WD-40 versus silicone remover 

I was removing large beads of silicone from a spa skimmer that needed to be removed. Some areas were difficult to get to so I went online for some advise and spraying the silicone with wd 40 and letting it settle in for 30 mins made the job very easy. Thanks for the pointer!

I tried this and it worked just as well as the expensive silicone remover gel I have used in the past. Thanks for the tip!

By sheer chance I was on my way out to buy some No Nonsense sealant remover to remove some residue from a tile when I noticed this video, played it, dug out my WD40, and saved over £4 and an hour of my life on a wasted journey. It worked a treat. I've had one of those removal tools for years but it wouldn't budge the last few bits of stubborn sealant. After applying the WD40 it scraped off the rest very easily leaving a smooth tile. I cleaned the WD40 off with plain liquid soap and it is squeaky clean, no remnants I can tell. Swarfiga would have been my next attempt. Thanks for the tip.

That was amazingly helpful. Thank you very much for taking the time and effort to test that out.

Thank you for the demonstration. It would of been cool to see a 3rd set up with no products used (control) and just the tool. So we could compare the time saved. :)

My impression is that the silicone remover actually hurts the process, because it lowers the cohesive strength of the silicone, leading to it ripping apart and thus flexing around the tool. Probably better used for getting off silicone residue instead of chunks that force can be applied to.

Very convincing comparison ! Like I have said before, You certainly are gifted ! Thanks for another great video.

Simple but effective demonstration, this WD-40 uses seems unlimited! Thank you, plus the other positive comments were also helpful town ordinary DIY person.

Love your vids mate. dont normally comment much but after all i have learned from them i think its time i thanked you :)

Very useful demo, and I love WD40, thought the Labour of Love album was fantastic! They were never the same after Ali Campbell left. : )

You have just saved me hours of scraping a grove around a headlight on my truck. Someone had tried to reattach the headlight cover with silicone! After getting that cleaned out I will be using Flex Glue to put it back on!

after you had gone over the silicone with the scraper 1st or 2nd time apply the silicone remover again then scrape apply again then scrape. I bet it works even better by doing this way

Great video as always. I've used an expensive product like that before to remove silicone around a sink, I followed the instructions 100% and it was useless. Made more of a mess, I don't actually used any products to remove silicone anymore, I use a window scraper with a sharp blade, being extremely carefully not to scratch and surfaces though! Also if anyone tries the wd40 method (I will next time) I hope they use soapy water and remover the wd40! Other wise they'll have a hell of a time trying to silicone on wd40!

Which one do they use in silicone valley?

Impressive! Thx much for the very helpful video. Is the caulk removal took plastic for RV use?

Great solution - thanks. Also, re-sprayed and cleaned of the final residue layer with steel wool.

Just tried out the wd version as had nothing else in. Works a treat. Sprayed it on. Left a few mins. And could already see the silicone pulling away itself before I even started. .only difference is I used a metal wall paper scraper because I didnt have the actual correct tool but that worked fine too 😊 I just dug in the edge corner of it to slice threw it. Deffo reccomend the wd version if you have nothing else in. Great vid for amateurs like me 😊 now to get back to painting my tiles! 😫

Thanks for the test Chez - a surprising result that going to save me a few pennies. Have a great Easter!

In both demos, it was good, old fashioned elbow grease that really removed the silicone. I just did our shower stall and removed the old silicone with a scrapper. Quick and easy and no chemicals.

In your experience, please tell me - best mold resistant compound to cover the gaps between tiles? thanks!

Great tip, wish I'd seen this last week !! Will remember for next time.

Thanks for saving me so much time and effort with your very sound advise

Thanks for information, Never knew WD 40 could do that.. .....just awesome 😊

definitely works, thanks for the tip, I was finally able to remove some annoying residue from the textured tiles on the bathroom floor

What do you do when it's inside of tight bends where you can't fit a tool in there? like the inside corners of shower door frame.

I've re-caulked many showers and tubs with great success without using any type of silicone removal product. I find that for the majority of jobs, just a 1or 2 inch sharp putty knife does a great job. Also, a Dremel with a chisel attachment does a real nice job to get the majority of the old caulking out. I've tried WD-40, but then had issues removing all of the oily residue with mineral spirits, otherwise the caulk won't adhere properly. Also, when you are done putting down the bead, spray the bead with a mixture of dish soap and water before you swipe the caulking. It will make for an easy and smooth finish. Good luck to all!

Hi Ultimate Handyman - Is WD40 safe to use around the grout when doing this job? My grout is light grey and I am scared of it leaving a dark coloured mark/stain on it. Thanks

Good video. You went through a lot of work and money to create those demo samples. Thanks for the info.

Duz-all works great too! Its a rubbing compound with micro-abrasives for buffing out scratches but the wax base removes bug tar and I was surprised to see it made short work of the silicone caulk too!

a couple of perhaps important points. Firstly, without a control test (no chemicals) we can not tell if the WD-40 or the remover did anything at all. Secondly, and more important is that the both materials are topical (they go on the surface) so it is basic good method to remove as much silicone manually first... because (third point and the most important)... the idea is to remove the micron thin residue from the surfaces. If you want to reseal with new silicone the idea is for the silicone to bond to the clean surface... and it will not bond to old silicone. Even a paperthin coating left behind will ruin the bond and the silicone will fail. In the end you want the surfaces to be "squeaky clean". The WD40 will leave an oil residue that the silicone will not stick to. A good soap and water clean up might fix that... do not know myself. BTW... I used the benzenesulfonic acid based remover (appears to be same in video) which requires manual removal of most material first and then a minimum two times repeated coating and wipe (after 20 to 30 minutes)... I then clean up with Xylen to remove all residue. Squeaky Clean. Test surface materials first! The chemicals will melt most plastics!

So how about using on surface of fairly expense PVC Carrara white shower panels that I just buggered up by slamming rubber mallet having residue on it in process of adhering them to cement board with adhesive used ? Initially had used packing clear tape on edges of panels while making my cuts but extremely difficult pulling back off. Tried adding isopropyl alcohol and razor that helped somewhat but using hair spray prior and magic eraser sponge. Then using scuff pad really dulled and blemished panels so trying final cleaning and also need a quality pvc polish To restore to new look ??

Thank you, this is exactly what I needed to see today when searching for silicone sealant remover

hi there ultimate,i have to use grease on a new shaft for my strimmer which you recommend,thanks

I have watched all of these videos about silicone removal. Boy are they hard work. I have had some plastic gully laid along the length of my tiled patio in Spain 6 mtrs in fact and it has been baked by the hot sun for three years and it is/was thick and solid. I found a bottle of apple cider vinegar in the cupboard and literally drenched the whole run of silicone/mastic. After just five minutes it simply lost its adhesion and began to break down. I began to scrape it up. I was amazed! just need to go over it to remove the little residue with some white spirit. Job done. Don´t go wasting your money on so called chemicals to remove your old silicone. I reckon any kind of vinegar would work, just experiment.

Great tip WD 40 worked well to remove the silicone when I replaced our bath! again your videos helped with that too.

Hi Ultimate Handyman! Can I use WD40 to get silicone off my pvc skirting board in the bathroom? And does WD40 remove grout leftover on tiles? Thanks Deb

Thanks for that tip. A money saver as well as convenient! Phil

One 'water displacement' product removing a waterproof sealant...what a world. Thanks for the video and tip. (...love WD-40 myself...pity you can't drink it...)

A very timely video as I was about to do this very job. Thanks very much

Thank you very much for all the helpful info !! Great Vids !!

I use several tools for this job. The WD-40 worked well, left my hands soft n'all!! This time, I used a 99p yellow handled blade and a lino- cut tool red, which is good for the small gap . What I have found is the sharper the blade with a good point the easier the job, slide under the silicone around the bath edge .passing under the silicone, keep the knife flat against the bath edge, both hands on the handle, and be firm, then go along the tiled edge above doing the same. Use the lino cutter to push out the silicone and then clean up and a put some pure bleach on a cloth or paper towel leave to dry well before applying the fresh silicone. Make sure the area and bath is really clean, before applying the fresh silicone, that way you can get to an excellent professional finish. Hope you find my tip useful. There really is no quick method to do a decent job. The WD 40 helped the knife run more smoothly and made the enamel look shiny and polished. So thanks!

Wd40 seems more effective as the silicon comes away as a beed rather than in bits. I'm in the process of alterations in the kitchen so this video has helped tremendously. Thank you mate

My bathroom shower has like silicone around the cormers, but it all came off or lose from leaking. Whats the best paste or something to stop the water from leaking through to my room

Great job as always mate! Happy easter!

Will give this a shot, to be honest Ive used the silicon remover with mixed results, I just persevere with a window scraper. Tedious but you get there in the end. Thanks for the video!

Hi what is the best to use for a bos com fitting and bos rubber that drips sligtly? I have replaced the push fit rubber for the shower pipe and also changed the bos com push fitting rubber, saves paying to have a whole new soil pump just drips sligtly. also someone has installed one of the cement weld bos the wrong way around is this removable with having a new soil pipe? Many Thanks Ian

What is the best way to remove silicone on a flat tile either side of a joint. The tiles are not completely flat/shiny surface like porcelain, they have a slightly uneven rough surface. I am battling my ass off to get it completely off. Have tried with a scraper/blade and when it seems everything is removed, then few days later it attracts dirt again🤦‍♂️

Sir, I owe you beer. 😊🙏. Got an expensive Patagonia hiking fleece, ripped it on a thornbush. Used it for scruff, while regretting the loss of a good piece of clothing. Wife felt sorry for this and treated me to a brand new one, with strict instructions never to use it in the workshop. Got the old and new ones mixed up one day and got silicone sealant on it. Your video solved the problem, spray, leave two minutes, buff off with a paper kitchen towel. If using it for tile sealant, would follow up the WD40 with acetone or isopropyl to ensure follow up silicone stuck though. Cheers mate

great vid. iv heard that when re applying new sealeant the wd interfears with the bonding of the new sealeant. have u any experience with that

Great tip and great demo. Thanks a lot.

Any light on how well new sealant adhered after removal with these methods? Seems adhesion might possibly impacted by residual WD40

WD-40 does have a surprising amount of uses, worth a look on the net 🤔 The Swiss army of sprays

Now I am impressed, but will it get silicon out of my Polo Shirts? Perhaps a second spray of wd40 after the first pass with the tool would make removal of the stubborn areas easier?

Is this what we call "Silicone sealant" or "Silicone caulk" ? The former (used for aquariums and some bath stalls) is more like "pure silicone" and the latter (I think) has more latex in with the silicone. (Please correct me if I've got that wrong?) Thanks!

Won't the WD40 get under vinyl if you're working along the bottom of a fiberglass tub and with vinyl flooring? Also worried that one or both will get scratched.

WD-40 is almost impossible to *completely* remove from a surface. So, if you intend to reseal the gap, DO NOT use WD-40. The same properties that make it great at removing sealant will degrade any new sealant you put on. After a while, your new sealant will begin to peel away.

How would you clean everything after before applying fresh sealant? Meths? IPA?

Thanks to the people that recommended using WD-40 to remove silicone.Good luck with the DIY this Easter ;-)

We don't have the same definition of : "pretty easily"

Not the situation I was looking for. If you accidentally get silicone on other flat surfaces, how do you get it off after you scrape it and there is still silicone residue on there. What chemicals work to get the silicone residue off of the flat surfaces? How do you get all the residue off of glass and off of painted surfaces?

Thank you so much for the demonstration. I’ve learnt something which can be done diy.

NOW that you've cleaned the old caulking off ... will the the WD-40 residue have any effect on the installation of new caulking. In other words will the new silicone adhere to the tile and/or counter.

i just had CRC spray & sprayed it on the wet Silicon & it worked well, Thank you for saving my new favorite ACDC shirt

this looks great. however, the real test is how well will a new bead of silicon adhere to the vinyl and tile. how much clean-up is needed. wd40 should penetrate deeply and is oily?

Bit off the subject but how can I remove pink grip off plastic cladding its on my canopy

I wonder what would be a good solution to use to cleaning the WD40 residue off as to not effect the adhesion of new silicone.

Hi, nd thanks for ur video, ive been on over an hour trying t get old mouldy wet silicone off shower cubicle, god only knows how old this silicone is on my shower cubicle?I dont have the tool that uve got so using a palette knife, ive managed to get most of the old mouldy silicone off apart from a few stubborn bits, i didnt really wanna wet the silicone anymore than it already is wet with the mould and water underneath the mould, so im not gonna try using the WD40, also ur silicone looks relatively new looking, i wonder if it would come off as easily if it were old and mouldy and wet like mine is? Appreciate ur advice, Thankyou. Just wanted to point out that it wasnt me that applied this rubbish old silicone on the shower cubicle. i've bought the tape to apply so im hoping once i get the old rubbish silicone off, once its dried out im hoping im gonna be able to apply the tape, desperately need it to work coz i need a shower desperately lol, aint been in the shower since god knows when, she says smelling a bit off lol, ive been getting washed at the sink though.

Can you use isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) to remove the wd40 before reapplying or does it have to be denatured alcohol?

what about just using the blade from a box cutter, and just lining it up by the tile and dragging it through? without any sprays?

Any chance you could tell me how to remove shower board glue off a bath. Don't want to use a metal blade. Thanks 👍👍

thanks! a good channel for very useful advice!

How do these compare to no silicone remover/WD-40? I’m left wondering if either is better than nothing at all since there is no control experiment.

HI but does anyone know what it is like to reseal the same joint after it has been cleaned this way

Worked like a charm. I removed 95% of the silicone with a scraper but the last part just wouldn’t come out. Sprayed wd40 > waited 15 mins and sand scraper 15 minutes later all residue was finally gone. Would methyl hydrate be the same as methylated spirits?

Isn't there a problem using WD-40 in that it leaves a residue if you intend resealing the joint?

How do you clean the WD40 off the tile once the silicone is gone??

I left the silicone remover on for 2 hours the last time I used it. The silicone was so easy to remove with that scraper after that.

great tip/never knew tht wd40 works for removing silicone/keep up the good work!

Are the items used good for removing silicon on an aquarium ?

When installing my countertops, they got silicone caulk on top of the counter. It's not a strip like that, it's smears. I can't hardly see them, but I can feel them. Any suggestions on how to get that off? Do you think WD-40 and a SOS pad would work?

Thank you so very much I am just about to remove the silicone caulking around the floor in our shower stall where it is now molding. It's a little tricky because the floor is small 1" square glass tile. I appreciate that you did a "controlled" experiment and showed us the results. Any idea how to remove the WD40 so it doesn't damage the new silicone caulk?

How do I need to clean the WD40 to prepare for the new silicone to be laid?

To remove the residue of either product, use methylated spirit or alcohol to ensure no oily residue otherwise the silicon sealant won’t bond

Thank you so much, that has helped loads.

How do you remove all traces of the WD40 prior to a new application of silicone?

Does all that scrapping silicon off process leaves scratches on the surface of tiles?

What tool ate you using to scrape the caulk off

It would have been interesting to have a third setup and just use the tool to see the result. I think it would have been comparable to the products used. Anyway you look at it, removing silicone is a time-consuming PAIN!

With that special tool is there any need to use either silicon remover or wd40? Is it not the tool that is removing the silicon?

Will this WD-40 harm expensive tile?

this video is the real no-nonsense. good work

I have a can in my truck, house,and work shop. WD40 can also be used on things stuck to the hands and more than likely it'll come off with ease.Saying it has thousands of uses probably is an understatement.

I need to remove old silicone from the beading around the top my bath(where it meets the tiles) and reseal it. The last person who sealed it made a bit of a mess, sealant overloaded in the corners etc. I have the same tool as shown in the video and another plastic tool for smoothing the silicone after application. I want to keep the beading that's there already. I'm a very average at DIY. Anyone got any tips/tricks please.

Should've done 1 test without treatment just with the tool itself. Great video keep up the good work.

What do you think of Cauking Strip instead of Silicone?

Interesting use of WD40 but it would of been useful to know, how long you leave it on before removing silicone?

Interesting find , Thanks man !

Neither product removes silicone,it just lubricates and makes the tool a little easier to push along.I remove hundreds of metres of silicone each year from around baths ,basins and kitchen worktops,it can only be removed mechanically, I use a small woodwork chisel.

ps/ will the wd40 not prevent the new silicone from sticking?

I've got an Acrylic Bath, will WD40 damage it? Also is that scrapper you're using plastic or metal?