Say Goodbye To Wasted Sealant And Adhesive Tubes – Use Every Last Drop!

Great tips. A 'slightly' less messy way to get to the good goo in a part cured tube is to just drill through the cured material to create a fresh path, flush the 'kerf' out and fit a new nozzle (and often the cured sealant plug will pull easily out of a used nozzle).

I learned the hard way that silicone sealant has a shelf life regardless of the use and closure of the tip. Check the date code stamped on the tube. If the seal and is past its date code, throw it out. When you use old silicone, understand that it may not ever set. I found this out when sealing a new shower cabinet with my son. After four days, the silicone was still wet to the touch. After a little research, I discovered information about the date code. We literally wiped away the old stuff and replaced it with newly purchased silicone. Total success.

I run a small building team in the NHS where we fit home adaptations including occasional wall mounted shower chairs and grab handles. We don't use enough silicone to warrant wielding a gun and had boxes of spare refills going off in the store or van. We now use toothpaste tubes of sealants - much more easily carried in a tool-bag and our spend has reduced by 75%

You could as well take the cutoff part and clean that out heat it up a little and put it back on. No need to buy empty cartridges for that purpose. You could also take one from an empty cartridge that you used previously.

I can't believe a didn't see the diy version! I put kitchen plastic wrap around the nozzle and squeeze a little bit of material from the tube forming a "blob cap" that gets trapped in the film sealing the tube, later I remove the dried top and its ready to use, so far worked fine for me. This is one of my favorite channels on yt, thanks for your content it's really informative and entertaining.

Guys, just throw your opened sealant and adhesives into the freezer! It just works! You don't even need to close the nozzles or use condoms if you don't want to! The sealant/adhesives react with the water (humidity) in the air, not the air itself! A freezer is for the most part a zero humidity(no liquid water) environment. You will lose nothing by trying it! I've got sealant /adhesives in my freezer that is still usable after 7 years! Using the freezer even works for my opened superglue ( cyanocryalate) which is still usable after 3 years! Maybe Proper DiY could do a show and tell on using the freezer for preserving sealants /adhesives and CC!

"Micro nozzle". "Fits any size". We love your channel.

I use candle wax, it seals the end really well and is easy to break off when you need it again.

Those condoms are a nice novelty gift for friends at Christmas, wrap them up as actual condoms. 😂

I find it satisfying digging out the hardened stuff from the wide end of the nozzle with a little screwdriver.

Take the nozzle off, push a 150mm screw into the bottom to purge the content, wrap in kitchen paper and clean the nozzle. For the tube, I use a hot glue gun to seal the tube, works everytime and takes a couple of mins. Been using this technique for years

I use golf T's which are tapered, work perfectly well.

Superb, it really is annoying wasting part empty cartridges . Decent Silicone isnt cheap either. Thanks Stuart. 👌

Hi Stuart, I’ve been using those caulk cap covers for well over a year. They do “nearly work”. I have had far better results combining taping the end of the tube and then fitting the caulk cap cover over the top. Another thing I do is cut off the ring tab around the tapered tube. This is for transport I think and that then allows the tapered tube to be screwed on more fully. One more thread.

One tip if you have a decent compressor and want to unblock a nozzle, take the nozzle off and press the air blower attachment onto the nozzle end to make a seal and then blow the contents out. Make sure you aim it into a bin as it can make a bit of a mess!

In a shed or workshop you could store the tubes with the nozzle ends submerged in water in a bucket or paint kettle. It stops the air getting to it and curing the product. That is how I store my solvent based paint brushes when in use.

The only problem I've found with sawing ends off a tube, is that you get plastic saw dust in the product. A nightmare if it's something you're trying to get a clean finish on. Keep up the good work.

2:51 People watching this video in 50-years time thinking WTF is a "plastic carry bag?!?!" 😂 Thanks for the great tips Stu

In the USA, the nozzles don’t unscrew. They are part of the tube. Very frustrating.

Brilliant! Can't believe it's taken this long for someone to show this. Kudos to you Stu.