Cleaning up the seals in showers

[Paul Carmel]

Last year I replaced all the silicone seal in our shower. It looks like the job will have to be done again this year. Basically some of it has gone black. Am I doing something wrong? How can I stop this in the future?

[John Borg]

Paul, you must use "anti fungal" silicone sealer for a good job. It's about 50% more expensive than your normal silicone sealants. "Wurth" do a very good one.
Most brands say that the product is good for bathrooms, but they are all cosmetic types. The real ones are anti fungus/anti-moffa (Italian) etc.
My company does this type of work all the time and we have learnt the difference!

[Paul Carmel]

Thank's John your a star!

[John Borg]

Paul, one other thing, you must remove the old sealant completely before applying the new one. You can buy "sealant remover" for this job. "Wurth" also do this type of remover. A bit expensive, but good for the job.

[Fraise]

Thanks for that John.The showers in my new Uk place are all disgusting!!Yucky black reigns supreme at the moment-I'll have to hunt out sealant remover-didn't know it existed.

[Ju]

I have the same problem, and usually re-do the seals every year. I always use a high quality sealant with anti-fungal, but I've never used a sealant remover. I'll try it this year and see if it makes a difference.

Ju

[la vache!]

I recommend the anti mouissure Starwax (I think) product that you can buy in shops like Leroy Merlin. It has chlorine in it and works brilliantly - I used to have to replace the sealant, but not now.

[Christine Kenyon]

Sorry to hear you're having fungal problems, Paul . We replace the sealant and re-grout every year - in fact that was yesterday's job! The shower room in our cottage is an internal room so all steam is removed by an extractor. This probably adds to the problem as there is no fresh air being circulated.

Have fun.

[aillis]

I have replaced several upstairs showers for modular ones which almost guarantees to be waterproof Brico Depot do a range starting from 300€

[Paul Carmel]

I have looked all over the place for the sealant John mentioned and can't find it anywhere!! But I did find some spray: not the same as Susan said but along the same lines. One douse and in 30 mins the whole lot had gone and it looked like new . . . what has my life come to! I had an old friend over for Xmas and when I showed him the stuff and told him how brilliant it was his only retort was that I should get out more

[alexia s.]

We should ALL get out more.

[paolo]

One douse and in 30 mins the whole lot had gone and it looked like new

Paul, can you tell me what this miracle product is and where you found it? Can you tell I have left it till the last minute to sort this out?

[la vache!]

In case Paul isn't there, the one I suggested worked just as quickly and can be found at Leroy Merlin and Bricomarché. I think anything with chlorine in it will work.

[paolo]

Susan, thanks for the instant reply! I thought that would be a preventive rather than a cleaner, but now I know I will try to find it.