How to Get Silicone Off Your Hands: Follow This Helpful Guide
Have you tried using Silicone caulk in constructing, repairing, or doing any home improvement tasks? Suppose you know professional plumbers or carpenters who work in an industrial setting or do many do-it-yourself repairs at home. In that case, they are probably much familiar with silicone adhesive sealants.
Silicone caulk works for both professional and household applications because of its strong adhesive property. Its formulation makes it perfect to be elastic and flexible. Thus, it can bond tightly on different surfaces, and regardless of the weather condition. They are useful in doing repairs and new constructions. The consistency of silicone caulk is like a gel and not a glue type. Hence, it differs from adhesives containing polymer.
Unlike other sealants, silicone caulk requires adequate time to cure before it achieves complete bonding. It takes 24 hours or a few days for the silicone to cure if the application is thick. It is best to use both outdoor and indoor because it can resist water, temperature, chemicals, and weather.
Accidentally Applying Silicone Caulk on Your Hands
When doing any kind of home improvement project, it’s a must to observe utmost care and pay close attention. However, humans make mistakes. What if, because of an accident, experiment, or boredom that sticky silicone just gets on your hands without volition? What will you do?
Admit that we become adventurous sometimes and be playful with the surrounding things. Professional plumbers and carpenters may probably know what to do when their hands touch the silicone. Let’s not just wait for the situation to get worst! Your skin may get damaged or infected because silicone is made up of harmful chemicals. Oh no!
And to help you deal with this sticky problem, I have discovered a solution to your silicone trouble. By reading this article, you will learn ways to get rid of silicone from your hands. Let me give you some effective methods to follow.
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Remove the silicone from your hands using kitchen materials.
You can easily access materials in your kitchen or simply ask the help of somebody at home to hand them over to you once the silicone gets on your hands.
1. Wipe your hands with oil base ingredients
If you will seal a small area, wipe first your hands with cooking oil or oil-based solvent. Using butter or oil works not only for small but also large areas. You can use any variety of pure oil, such as olive oil or sunflower oil. You can wipe the oil on top of the silicone.
Note: get only a tiny amount of oil to avoid wasting it.
2. Scour your hands using baking soda
Apply a little amount of baking soda along with the olive or cooking oil. It has the property that can loosen the silicone, making it easy to scrub.
Note: It proves Baking soda to have a lot of uses, especially in the kitchen. Make sure to always have a pack of this on your kitchen cabinet when the need arises.
3. Wash down your hands
Using a dish soap is another way to get rid of oil or baking soda that you scrub into your hands. After thorough rinsing of the hands let it dry using a towel to dry your hands and check if it wholly removed the silicone from your hands.
Read more: How to Smooth Silicone Caulk?
The more challenging method
This method that you must try to eliminate the silicone substance from your hands is sober and will let you deal with it seriously.
- Act immediately
If a silicone caulk sticks into your hands, act immediately once it dries. Use a cloth or paper towel to remove the silicone from your hands to prevent irritation caused by the chemicals.
Using a towel or special cloths is not advisable. Otherwise, the silicone will stick onto the towel and difficult to wash off. The silicone may cause stain on the fabric and you can treat it using a caulk remover.
However, if you have silicone on cloth and materials, you can use a caulk remover to treat the silicone stains.
Read more: How to Remove Silicone Caulk from Tile
- Rub the plastic bag against your hands
Paper towel may work on removing the messy silicone sticking in your hand. Expect for some silicone that may stick and difficult to remove. A simple trick is to rub a plastic bag against your hands.
Rub it gently not to irritate your skin. The silicone sticks onto the plastic material thus remove it from your skin.
- Utilize a paper towel and water
Using a plastic bag and paper towel is useful to eliminate the sticky silicone caulk. After removing the silicone caulk, rinse your hands thoroughly with running water. Scrub it with a sponge while washing your hands.
If you don’t have a sponge, make use of paper towels. Make sure that the caulk is not dry for this method to work. Soapy water can also help do the job. Castile soap is ideal to wash off the silicone from your skin.
- Rub butter
Another tip to remove silicone from your hands is to use butter and rub it. The oil available in butter will loosen the sticky silicone, making it easier to eliminate the caulk attached in the skin.
If all the tips and tricks mentioned above don’t work, look for a commercial product designed for caulk removal. Check if it is safe for your skin and the surface. Otherwise, do not use any chemical product that may cause irritation to your skin.
Read more: Grout vs Caulk: Which One Is The Better Choice?
Conclusion
When using silicone caulk sealant, make sure you handle it with proper care and attention. Otherwise, it can create accidents such as getting it all over your hands. With the steps mentioned above, you can remove silicone caulk from your hands successfully.
However, if after trying all of those steps, you are still unable to remove the sealant, it’s best to visit the emergency room for proper medical treatment. With the right medical tools and supervision, you can rest assured that silicone caulk can be successfully removed from your hands.
