Coloured silicone sealant: The perfect finishing touch

You don’t live in a black and white world; for a more colourful outlook try coloured silicone. Here are tips for using colour match silicone that will go with your new fixtures and colour scheme. You’ll love the results.

• Why choose a coloured silicone sealant?
• Tips for an expert job with your coloured silicone
• Coloured silicone sealant suppliers and options
  

Why choose a coloured silicone sealant?

A professional quality sealant is crucial to filling gaps between materials and preventing water and moisture from getting underneath fixtures, behind cabinets, and inside of walls. It also goes a long way to give any job a great look. Without sealant cracks and gaps would show, leading to a sloppy or unfinished appearance.

With so many styles and colours for sinks, bathtubs, tile, and other components though, white sealants don’t always match perfectly. Coloured shower silicone and other coloured silicone sealants solve this problem.

Many brands offer two or three different colour sealants, usually neutral colours like almond and grey. These basic colours will go with many materials, so you may locate a colour match silicone quickly and easily.

Some coloured sealant suppliers provide additional shades, up to eight or more, to go with a much broader range of tile, countertops, and cabinetry. Other manufacturers produce coloured silicone sealants especially for their own solutions, providing the best match available. It is always a good idea to check if a colour match silicone is available.

If the proper colour sealant is not available for your materials, you can still use a paintable sealant. While 100% silicone is not paintable, there are many sealants available now that contain silicone but can still be painted.

Tips for an expert job with your coloured silicone

Just follow these steps:

1. Make sure the areas to be worked are clean and free of dust, dirt, or anything that could hinder adhesion of the sealant.
2. If you wish, tape off the sides of the joint you want to seal to ensure a straight edge.
3. Insert the tube of coloured sealant into the caulk gun and cut the end of the tube on a 45° angle to create the correct size aperture as needed.
4. Starting at one end, apply coloured sealant in an even, steady bead to fill the gap or corner.
5. Smooth out the bead of coloured silicone with a caulking tool or your finger. The edges of the sealant should blend evenly into the surface on each side.
6. If you taped the edges, peel the tape away carefully and allow the sealant to dry. If removing the tape creates a rough edge, smooth it out as needed.

Coloured silicone sealant suppliers and options

Check your local home supply store for colour match silicone products. Another way is to use a clear silicone. This is also a good option when sealing around chrome fixtures or other products that no colour will really match.

A quick and easy solution for smaller jobs and repairs is Loctite Clear Silicone Waterproof Sealant. This adhesive sealant creates a strong bond to metal, glass, tile, and porcelain and will not crack, peel, or shrink. Perfect for use around sinks and other wet areas.

If the old sealant in your bathroom is mouldy, cracked, or yellowed, make it look like new in one simple application of Loctite Re-New. This product is easily applied over existing silicone sealant without scraping – just clean and apply for a neat look. The special applicator and smoothing tool make it a snap.