Remove silicone using Brake Cleaner!

[Groovejet]

I've been siliconing for many years. And when it comes to removing the old silicone to make good a shower enclosure etc, I've never found anything better than hard graft & many hours.
But I was told that Brake Cleaner actually brakes the silicone down, which then can be easily removed with zero effort.
So I bought a spray tin of brake cleaner & I struggled to see it helping much at all.
I sprayed it around the bath rim/ panel area. But I tried.multiple times & I couldn't make out if it was helping even in a small way.
Did I buy the wrong stuff? Maybe a liquid instead of.a spray?

 

[lostinthelight]

Brake cleaner,spray or liquid, evaporates too quickly to have time to work I would have thought. Once the bulk has been scraped off I've found the stuff from b&q worked well

 

[Wayners]

Use silicone remover that most DIY stores sell.

People try all sorts including wd - 40 which then causes a problem with new silicone sticking.

I use break cleaner to clean grease and oil off car engine and parts so will have its uses. Not sure about the silicone one though

 

[Burnerman]

Brake cleaner is a chemical largely consisting of toluene and propellant......toluene has a dramatic effect on the constitution of most silicones and will break them down.
If you can apply enough of it of course!
John

 

[HERTS P&D]

Then clean the area with methylated spirits afterwards.

Andy

 

[oldbutnotdead]

I've been siliconing for many years. And when it comes to removing the old silicone to make good a shower enclosure etc, I've never found anything better than hard graft & many hours.
But I was told that Brake Cleaner actually brakes the silicone down, which then can be easily removed with zero effort.
So I bought a spray tin of brake cleaner & I struggled to see it helping much at all.
I sprayed it around the bath rim/ panel area. But I tried.multiple times & I couldn't make out if it was helping even in a small way.
Did I buy the wrong stuff? Maybe a liquid instead of.a spray?

Get a gallon jug of the stuff rather than aerosol. Or get some toluene thinners (yes I'm lucky, have a bunch called Smith & Allan locally who supply stuff like that in those quantities).

 

[opps]

Then clean the area with methylated spirits afterwards.

Andy

Agreed, it helps to degrease the tiles.

Personally I prefer to use isopropyl alcohol. Sometimes meths can leave a very, very slight haze.

 

[Tigercubrider]

Brake cleaner can cause death even in small amounts if you’re unlucky.
You certainly need to be careful using it regularly

 

[HERTS P&D]

Brake cleaner can cause death even in small amounts if you’re unlucky.

Not using your brakes can even cause death!

Andy

 

[Groovejet]

Brake cleaner can cause death even in small amounts if you’re unlucky.
You certainly need to be careful using it regularly

I also thought that Brake Cleaner was very aggressive. But as I sprayed it onto silicone around bath, I got the impression that Solvent Cleaner out of the squeezey bottle was more potent than Brake Cleaner. I'm not too impressed. But I'm told that it should dissolve and make silicone removal very very easy .
I must have the wrong type. There's Chlorinated and Non Chlorinated apparently.

 

[Groovejet]

Right guys ,this is where i print my retraction statement...he ha
Dunno how I got it so wrong...
But the gear to remove silicone with zero effort is AutoGlym Tarr Remover. And NOT Brake Bloody cleaner...Jeez....
So anyway , it removes silicone easier than actual 'Silicone Remover " does... which is crazy.

 

[big-all]

i used to use brake fluid to clean plastic model railway rolling stock' you had to submerge and leave often for a week or so but the downside was get it wrong or the wrong sort off plastic and it would start to soften and possibly discolour would often take weeks or months to reharden but some wouldnt now we are talking 50 years ago and the worst plastics where early triang [50-60s]

now formula off plastics and fluid may have changed and not happen now but worth a mention incase discolouration or softening off plastics is still a possibility

 

[Groovejet]

@big-all Ha ha ha ..thanks for the heads up

 

[big-all]

its amazing what we remember
i dont know how i found that maybe i got high on the nitromores as it disolved both the paint and the plastic or from seeing people damaging the paint on there car when filling brake or clutch cylinders by being careless i cant remember