Sealant, step by step
The difference between a neat bead and an obvious repair.
- Remove all the old sealantScraper and a silicone remover. All of it.
- Clean and dry completelySilicone does not stick to damp or greasy surfaces.
- Mask both sidesTape a few millimetres either side of the joint.
- Cut the nozzle at 45°Small hole first. You can enlarge it; you cannot shrink it.
- One continuous beadSteady pressure and speed. Stopping leaves a lump.
- Smooth, then remove the tapeWet finger or a tool, then peel the tape while it is still wet.
For a bath
- Fill the bath with water first
- Seal while it is full and weighted
- Empty after curing, so the joint is not stretched later
Use sanitary-grade silicone with a fungicide in bathrooms and kitchens. Ordinary silicone grows mould quickly.
Questions about the Sealant poster
- What’s on the Sealant poster?
- 6 numbered steps, with a full worked run-through. The difference between a neat bead and an obvious repair. Remove all the old sealant — Scraper and a silicone remover. All of it.; Clean and dry completely — Silicone does not stick to damp or greasy surfaces.; Mask both sides — Tape a few millimetres either side of the joint.; Cut the nozzle at 45° — Small hole first. You can enlarge it; you cannot shrink it.; One continuous bead — Steady pressure and speed. Stopping leaves a lump.; Smooth, then remove the tape — Wet finger or a tool, then peel the tape while it is s…. Use sanitary-grade silicone with a fungicide in bathrooms and kitchens. Ordinary silicone grows mould quickly.
- Who is the Sealant poster for?
- Sealant belongs to the Practical skills section rather than to a school year, because life skills is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning repair can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Sealant poster?
- Remove the old sealant completely. New silicone will not stick to old silicone. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Sealant belongs on the wall where that life skills work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Sealant?
- Choosing an Adhesive, Soldering and Bleeding Radiators sit alongside Sealant in the Practical skills section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Choosing an AdhesiveSolderingBleeding Radiators
- Is the Sealant poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Sealant downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Practical skills section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Sealant poster print at?
- Sealant is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Sealant loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Sealant on the same wall.
Browse every Practical skills poster, or start from the full catalogue.