Smoothing out silicone ?

[Drunken]

I`m about to reseal a 55g tank, but what do people use to smooth out the silicone after you have layed down a good bead ?
Normally i would use some soapy water and a finger if it was non fish related.
Cheers

 

[Knowdafish]

Wet, plastic gloved, finger or a disposable plastic putty knife with the corner of the blade cut off to the width you want your bead.

 

[bengalsfan47025]

cut and angle a old credit card!! works for me everytime!!!

 

[JK47]

I`m about to reseal a 55g tank, but what do people use to smooth out the silicone after you have layed down a good bead ?
Normally i would use some soapy water and a finger if it was non fish related.
Cheers

Here is a picture of what I used. Cut out the corner of an old spatula from the wifes kitchen and cut the corner down. It's flexible so it made the application really easy to work with.

 

[rickyricardo]

Here is a picture of what I used. Cut out the corner of an old spatula from the wifes kitchen and cut the corner down. It's flexible so it made the application really easy to work with.

I like that.
The flat edges allows you to drag it evenly along the tank. Wish I would have seen this a couple weeks ago. Good idea.

 

[jjdsplace]

the best way to smooth silicone is saliva on your finger there is nothing on the planet better than this just make sure you wipe off your finger before putting it back in your month as silicaone tastes awful

 

[chesterthehero]

i had good luck with paper towels.. just need to use a new one for each pass

 

[pdbrady]

As said, nothing like one of your digits. It can get a bit messy, but if that bothers you, you shouldn't be doing it anyway!

 

[deeda]

It is also extremely helpful if you apply masking tape above & below the area you want to caulk. Then apply the silicone, use one of the suggestions above to 'tool' the bead and immediately remove the tape. This gives a beautiful caulk bead but you have to remove the tape before the caulk sets up. I've used this when I caulk bathtubs & sinks. Looks very professional.

 

[rallysman]

Here is a picture of what I used. Cut out the corner of an old spatula from the wifes kitchen and cut the corner down. It's flexible so it made the application really easy to work with.

I did the same thing with tape, only put it a bit closer to the corner. Then I just used my finger. No air bubbles at all.