Shower Water Beading

[Diyhubby]

Beginner here - removed old/mouldy sealant from shower and resealed with some Selleys Wet Area Silicone Sealant. Let it set for 3 days and after first shower am now getting water beading around edges of shower floor. Is this normal, or have I done soemthing wrong? It never did this before.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Externally of your shower area eg where’s supposed to be dry ?

 

[Basher]

Or have you ended up with a thin film of silicone sealant on the surface of the floor itself, instead of just in the gap around the edge you intended to seal?

 

[Diyhubby]

Externally of your shower area eg where’s supposed to be dry ?

On the internal shower area floor itself, but specifically just around the edges

 

[Diyhubby]

Or have you ended up with a thin film of silicone sealant on the surface of the floor itself, instead of just in the gap around the edge you intended to seal?

That was my first thought, but i have both scraped and used mineral turpentine on the area to ensure there is no residual sealant anywhere

 

[ShaunCorbs]

That’s normal then I’m guessing you used some soapy water to smooth the silicon etc first clean should mostly disappear

 

[Basher]

That was my first thought, but i have both scraped and used mineral turpentine on the area to ensure there is no residual sealant anywhere

I've only used off-the-shelf silicone sealant remover products myself.

I saw an old post on another forum that said: "I wouldn't recommend using the paint thinner mineral spirits. It leaves a petroleum residue that will have to be cleaned off with acetone or some other strong cleaner."

Maybe it is actually the residue from the turpentine that is causing the beading? You could try applying a solvent for petroleum to check!

 

[Ben-gee]

Hmmm turps is not a good product for this, has the silicone adhered properly?

I always use isopropanol prior to silicone and it prepares the surface very well, no residue, no problems.

 

[Basher]

Hmmm turps is not a good product for this, has the silicone adhered properly?

I always use isopropanol prior to silicone and it prepares the surface very well, no residue, no problems.

I read it that the OP used turpentine to clean off after applying the sealant, and maybe after it had cured, though not certain about the latter.
It seems to be a 'thing' on the web to use turps to remove cured sealant (though I've never tried it!) , and the quote in my post #7 was someone suggesting turps was not good to use to clean up after the sealant has cured, because of the petroleum residue it left. At least that's how I interpreted it.

 

[diyhubby]

That’s normal then I’m guessing you used some soapy water to smooth the silicon etc first clean should mostly disappear

I did, yes. Have cleaned the area several times and yet the water is still beading

 

[diyhubby]

I've only used off-the-shelf silicone sealant remover products myself.

I saw an old post on another forum that said: "I wouldn't recommend using the paint thinner mineral spirits. It leaves a petroleum residue that will have to be cleaned off with acetone or some other strong cleaner."

Maybe it is actually the residue from the turpentine that is causing the beading? You could try applying a solvent for petroleum to check!

The instructions on the silicone sealant said to use turps, so as a complete beginner that's what I did! I feel like this might be the issue, as the beading is only occurring around the edges, which is where the turps was used...

 

[diyhubby]

Hmmm turps is not a good product for this, has the silicone adhered properly?

I always use isopropanol prior to silicone and it prepares the surface very well, no residue, no problems.

From what I can see, it appears to have adhered - there's no lifting or leaking. If I was to try and peel it off with my finger, I can't. So I'm confident that it has actually adhered properly. Good tip about the isopropanol though

 

[diyhubby]

I read it that the OP used turpentine to clean off after applying the sealant, and maybe after it had cured, though not certain about the latter.
It seems to be a 'thing' on the web to use turps to remove cured sealant (though I've never tried it!) , and the quote in my post #7 was someone suggesting turps was not good to use to clean up after the sealant has cured, because of the petroleum residue it left. At least that's how I interpreted it.

That's correct. After applying the sealant, I used some turps on a rag to clean away the excess/mess. This was basically straight away after applying, so long before it had cured. Again, the beading is only occurring where the turps was applied, so I will look at a stronger cleaner to see if that can be removed

 

[diyhubby]

I've only used off-the-shelf silicone sealant remover products myself.

I saw an old post on another forum that said: "I wouldn't recommend using the paint thinner mineral spirits. It leaves a petroleum residue that will have to be cleaned off with acetone or some other strong cleaner."

Maybe it is actually the residue from the turpentine that is causing the beading? You could try applying a solvent for petroleum to check!

If you've got any product recommendations, I'm all ears

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Tbh I wouldn’t worry about it

 

[Basher]

If you've got any product recommendations, I'm all ears

Acetone. It's a constituent of nail varnish remover, but that can also have other ingredients. If there's anyone in your household with nail varnish remover, you could try a patch with that.
otherwise: Acetone 99.5% BP Letterbox Friendly - https://apcpure.com/product/acetone-99-5-bp-letterbox-friendly/?