A reader pointed out the other day I had neglected to include silicone rubber in my list of low cost consumables for your toolbox. I have to confess it took me a while to warm up to this as a product. Probably for the same reason that I have since been taught to love it. This stuff is about as non-bio-degradeable as you can get. It is one of those mysterious products brought to us by modern science that can endure the extremes of weather, temperature and moisture and still hold a watertight seal for 20 years. It doesn`t react much with other chemicals, insects don`t like eating it and bacteria and other microbes are not terribly fond of it either.
On the downside, even when it has eventually given out and you scrape it out of your shower recess and replace it with a fresh bead, the stuff you laid down 20 years ago isn`t going to disappear just because you want it to. Who knows how much of this stuff is in our garbage tips now but odds are its going to be hanging around the planet for a while yet.
However, theres a place for everything in this world, and I have to admit silicone rubber is the stuff to use for:
1) Sealing roofs, window frames, weatherboards, kitchens etc
Having to redo a paint job because of water damage isn`t very environmentally friendly either. Pump it into the gaps and its sealed.
2) A really flexible glue
Some applications don`t really need a lot of holding strength, but they do need a lot of flexibility. I fixed a fiddly piece of skirting around a floating timber floor with silicone and it has held ever since.
3) Sealing Chipboard Edges
A thick smear along the sawn edges of kitchen benchtop and cabinet cut-outs was provided for good measure. I will check it in 19 years to be sure it has lived up to its reputation.
4) Glueing a sensor to a glass panel
I remember seeing a technician at work use clear silicone to glue a sensor on to a glass panel inside a quarter-of-a-million dollar large scale document scanner (used in the mapping industry). If its good enough for the world of high-tech, it will do for my garage.
5) RTV silicone rubber seals for a cuppucino machine
Next time your friend picks up a broken Gaggia cappucino machine for $10 at a garage sale, pull apart the thermoblock, clear out the crud, and seal it using acetic acid (vinegar) curing RTV. It works perfectly, and my friend is not displaying an major neurological disorders yet, so I think its non-toxic.
At the end of the day, silicone rubber based products are cheap and durable. It would be nice if there were more environmentally products that were more environment proof.
On the downside, even when it has eventually given out and you scrape it out of your shower recess and replace it with a fresh bead, the stuff you laid down 20 years ago isn`t going to disappear just because you want it to. Who knows how much of this stuff is in our garbage tips now but odds are its going to be hanging around the planet for a while yet.
However, theres a place for everything in this world, and I have to admit silicone rubber is the stuff to use for:
1) Sealing roofs, window frames, weatherboards, kitchens etc
Having to redo a paint job because of water damage isn`t very environmentally friendly either. Pump it into the gaps and its sealed.
2) A really flexible glue
Some applications don`t really need a lot of holding strength, but they do need a lot of flexibility. I fixed a fiddly piece of skirting around a floating timber floor with silicone and it has held ever since.
3) Sealing Chipboard Edges
A thick smear along the sawn edges of kitchen benchtop and cabinet cut-outs was provided for good measure. I will check it in 19 years to be sure it has lived up to its reputation.
4) Glueing a sensor to a glass panel
I remember seeing a technician at work use clear silicone to glue a sensor on to a glass panel inside a quarter-of-a-million dollar large scale document scanner (used in the mapping industry). If its good enough for the world of high-tech, it will do for my garage.
5) RTV silicone rubber seals for a cuppucino machine
Next time your friend picks up a broken Gaggia cappucino machine for $10 at a garage sale, pull apart the thermoblock, clear out the crud, and seal it using acetic acid (vinegar) curing RTV. It works perfectly, and my friend is not displaying an major neurological disorders yet, so I think its non-toxic.
At the end of the day, silicone rubber based products are cheap and durable. It would be nice if there were more environmentally products that were more environment proof.
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