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How you keep silicone caulk from drying out is one of the most hotly contested topics amongst contractors and DIY enthusiasts alike. While many tubes of silicone come with a cap, that cap on its own is rarely enough to continue the air out of the tube in one case information technology's opened. Since air speeds up the drying process, there are a few tricks y'all can use to plug the nozzle and protect the unused silicone. Go along in listen, even if you lot do get a good seal, the silicone will nevertheless dry out out over fourth dimension. Use your tube of silicone before the expiration appointment if you tin can.[one]

  1. i

    Cut a vertical seam on i side of the nozzle with a utility knife. Make clean the nozzle off with a rag to remove whatever drips. Then, take the tube out of the gun and lay information technology sideways on a stable surface. Caryatid it against the table with your non-dominant mitt. Grab a utility knife and puncture the base of the nozzle with the tip of your blade. Drag the blade upwardly to cutting a straight line through i side of the nozzle, all the way through the tip.[2]

    • You're going to re-record the nozzle when you utilize it in the future. This cutting won't cause any futurity leaks or impairment the silicone or annihilation like that.
    • Practice not cutting all the manner through to the other side. What you're doing here is making it easier to remove silicone from the nozzle once it dries out. If you lot cut all the style through, this won't piece of work.
    • This is likely the most efficient method, merely it does require a bit more than time than the other options. It's also likely unnecessary if yous plan on reusing your silicone tube within the adjacent couple of days.

  2. 2

    Wrap the nozzle tight with electrical or masking tape. Once you've finished your cut, take hold of a roll of electrical tape. Masking tape will work as well. Starting at the base of operations, wrap the tape around the nozzle tightly. Continue working your way upwardly to wrap the nozzle in a series of concentric layers of tape. Leave the very tip of the nozzle open.[3]

    • When you cut the nozzle, you lot released the pressure level inside. Air may have crept inside, and so don't record the tip off just yet.

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  3. three

    Squeeze a fleck of silicone out to fill the nozzle entirely. Put the tube back into the caulk gun. Tighten the hook against the back of the tube and point the tip on a flake slice of forest or a paper plate. Pull the trigger on your gun once or twice and let the silicone spill out.[iv]

    • This will fill up in the nozzle with silicone entirely and keep any air pockets from getting trapped inside.

  4. 4

    Tape the tip off and store your silicone. In one case you've filled the nozzle out, grab another piece of tape and wrap it over the tip of the nozzle. This will keep some of the air out, but the good news is that you don't really intendance if a petty air gets inside. Removing whatever silicone that dries out in the nozzle will be easy equally pie.[v]

    • Yous can just fold a piece of record vertically over the tip. Alternatively, you can wrap the tip past pulling the tape effectually the opening in a circumvolve and squeezing the agglutinative sides together at the top. Either option volition work just fine.

  5. 5

    Push the dry silicone out with a screwdriver to reuse information technology. Once you're ready to reuse the caulk, peel off all of the record and take hold of a flathead screwdriver. Virtually the base of the nozzle, push the tip of your screwdriver into the slit you cut. Use your screwdriver to pry out the dried chunks of silicone inside of your nozzle. So, re-tape the nozzle tight with electric tape to close up the slit and put the tube back into your gun to reuse it.[six]

    • You may get a little resistance at start, merely the pressure from the screwdriver should be more than than enough to knock the dry silicone out.

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  1. 1

    Rub a pea-sized drop of petroleum jelly inside the silicone cap. Take the tube out of the caulk gun and set information technology downwards upright with the nozzle pointing upwards. Wipe the nozzle downwardly with a rag to remove any silicone. Then, grab the cap that came with your tube and fill the inside of that cap with petroleum jelly. This will keep moisture from sneaking inside of the tube when you put the cap on.[seven]

    • This is your all-time bet if your silicone tube came with a cap. Your silicone should stay usable all the way up to the expiration date. However, if you lot lost the cap or your tube didn't come with one, you can't really employ this method.
    • If you simply put the cap on top of the nozzle and leave it, the silicone is going to cure to the cap. These caps aren't airtight, so your tube won't be reusable.

  2. 2

    Slide the cap on meridian of the nozzle. Put the cap on the nozzle the aforementioned manner information technology came with the tube. Push it down and let whatever excess petroleum jelly clasp out from the bottom. Once you lot've pushed the cap all the way down, employ your finger or a rag to wipe away whatever excess petroleum jelly that'south sticking to the uncapped portion of the nozzle.[8]

  3. 3

    Use electrical tape to secure the cap to the nozzle. Grab a whorl of electrical tape and start wrapping the record around the base of the nozzle. Work your way upward in a series of concentric layers until you get to the tip. Carefully wrap the tip up along with the rest of the nozzle without lifting information technology off of the opening. One time the record fully covers the cap, you can set the tube bated for storage.[ix]

    • You could endeavor to use masking tape here, only information technology may not stick to the tip very well if there'south whatever residue from the petroleum jelly on the plastic.

  4. 4

    Remove the tape and cap to reuse the silicone. When you want to utilize the tube again, peel off the electrical tape. The cap should pop correct off. Catch a rag and wipe the excess petroleum jelly off of the nozzle. Put information technology back in your caulk gun and you should be set to go.[10]

    • If the silicone won't come out, grab a nail or thumbtack that's thinner than the opening on the nozzle and repeatedly push it into the opening to break the dry silicone upwards.

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  1. 1

    Slide the plastic bag over the tip of your silicone tube's nozzle. Practice non take the silicone tube out of the caulk gun. Wipe it make clean with a rag and grab a bones plastic bag. Wrap the handbag around the nozzle and let the excess plastic stick out at the sides.[11]

    • This option tends to work well, although your nozzle may dry quickly if y'all don't get plenty air out of the bag before you seal it.
    • Yous tin also use a sheet of plastic wrap if you don't have a plastic pocketbook laying effectually. Information technology'due south the same process either way.

  2. 2

    Push the air out of the pocketbook while leaving a small gap for the silicone. Keep readjusting the handbag and squeezing the tip to button the air out through the base of the nozzle, taking care non to puncture the bag. Leave a small pocket of infinite between the tip and the plastic bag. One time you've got a small gap built upwardly and the excess air is out, utilize your not-ascendant hand to compression the bag around the eye of the nozzle.[12]

  3. iii

    Squeeze the caulk gun to drive to fill up the tip upward with silicone. Requite the handle a few gentle pulls to slowly drive some of the silicone out of the tip. Keep your not-ascendant hand effectually the nozzle to go on it from leaking out and fill up the small pocket between the purse and the tip up with silicone.[13]

    • Silicone will go on pushing out of the nozzle if you maintain any force per unit area, so unlock the hook at the end of the caulk gun to completely relieve the pressure once you've got plenty silicone in the bag.
    • And then long as the gap between the nozzle and the plastic bag is totally filled with silicone, you're practiced to go.

  4. 4

    Secure the bag to the nozzle with a few safety bands. Go along your not-ascendant manus pinched around the nozzle and the bag. Wrap a few safety bands effectually the middle of the nozzle and the bag a few times to secure it. The silicone that'due south sticking out of your nozzle will dry out out in a few days and block the opening to the tube. This will keep the silicone inside of your tube from drying out.[14]

    • Unhook the caulk gun or take the tube out of the gun when you're done.
    • Be sure to store your caulk tube sideways once the purse is tied off. If you store it at an angle, more silicone may leak out of the tip, or some silicone from the handbag may baste inside of the tube and speed upwardly the drying process.

  5. 5

    Remove the bag and skin off the dried silicone to reuse information technology. One time y'all're ready to reuse the silicone, take the rubber bands off and remove the plastic pocketbook (information technology may stick a bit to the silicone). Use your hands to peel off the ball of dried-out silicone from the tip of the nozzle. Reload your silicone in the caulk gun and get to work![15]

    • If it'southward withal a little soft and malleable, information technology'south a proficient sign that your silicone is ready to go.
    • If the silicone at the tip is totally dried out, you may need to recut the nozzle with a utility pocketknife to make a bigger opening.

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  1. 1

    Choose a nail that'due south simply a pilus thicker than the opening at the cease of the silicone tube. You can use a screw instead of a nail if you prefer. You're going to fill up in the nozzle with this nail to plug the opening.[16] The silicone may dry out out around the nail, but yous'll remove information technology with a bit of force to clear the blockage.[17]

    • This doesn't always work if you cutting the tip of your tube off at a abrupt angle since some air tin can get into the tube through a gap. Y'all can cut the tip straight off before using the tube to make this work better, although you'll sacrifice some accuracy if you're sealing any corners if you practice this.
    • This is probably the most popular method among folks in construction, only they tend to go through tubes of caulk fairly rapidly. The nail or screw tin can get stuck to the silicone and information technology can be a big of a hurting to get it out if you shop the caulk for more than a few days.[18]

  2. 2

    Slide the nail into the opening at the end of the nozzle. Wipe the nozzle clean with a rag. So, hold the pointy tip of the nail or screw over the opening of the nozzle and push it in. Slide it in a few millimeters until the tapered portion of the screw or nail catches on the rim of the nozzle.[19]

    • If the nail goes in all the mode without whatsoever resistance any, it ways that your smash is besides small. Catch a bigger blast and repeat this process.

  3. 3

    Push or tap the nail in equally far as it will go and tape it up. If there'southward a bit of requite, just physically push the nail all the style in. Alternatively, you can gently tap the back of the blast with a small safety mallet, or flip the tube upside down and push button the head of the nail into a flat surface to force it in. Push it down all the way so that the head of the nail is resting against the nozzle. Put a strip of duct tape or electrical record around the tip to go along air from sneaking in.[20]

    • If you just can't force the nail in and you've used your tube more than in one case already, it's a sign that it has already started to dry out. You tin effort a different method here, simply your silicone may not exist long for this world.

  4. 4

    Remove the boom or screw with a bit of force to reuse the silicone. To reuse the silicone, remove the tape and grab the head of the nail or spiral. Caryatid the tube with your not-dominant hand and pull the nail out. If y'all demand to utilize more strength, try tugging the smash out with some channel locks or pliers and rip it out carefully. Once information technology'south out, put the tube in your gun and squeeze out any dried-out chunks to go the silicone flowing again.[21]

    • If y'all get the screw or nail out but you can't squeeze whatever new silicone out, some of information technology has dried inside of the nozzle and it's blocking fresh silicone from coming out. Grab a blast that's thinner than your nozzle and poke it inside of the tube repeatedly to break the blockage up.
    • Utilise your caulk before its expiration date. If information technology sits on the shelf for too long, you won't be able to get the nail or screw out.
    • If the screw or nail won't budge, information technology's fourth dimension for a new tube of silicone.

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Add New Question

  • Question

    How else can you protect your silicone?

    Ryaan Tuttle

    Ryaan Tuttle is a Dwelling Comeback Specialist and the CEO of Best Handyman Boston. With over 15 years of experience, Ryaan specializes in dwelling house improvement and property maintenance by leveraging technology and craftsmanship. Ryaan holds his Construction Supervisor and Home Improvement Contractor Licenses. Unlike most handyman contractors, Best Handyman Boston is licensed and insured. Boston Mag and LocalBest.com have named Best Handyman Boston the All-time Handyman in Boston.

    Ryaan Tuttle

    Home Improvement Specialist

    Expert Reply

    Hardware companies brand small caulking gun "condoms." You can buy a pack of those and put them over the terminate of your caulking gun.

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  • These methods should work for standard caulk also.

  • Y'all can tell if a tube of silicone is washed or not by squeezing the body of the tube. If it'southward totally hard, the silicone has dried out and yous need a new tube. If it's a little soft, you should exist able to revive it.[22]

  • Go along the silicone somewhere a piffling cooler when you're storing it. There'southward some evidence that keeping silicone at 45 °F (7 °C) or lower may prolong its shelf life.[23]

  • If you're only trying to keep the silicone from drying out for a few hours, merely wrap a bit of tape over the tip. Information technology won't cure within of the nozzle so fast that you lot can't leave it alone for a fiddling bit.

  • The less silicone there is left in the tube, the faster it will dry out. If your tube is less than half full, it may not be worth saving if you aren't going to use information technology soon.

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  • Silicon tubes have expiration dates printed on them. No thing how y'all store the tube, the silicone will dry out afterwards that date. Even if you never cut an opening into the nozzle, information technology volition just harden within of the tube.[24] Most tubes volition dry out 12 months after they've been manufactured.[25]

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Things You'll Need

  • Rag
  • Utility pocketknife
  • Electric or masking record
  • Rag
  • Silicone tube cap
  • Petroleum jelly
  • Electrical record
  • Rag
  • Plastic bag or plastic wrap
  • Safety bands
  • Rag
  • Nail or screw
  • Safety mallet (optional)
  • Channel locks or pliers (optional)

References

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