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14 Sep How to remove super glue from skin

So, how do you get super glue off your fingers and hands? Dropping super glue on fingers and other skin is not the end of the world, and can easily be cleaned off by following these simple steps.

Soak the affected area

If you do get super glue on your skin, the first thing to do is to soak the affected area in warm soapy water. If you act quickly, this may well be all that is needed in order to loosen the glue.

Consider adding vinegar to the soapy water. Its acidic properties will work against the agents of the glue.

                  Try an acetone-based nail polish remover

If the glue remains, an acetone-based nail polish remover should do the trick. Make sure it contains acetone, as this is needed in order to be effective. Dab the acetone gently into the glue until it is loosened and comes off.

Do not apply the acetone using any cotton-based material, like a cotton ball or cotton pad as this could become caught in the superglue.

File the glue away

If a small amount remains, gently use an emery board as a file to remove super glue from your skin. This is of course a tricky task, which needs to be done carefully to avoid damaging the skin.

If you find this tricky, ask someone to help you.

                  Use margarine if you have sensitive skin

A milder alternative, if you have sensitive skin and are concerned about the effects of the acetone, is to use margarine. Gently rub the margarine into the affected area until the glue comes away.

Make a salt and water paste

Another alternative to acetone (although less advisable if you have any cuts or damaged skin close by) is to add salt to a small amount of water to make a paste, and apply it to the affected area. Rub it in, rinse it away, and repeat the process if the glue lingers. If the glue is sticking two fingers together, rub the paste between the fingers until they gently come apart.

Use lemon juice for stubborn superglue

If you’ve followed our guide for how to get super glue off your hand put the glue is proving stubborn, try the method above using lemon juice rather than water. The acidic agents in lemon juice will work on the glue at the same time as the abrasive properties of the salt.

This method isn’t advisable if you have any cuts or damaged skin close by.

04 Sep How To Remove Caulk

Sometimes a little bleach is all you need to remove stains from caulk. If, however, the caulk around your tub is in a permanent state of funky discoloration, it’s time to remove and replace it. The same is true if the caulk is starting to lift and peel away from the surface. The caulk removal process is the same no matter what type of caulk you’re removing or what you intend to replace the old caulk with. There’s no magical removal method. All you can do is apply a chemical softener and then carefully dig the old caulk out of its groove.

SOURCE

28 Aug How to Remove Dried Wood Glue From Wood Projects?

11 Aug How to Caulk a Bathtub

If the caulk around your bathtub is cracking, old, or just in need of an update, applying new caulk yourself is easy to do. with a few tools from your local hardware store. Remove the existing caulk first, before setting a smooth, new layer to seal the seams. This easy fix will leave your bathtub looking fresh and clean in no time! .

Part 1

Removing Existing Caulk

Get a razor scraper to remove the old, existing caulk.

This tool will cleanly remove existing caulk with a simple scraping motion. Make sure that the blade is plastic, as a metal blade can scratch and damage plastic bathtubs.

• If you are installing a new bathtub, there won’t be any old caulk to remove! Skip this section and concentrate on applying new caulk.
• A utility knife is another option for a quick removal of caulk. Ensure that the blade is plastic.
• Although you can buy specialty caulk removers, these can damage plastic bathtubs. Fiberglass and acrylic tubs can also be easily scratched. Stick to plastic blades for these too.

Use sharp strokes to scrape away the old caulk.

Clean up the pieces of old caulk.

Wipe up and remove any pieces of caulk that you can see. Then vacuum the tub to remove any leftover, hidden pieces.

Wipe down the bathtub with denatured alcohol.

Use an old rag to wipe down all of the areas of the bathtub where caulk was with denatured alcohol. This will help to clean the surface in preparation to apply the new caulk.

• If there are any particularly stubborn pieces of caulk that won’t come away, then you can also use denatured alcohol to help remove these. Soak a rag in denatured alcohol and leave it resting over the caulk for 2 days. Then it should easily scrape away.

Use a bleach solution to remove any mildew or mold.

Mix ⅓ cup (80 ml) of bleach with 1 gallon (3.79 L) of water. Wear gloves and make sure the room is well-ventilated. Then, use a stiff brush to scrub the bathtub and the edges where the caulk used to be with the solution.

• Let this solution dry fully before applying the new caulk. Leaving it overnight and keeping it well-ventilated is best.
• If you have mold on your existing caulk, chances are it’s coming from moisture behind the caulk. New caulk won’t make your bathtub waterproof, so if you have a leak behind the shower, you’ll still need to fix that.

Part 2

Adding New Caulk

Purchase caulk made for use in bathrooms that is formulated for the type of tub you have.

Lay down strips of painter’s tape to get clean edges.

18 Jun How to Caulk the Kitchen Sink

Caulk can help keep water from seeping beneath the rim of your kitchen sink. Since it dries out and cracks over time, it needs to be replaced periodically to help keep the area it seals clean and dry.

Steps:

Make sure the rim of the sink is clean and dry.

Remove any old caulk from the rim with a utility knife.

Cut through the old caulk and pull it free from the rim.

Clean up the area with a paper towel soaked in rubbing alcohol to remove any old caulk residue and to ensure a clean surface ready to accept new caulk.

Let the sink’s rim and counter edge dry completely.

Apply painter’s tape to the counter next to the rim, leaving a thin gap for the caulk to be applied.

This will make clean up easier and ensure a straight, even caulk job.

Cut off the tip of the caulk tube with a utility knife.

Make the cut only as large as the opening around the sink to avoid having too much caulk come out at once.

Insert the tip of the caulk tube into a caulk gun and push the plunger of the gun up into the back.

Prime the tube by squeezing the trigger a few times until the caulk rises to the tip of the gun.

Place the tip of the gun against the edge of the sink’s rim where it meets the countertop.

Slowly squeeze the trigger to release a thin line of caulk around the edge of the rim.

Keep moving the gun as you squeeze the trigger, holding the tip of the gun tight up against the rim for a tight application.

Apply the caulk all the way around the rim of the sink from one end to the next.

Pull away the painter’s tape from the counter.

Wet your index finger and smooth the caulk against the edge of the rim and the counter.

This will provide a watertight seal. Press the caulk firmly against both edges of the rim and counter, sliding your finger as you go.

Re-wet your finger frequently to ensure it slides easily against the caulk.

Wet a paper towel with water.

Use the wet paper towel to wipe up any excess caulk or caulk that has strayed too far from the edge of the rim.

Let the caulk dry for at least 24 hours before using the sink and surrounding area to prevent it from getting wet too early.

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24 May How to Caulk Around a Toilet

Caulking around a toilet is usually done to hide the gap between the toilet’s base and the floor for cosmetic reasons or to prevent odor leakage. It’s not done to prevent water from leaking around the base; doing this would cause more harm than good. It’s a relatively simple home improvement project, but will require the right preparation beforehand. Caulk does require some cleanup and tooling after application to ensure an even, subtle seal.

Preparing the Surface for Caulking

Remove any old caulk

If your toilet already has a caulk seal around the base, you’ll want to remove it rather than apply caulk directly over it. You can find dedicated caulk removal tools in home improvement stores. Run this tool along the joint between the toilet and the floor to scrape out any old caulk.

• If you don’t have a caulk removal tool handy, you can also use a utility or razor knife to loosen the caulk at one end. Aim to pull it up in 1 long strip.
• You can make an old caulking job easier to clean up by applying commercial caulk removers before scraping. If you do, make sure to check the product’s label to prevent any possible damage to your floors or toilet.

Squeezing out the Caulk

Choose 100% silicone caulk

Caulk usually comes in a tube and 100% silicone caulk is best for use on a toilet since it’s more resistant to water than other types of caulk, such as acrylic. Silicone caulk is typically a bit more expensive than other types, but that extra money will save you the problems that come with an improper seal.

• It’s important to match the color of your caulk to your bathroom. White usually fits most styles, but you’ll still want to give this some thought.

Cleaning and Tooling the Sealant

Use a damp rag or sponge to clean up around the joint

You don’t need to apply any cleaning solution to the sponge; you’re relying on its absorbency to clean up any spilled caulk. Pass a damp rag or sponge lightly around the base of the toilet, picking up any caulk around the joint. Make as many passes as you need to clean up the joint, rinsing the sponge between passes.

source: https://www.wikihow.com/Caulk-Around-a-Toilet

04 May How to Remove Silicone Sealant

Whether you are protecting your bathroom tiles or sealing a window, silicone sealant is the material to use. Though it is super versatile and can be used on a variety of surfaces, this type of sealant will not last forever. When your sealant starts to loosen, crack, or fall off, you’ll need to scrape it out carefully with a utility knife or razor blade.

Removing Silicone Sealant from Bathroom Tiles

Clean the shower or bathtub. Remove any personal items and other shower accessories from the bathtub and place them somewhere out of the way. Wash the tiled area with the bathroom tile cleaner.

• Find a cleaner that will get rid of soap scum without leaving a residue.
• You can also use a mild dish detergent and hot water to clean the tiles.

Taking Sealant Off Glass

Removing Caulk from Wood

Source: https://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Silicone-Sealant

15 Mar What Solvent Will Clean Silicone?

Cured silicone is a notoriously difficult substance to remove from any surface. To get it off, you often have to resort to scraping and pulling, and the procedure can be painstaking. While you can find industrial silicone remover products, they’re not safe for home use. Instead, you can use a number of safer options, some of which you may already have.

Silicone Caulk Removal

Silicone caulk lasts for many years, but it does wear out, and when it does, you need to remove it before you can apply fresh caulk. Anyone who has ever done this knows that some household solvents soften silicone caulk, but none dissolves it. A common removal strategy is to soften the caulk with a generous amount of a softening agent and then cut it off with a knife or pull it off with pliers. After the bulk is gone, you typically use the same solvent in combination with a scouring pad to clean up the residue.

Softening Solvents

One item you may have on hand that helps soften silicone is mineral spirits, which is suitable to get silicone off of hard surfaces like tile, marble or concrete. For removing it from plastic or painted surfaces, however, you should use isopropyl alcohol, which won’t harm the surface. Regular alcohol you may have for home use may not be strong enough to do the job. Instead, try an industrial-grade isopropyl alcohol with 99 percent purity.

Other silicone solvent options include toluene and xylene. Always consider the material you’re cleaning when choosing a solvent to make sure they’re compatible. Test the solvent you choose on a hidden spot before you use it on a larger scale to make sure it doesn’t cause any damage. It’s also important to read the product instructions, follow all instructions and warnings, and allow for proper ventilation.

Silicone caulk has an odor that resembles vinegar because, like vinegar, it contains acetic acid. Consequently, white vinegar is another solvent you can use to soften it. It may not work as well as mineral spirits or alcohol, but it poses little danger to the substrate to which the caulk adheres. Rubbing a tabletop exposed to silicone wax with vinegar may safely remove some of the silicone.

Cutting Out the Bulk

Solvents such as vinegar or mineral spirits, and even stronger ones like lacquer thinner, swell cured silicone caulk. This loosens its adhesion to the substrate and makes the caulk easier to cut with a knife.

To remove stubborn caulk, you can either apply the solvent repeatedly or soak a rag and place the rag on the caulk. Once it softens, cutting as closely to the substrate as possible with a sharp knife while you pull the bead is the most efficient way to remove the bulk. Once that’s gone, a thin residue usually remains behind.

Removing Residue

The residue that remains after you’ve cut out the bulk of a bead of caulk can still prevent new caulk from adhering and must be removed. Rubbing it with sandpaper or an abrasive pad isn’t a good strategy because the caulk tends to form small balls that stick to each other and to the paper or pad. The best strategy is to soak the residue with more mineral spirits, alcohol or vinegar to further soften it and then scrape it with a pull scraper or sharp knife. Continue working on the residue using this strategy until it’s removed completely.

source: https://www.hunker.com/12623575/what-solvent-will-clean-silicone

10 Mar Easily Remove Silicone Caulk without Chemicals

How can you remove silicone caulk without the use of a chemical caulk remover?

This was the question on my mind since the caulk between our kitchen countertops and tile backsplash had more separations than Liz Taylor.

The last thing you want is to ruin an expensive countertop just to remove $5 worth of silicone caulk.

Here’s my solution: use a hair dryer and straight razor.

This idea couldn’t have worked any better and that’s why I’m sharing it with you.

Here are the supplies you need:

• Hair dryer (for real, just a normal hair dryer)
• Razor Scraper
• Cleaning gloves
• Clorox bleach
• Cleaning bucket
• Homax Caulk Tool
• Bowl to collect the old caulk
• These Amazon links help support HRT…Gracias

The only thing that’s missing is a hairspray bottle and flat-iron (queue commercial for Paul Mitchell).

You’ll discover this project is somewhat cathartic and way better than removing grout.

This post is super short, so don’t even bother with the popcorn or Junior Mints to view my video.

Let’s get started!

Remove silicone caulk with your hair dryer

Here’s the disclaimer for this post, if your silicone caulk is sandwiched between two pieces of plastic (for example an acrylic tub and shower insert) be SUPER careful not to ruin them. By ruin I mean melt them like laffy taffy.

The Revlon hair dryer I used reached a maximum temperature of roughly 212F. Yes, I’m a geek and measured the heat output with a thermometer (which by the way, for anyone here in the states, provided temperature readouts in Celsius. In case you’re wondering the conversion to Fahrenheit is 9/5C +32)

I sincerely doubt this temperature will ruin a plastic tub or shower but be very careful nonetheless.

Since the silicone caulk in this example was between our backsplash tile and countertop I wasn’t too worried about high heat damaging anything.

For this project it’s best to use the lowest effective dose of heat.  By this I mean you should try the lowest setting on the hair dryer that will help remove the silicone caulk.

Ultimately I had to use the Hot and High settings.

Heat up 8-10 inches of silicone caulk for 30-40 seconds then use a razor blade to slice through it.

Make sure to remove all of the caulk because the new silicone won’t adhere properly to gunkafied surfaces (gunkafied isn’t a word but you get my drift, leftover silicone caulk is a no no).

There are other tools you can use to remove silicone caulk.

One of them is the Homax plastic caulk removal tool. This is a nice tool for beginner DIYers because it has an angled tip to remove silicone caulk from corners. It also has a flat surface that can scrape caulk without scratching tile, bathtubs, or shower surrounds.

You can buy this tool at Home Depot.

How to Remove Moldy Silicone Caulk Residue

If your caulk was moldy and you’re concerned about spores being left behind you can do the following:

• Pre-wash the previously caulked surface with warm water
• Add 3/4 cup of Clorox bleach to 1 gallon of warm water
• Use a sponge to wash the suspected moldy surface with the Clorox solution
• Let the Clorox stand on the surface for 5 minutes
• Rinse with warm water and let the area air dry

Yes, the title to this post said “without Chemicals” but that’s if you only need to remove silicone caulk.

Mold is an entirely different issue and warrants something like Clorox bleach. In case the fumes bother you please use a respirator like this one by Mine Safety Appliances.

If you already have a hair dryer and straight razor blade this project will cost you nothing but your time & some patience.

source: https://www.homerepairtutor.com/easily-remove-silicone-caulk/

02 Mar How to Remove a Sticker from Plastic

Getting stickers off of plastic seems like it should be much easier than it is. You can simply try to pull the sticker off, but it may stay partially intact or leave residue. This is because many leading manufacturers use high-strength adhesives to keep labels on plastic. Whether you can’t remove a sticker or want to clean up the residue, there are several ways, from peanut butter to rubbing alcohol that could work for you.

Method 1 of 3:

Using Oils for Removal

1. Soak the label in cooking oil. Submerge the plastic in a container of cooking oil for 12 to 24 hours. Canola, vegetable, and other oils will soak into the sticker and loosen the adhesive. This will make it easier to remove later. You can try the method again if it doesn’t work the first time and then gently peel the sticker off with a razor blade.^[1]
   • If you are not able to soak the item in oil, then you can also use a cooking oil spray on it.

EXPERT TIP

You can easily remove a sticker from hard plastic using a variety of products, including rubbing alcohol, degreaser, peanut butter, or a mixture of baking soda and olive oil. Apply the product to the plastic, let it soak for a few minutes, then scrub the sticker off using a rag.

1. Put peanut butter on the sticker residue. The oils in peanut butter will break down many adhesives. Cover the sticker in a thin layer of peanut butter—any type of peanut butter will do. Let it sit for a few minutes before wiping it off with a sponge and warm, soapy water.

3. Use mayonnaise. The oil in the mayonnaise breaks down the sticky residue leftover from the sticker. Any type of mayonnaise will work for removal. Rub some mayonnaise over the residue. Allow it to sit for fifteen minutes. Then, wipe it off with a dry cloth.

• You may have to repeat this process if the residue is thick or does not come off the first time.

Method 2 of 3:

Removing with Chemical Solutions

1. Rub the sticker with lacquer thinner. This is a stronger solution, so you will only need to soak the sticker for 5 to 10 minutes. After you’ve let it soak, scrape up the sticker with a broad, flat item for an adhesive-free clean up. Some specialty products, like Goo Gone, function similarly.
2. Lift the adhesive with rubbing alcohol. Get a carton of isopropyl alcohol—preferably a 90% solution. Pour a small amount on a rag and begin wiping the adhesive. The adhesive should begin to lift after a minute or so of scrubbing.
3. Spray a degreaser onto the sticker. You can use a degreaser like WD-40 to wipe away the sticker. First, test the WD-40 on a patch of the plastic to make sure that it won’t harm the sticker if you plan to keep it. Then, spray degreaser on a clean cloth or directly on the sticky label or glue residue. Rub in a circular motion with a towel until the sticker pulls away.
4. Soak the sticker in nail polish remover. Soak the sticker in a container of nail polish remover. If you don’t have enough nail polish remover, you can apply the remover with a cloth and scrub away the sticker. The sticker will be easier to remove if you give it a few minutes for the remover to react.

Method 3 of 3:

Removing Leftover Adhesive

1. Use baking soda and warm water or oil to remove goo. Mix together a paste with 3 Tbs of baking soda and a small amount of water or oil (about 2 Tbs). Then use the paste and a cloth to scrub away the adhesive. If it is not coming off, wipe the paste on the adhesive and let it set for several minutes.
2. Use table salt and a wet wipe. Apply a small amount of table salt to make the adhesive harden. Then, use a disinfectant wet wipe on the sticker until it begins to peel away. You may need to use several wet wipes.
3. Rub an eraser over the residue. A regular eraser meant to remove pencil is okay to use. Vigorously rub the residue with an eraser until it begins to lift. Continue until most or all of the residue is removed. If there is still some left, you can use a blade to remove it.
4. Use a blade. It is better to use a plastic blade to remove residue. You can find blades specifically made for removing stickers on Amazon or similar websites. Search for label and sticker removers. Work the tip of the blade under the residue. Then, move the blade back and forth until the residue begins to come off. Continue using the blade until most or all of the residue has been removed.

source: https://www.wikihow.com/Remove-a-Sticker-from-Plastic?amp=1