Removing silicone

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chgriffin
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Removing silicone

Post by chgriffin »

All
I am trying to re-imagine an old project. I used silicone to "glue" my glass to a surface. Now three years later, I want to remove the silicone and refire my design. I am having trouble removing the silicone. I have used a strait blade and removed most, but still have residual. I have tried acetone for that, but not much luck. Any ideas???
Thanks in advance
chrys
Brad Walker
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Re: Removing silicone

Post by Brad Walker »

Try a silicone remover. Any decent hardware store should carry it. CRL has some also.
chgriffin
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Re: Removing silicone

Post by chgriffin »

Thanks.......did not know there was an actual "remover". I just thot of a solvent.
Greg Rawls
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Re: Removing silicone

Post by Greg Rawls »

Had the same problem on a flat piece. Put it in the kiln, took it to 800F and slow cool. Burned off the silicon completely.
Greg
chgriffin
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Re: Removing silicone

Post by chgriffin »

Well, I must have purchased the wrong silicone remover.......it did not work. I will return it. I used a diamond hand finishing pad, and now I will try the 800 kiln. At this point, I should have just remade a new project!! Ah well, the thrill of the chase!
Thanks for the replies!
chrys
Morganica
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Re: Removing silicone

Post by Morganica »

You have to let it sit--the solvent needs time to penetrate into the silicone--and potentially scrape away the dissolving silicone to expose fresh stuff until it's all removed. That's a pretty common problem; I needed to remove a UV-cure epoxy once and it took about a week of scraping and applying fresh solvent (an entire can of the stuff) to get it off.
Cynthia Morgan
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Sharon S.
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Re: Removing silicone

Post by Sharon S. »

This past week, I removed some with a heat gun. Just softened it and scraped it off.
Morganica
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Re: Removing silicone

Post by Morganica »

Sharon, it's probably all gone, but you might want to hit it with a solvent just in case. I used to glue weights onto pieces I put in the rociprolap, using silicone. When they were done, I'd heat up the piece and scrape the silicone off with a razor. Started getting black schmutz in the siliconed areas, and finally realized I wasn't getting it ALL off.
Cynthia Morgan
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Tony Smith
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Re: Removing silicone

Post by Tony Smith »

Be very careful using a heat gun on fused glass... in fact, I would say never use a heat gun on fused glass. It's a perfect tool to thermally shock the glass and break it.
The tightrope between being strange and being creative is too narrow to walk without occasionally landing on both sides..." Scott Berkun
Sharon S.
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Re: Removing silicone

Post by Sharon S. »

I should have clarified, I was removing glue, from a plexiglass base...after building a dam for casting, not silicone. True about residue, though, I never thought of that.
Georgia Novak
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Re: Removing silicone

Post by Georgia Novak »

I soak pieces I have used E-6000 on in acetone in a sealed cool whip or other "free" container so the acetone will not evaporate. Might take an hour or a day.
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