adhesives and CC!
Thank you!! I just bought an upright freezer, so have extra space. Last time I needed sealant, I cut a used cartridge in half. Do you let it sit to thaw before using, or does it stay pretty pliable? Are there any sealants that get wrecked through freezing that you know of? I know some paints and products say not to freeze. I’m assuming anything with water in it would potentially separate and form water crystals…
Hi Toni. I have only put sealant, sealant adhesive and superglue in the freezer. It is cold coming from the freezer, but immediately pliable and useable on the intended surfaces! It's a nice feeling knowing that the sealant and CC is immediately useable when needed even after a few years! Good luck!
Was going to say the same. If the freezer isn't working out, put the entire cartridge in a bag, put in silica moist absorber pack suck out remaining air and put a tight knot in it. Those rubber caps wont work for years, the seal around the nozzle threads and the plunger in the back of the cartridge aren't perfectly air tight but do seal for much thicker materials. Moist air still gets in and harden the silicone.
Seems a very good tip...I'll give it a go. Did you try with expanding foam?
3 месяца назад
You could as well take the cutoff part and clean that out heat it up a little and put it back on. No need to buy empty cartridges for that purpose. You could also take one from an empty cartridge that you used previously.
I learned the hard way that silicone sealant has a shelf life regardless of the use and closure of the tip. Check the date code stamped on the tube. If the seal and is past its date code, throw it out. When you use old silicone, understand that it may not ever set. I found this out when sealing a new shower cabinet with my son. After four days, the silicone was still wet to the touch. After a little research, I discovered information about the date code. We literally wiped away the old stuff and replaced it with newly purchased silicone. Total success.
Never seen that but handy to know. Often had an old unopened tube set solid. Guess it’s like old plaster that can do the same ( sets very fast or not at all)
Thats a very good point. For most jobs its by far best to use a new tube as it goes off more quickly which is important round sinks and shower trays which have to be used within hours. I tell my customers 'Never wipe it! as it makes ridges which never come out!
@MrJohnnyboyrebel I did the same thing when setting a sink in a vanity. What a mess. If the acetic acid evaporates, it won't catalyze or harden. I had never had it happen before and definitely learned the hard way.
Thank you for all these tips, very useful, I have thrown so many of these plastic tubes away with at least 75% of the contents still remaining, but had dried out, now I can hopefully keep these much longer and still be useful at a later date !
Thanks for all the good tips, as always. You convey great ideas for us mere DIYers, with a touch of welcome humour. Your channel is a fantastic source of knowledge and inspiration 👍
Great idea! That's all they are good for. You'd be better off with the tape. This guy must be making some money promoting these products. None of them will stop the curing in the nozzle. Almost all of his tubes have the removable nozzle option. Why not do what he suggested in the first place? It must be standard across the pond, cause here in the US the nozzles cannot be removed. So I just put a cut off piece of coat hanger with a wrap of duct tape at the top and it keeps a pathway for the good caulk to travel. I do have 1 or maybe 2 Male friends that could use those "condoms " on a hot date though!
@@dalehunt8191 I put a screw in and then tape that. Have yet to have even a nozzle I can't just use like I just cut it. (tip, once the screw is in place, I use one piece of tape sealed against itself that does the bulk of keeping the air out. I use a second longer piece of tape on top of that, mainly just to ensure the first piece does its job. I just use blue painters tape).
The only problem I've found with sawing ends off a tube, is that you get plastic saw dust in the product. A nightmare if it's something you're trying to get a clean finish on. Keep up the good work.
I’ve found a box cutter works best to cut the tube. Press the blade tip to penetrate the tube wall then slowly rotate the tube on the bench holding the box cutter steady. Just toss the dirty blade. Minimal cleanup and zero plastic bits in the caulking.
Take the nozzle off, push a 150mm screw into the bottom to purge the content, wrap in kitchen paper and clean the nozzle. For the tube, I use a hot glue gun to seal the tube, works everytime and takes a couple of mins. Been using this technique for years
How long does the hot glue keep it fresh? Do you make sure there is no air gap between the sealant and glue? Do you put a blob on the end or squeeze some glue in the nozzle and leave it at that?
@@Tonisuperfly ... Hello, Just be sure that the tip of the nozzel screw is clean and rougly 2 mm into the tube. I then set a plug of hot glue on it that looks simmilar to the original tube before one has opened it. It may well depend on what one is sealing, glue, sealant or what ever. As I stated above the last tube I repened was rougly a year old and still good.
@@Tonisuperfly i've had tubes of silicone that are re-usable up to a year later. I didn't do anything particularly special, wiped the top clean and just smother the end with hot glue. The nozzle I try to clean before it sets as best as I can.
Worth hanging onto used silicone tubes and nozzles, if you let them fully cure it's very easy to clean them out for reuse, never needed to buy an empty tube or nozzle this way. I've never thought to cut the top off a tube though, I have in the past drilled a hole in the side of a blocked tube and then squeezed the contents into an empty tube, that works well, just as messy as your method but a little more fiddly maybe. As for sealing nozzles I have also never really found a good method so just use electrical tape and expect to swap the nozzle. Silicone is the worst for clogging, acrylic products seem to keep find for months, maybe years with just tape.
Don’t throw away bunged up nozzles just screw a large screw into the ‘fat end’ and the cured sealant will just pull out. I’ve never had to buy replacement nozzles.
after working with every type of caulk and sealant known to man, I can guarantee you that the little red mini rubbers will not keep a solvent based sealant or cock from drying out through the rubber membrane for more than a few weeks. I have thrown away so much sealant from working on roofs and windows, because I tried everything under the sun and anything that was a plastic sheet or a rubber membrane of any thickness would simply not keep the solvent from leaching out and drying out the caulk in the nozzle. I probably had the best luck with various size screws and eye rings. I like the other gizmos you show though. Good video.
Caulk Cap Covers = No glove, no love. For short term re-use I have seen others submerge the nozzle in water. Ideal if your use is the next day or soon after.
One tip if you have a decent compressor and want to unblock a nozzle, take the nozzle off and press the air blower attachment onto the nozzle end to make a seal and then blow the contents out. Make sure you aim it into a bin as it can make a bit of a mess!
What i tend to do is when I'm finished with the job and there's still adhesive left or silicone I push some out of the end and seal it with the stuff already in the tube. Come back to it at a later date and pull it out. Works for me
I do that with black silicone we use to seal engine housings. Pull out the hard sealer, pump out the dick cheese for a few seconds and you're back in business.
Lots of people having success with drilling through the solid near the top of the tube. Could you stick a nut to a repair washer and clamp it all in the caulking gun. Then screw a long bolt into the tube until you break through to the good stuff? Let the pressure off before taking the bolt out though, to avoid the money shot.
Great tips, thank you. It occured to me that I have some rubber finger protectors, that I use over a plaster when I have cut myself. Thanks to you I have found another use for them.
In a shed or workshop you could store the tubes with the nozzle ends submerged in water in a bucket or paint kettle. It stops the air getting to it and curing the product. That is how I store my solvent based paint brushes when in use.
That is impressive. For all my years I have been removing the nozzle & putting a plastic membrane in between .... I had never thought of such a simple solution. Thanks.
I do the same. For emulsion brushes and rollers, I use zip-lock food bags, sealing almost all the way and using a cycle pump with a football inflation needle to extract the remaining air before finally sealing the bag. I've found this keeps brushes from drying out for over a week.
@@astrecks as a decorator I can recommend just wrapping them in a normal plastic bag without all the faffing about. They stay soft for at least a month.
Wrap some tae around the nozzle leaving a good space around the tip. Then squeeze some product out into that gap. The goal is to get a large grape sized blob all around the tip and slightly down the ouside of the nozzle contained on the tape. This will go off and self seal the tip.
If you use several tubes all at once, for example when fitting lots of skirting boards then reuse the nozzle from the first tube. That way you collect lots of spare unused nozzles.
For years now I have dipped mine in candle wax. I keep some wax in a small metal cup and warm it up and tip the tip a few times and I have not had a problem with tubes getting hard anymore. It also peels off every easy.
Good tips...but why buying extra nozzles and empty cartridges? What about re-using the old nozzles? I've done it - it's easy to remove the stuff once it's dried out. I've never reused the top of old cartridges (I just break them and take the stuff out (most of it anyway) and store in a plastic jar....but I do remember - the dried silicon come out easily from the cartridge too. In fact, from now on - I'll try to reuse the old cartridges and flare them to try your way (some learning from you then...but improved the extra mile for the environment and our pokets too). A lesson to anyone out there - (not just DIYers)....think twice before chucking stuff away.
The trouble with fitting a new top to the tube is that the empty tubes are quite expensive to buy. If you're cutting the top off, couldn't you clear out the set sealant and reuse the old top?
Exactly what I was thinking. The hardend tuff should be eay enough to pry out and discard, so the empty cut off top portion of the catridge should be re-usable in the same way. Just a thought.
Next time you use an entire cartridge, cut it in half as the new empty one was in the video, soak it and then clean it and keep it for when needed. Boom. Free new cartridge.
Love the suggestions. Unfortunately, the best one (replacing the nozzle) is a non-starter in the US as the nozzles are part of the tube and don't come off.
Tried the last one, the little rubber condom thing. Doesn't work. The sealant still goes off just the same. Nice idea though, just useless. It'll be interesting to see if the first two seals work.
Been using Little Red Caps for various sealing problems for 10-15 years. I really wish someone would make nozzles with curves, or flexible to go around a corner or ???
Great tips thanks Stuart. Looking at that last solution I suppose you could clean out the cut off end and flare that back over the end of the cut off tube for reuse, and just replace the nozzle with a new one, although sometimes the cone of cured silicon will pop out of the old one. Given the mess would be about the same it’s worth a try.
I wonder if you can re-use the top of the tube you cut off? Clean out the old contents, then heat it up and fit onto the remaining part of the tube. I've never tried that, but it might work. Could be worth a go before buying bare tubes. Might need a new nozzle.
Great video! Love the condom! In the operating room, we use sterile condoms for the light handles above the bed. Even after 40 years, every time a surgery tech asks for one, someone snickers.
Love those empty tubes. Makes me wonder if you couldn't cut the clogged end off, clean it out from inside, warm it up and put it back over the tube it came off. Don't think boiling water would be enough, need a hot air gun probably and might take too long to be worth it. I'll try it and see.
Rubber is surprisingly porous, which is why balloons deflate. The mini condoms will only work for a few weeks and maybe a few months and after that my guess is that there is no point having them.
Gosh those are all excellent ideas. Yet more inspired ideas that never occurred to me..... Anyway, re slipping the top of the empty tube over an old tube, I would think these new top parts can be had for free by simply saving and wiping out the tops of tubes which were fully depleted. I will be trying that from here on.
A nozzle that's been ruined previously with sealant/glue gone off in it makes a perfect end-cap for a new tube - just remember to mark it u so you don't try to use it!
i lke the example clue called sticks like sh*t im supprised stores would stock it, well now a days that is a few years back it wouldnt have been a big deal
@@bobbobberino2306 - If they're half the length, they'd literally be able to fit twice as many in the same space, simply by stacking them. And they would contain _less_ than half the sealant, so it would probably end up being more profitable. But, of course, it's not more profitable than selling you a _full_ tube and hoping you'll waste half and buy another one.
As we all know there is far too much plastic floating around the world, I'm no eco warrior but I find that the silicone in the sausage packs a far better way ,
What has worked for me so far is to simply remove the nozzle, take a knitting needle and poke around tube until I get deep inside. Once I reach the soft caulk, I just get a new nozzle and away I go on my merry way sealing up gaps again. I like the caulk condoms and will get a pack.
One thing to consider with stored/old tubes is any expiry date on the tube. I had the misfortune to use one which was out of date, the sealant line had lumps in which totally ruined the seal.
I have a few 'new' now old cartridges that I bought in case I needed them one day a good few years back, I am hoping in spite of the sell by date on them that these will still be as good as new!
Some very useful solutions. I knew one guy who always used cling film to seal tubes between uses. He was the one who also wrapped a paint roller tightly in a plastic bag to stop the paint drying overnight. Both ideas seemed to work well.
My top tip even cheaper.... Get a torx 100mm screw, impact driver and screw in the end and rotate till all that hard silicone has gone into lumps and then new nozzle, get all the gunk out and bobs your uncle 😊
I haven’t tried this yet, but I believe it would work perfectly. Get some beeswax and warm it in your hand and then use that to seal the nozzle. It’s impermeable to air and it sticks to plastic. I bet that works 100% Your tube fix is quite a good idea. Though I would probably use a heat gun
I've used those 'condom style' ones. The problem is, when you come back to the tube months down the line, their rubber has perished and split. Plus they're expensive for what they are.
Just drill into the tube s couple inches, sorted , less mess , no bits in the silicon from sawing . And it's free you don't have to buy anything . Or use the nozzles that come either screw on caps , cheap as on eBay .
I watched the video then a quick scroll through the comments, and was SHOCKED !! Not a single comment on the "MICRO CONDOMS" ! 😅😅 Very un-You Tube-like !!! A mature audience! GOOD VIDEO, TOO!
The "hot water" trick may pose a different problem - many polyurethane-based adhesives (the ones that can be used under water) are actually catalyzed by water. The residual condensate in your donor-tube 11:43 might end up catalyzing (curing/hardening) the rest of the tube by the next day.
I've been cutting the fingers off latex or vinyl gloves to use as mini-condoms for some time. Results are a bit hit and miss, but definitely increases drying time. I also have an old solid spiral corkscrew which I use to clear out clogged solid nozzles. Good vid!
In the US, most caulk/adhesive nozzles are fixed and not removable. A tip when working with dried caulk is to use isopropyl alcohol. It will dissolve the caulk (even silicon) so it can be wiped away. I put IA into a plastic squeeze bottle with a pivot top (not to be confused with a flip top) for easy application..
There is another possibility. Caulking profs use " sausages" of product in a caulking gun for that purpose . Sausages are cheaper ,so if you bye product by the box -it addsup. These caulking guns consist of a alu tube and have the normal configuration . Cut the top of the 13:38 hardenend tu be,empty it by pushing it with f.i. a screwdriver grip ON A SHEET OF GLADWRAP or saranwrap. Roll a sausage, ,twist the ends , frontload you caulking gun ,puncture the visible en of the sausage ,place the front end with a nozzle and Bob is yr uncle. Price of these caulking guns from € upwards
I place a piece of thick polythene bag, [compost or dog food bags, even crisp bags will do], over the top and screw the nozzle back on just as demonstrated at 2:54. You might lose the nozzle or have to dig out any set sealant but the tube will remain useful for long over a year. There is some exhaust fitting paste I used to fix fiberglass tape to my woodburner just last week. That tube was bought in 2020 to repair a friend's bus exhaust during the lockdown. The nozzle is set like stone but under the plastic sheet, the tube is fine and probably will be for four more years. There's a tube of Crystal clear Stixall hanging by my bench dated 29th Sept 2022 that I use once every few weeks to seal small solar lights, still fully workable since I opened it back in Feb or March last year. I've done this for decades without it ever failing.
All the cr@p this guy shows DOES NOT WORK. Maybe electrical tape or duct but duck and masking does not work. The best is just inverting the tube in a cup of water.
Great video but I think the whole retubing thing is only worth it for almost unused tubes or really expencive tubes. I have no clue about pricing where you live but here in sweden the tubes costs between 80-300 sek = 8-30 usd or 6-22 gbp I can´t find empty tubes here in sweden so I would have too import them. But lets say I was able too buy the 4 pack for the 14gbp =3.5gbp each =47sek. for one of the cheap once the cost of the new tube already cost more than a half filled tube is worth and the pre done tube a new is even more expencive than a new tube of most of the once I ussually use. Then we have too concider that you need somewhere too store these that is conveniant enough that you would rather do this than get a new tube. Then we have too value our time and all of a sudden this method is not worth it unless it is your last tube and all the stores are closed or it is one of the really expencive tubes that are almost full.
Are the condoms not the same as the packing tape (just more reusable)…..but if the tape doesn’t work, why would a condom? I also picked up a 3d printed cap with a thread and an o-ring seal on the main tube…..from eBay……works ok but not perfect
