Has anyone any experience of cleaning up old window seals for re use? I have several out as part of a damp repair and would like to reseal them. I've tried soaking in white spirit and scraping with a screwdriver, but the old sealant is like chewing gum and painfully slow to remove.
hello Simon have a talk to your local caravan dealer/ repairer most of them are helpful regarding advice if the workshop is accessible try to talk to the guys in there ,hope you can get a result off here first though .
------------- geoff & annb,--
never lost just on tour
your just jealous of the little voices talking to me
I'll try it your way, or rather, I'll pass on the info to my dad, who is cleaning the seals for me! Have to admit I was a little worried about damaging the rubber with the screwdriver method.
I find that nail varnish remover works on newish sealant, so I would expect that if you could remover as much as possible then wipe with the remover it would clean up the residue. my son found that to remove the sealant in my car s engine that boiling water worked so maybe if you could get a large pan and boil them it would at least soften it.
Hi Simon, when you have them cleaned up and ready for installation, put them in a bucket of hot water first, sure makes putting them back in a lot easier! Got that tip from an older chap who used to build caravans!
i know this is a very old thread but incase it comes up in peoples searches ill give you a tip
put the rubbers in a freezer overnight and the old blue tape will break off easily any little bits can then be removed with white spirit when its defrosted
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never argue with an idiot, they will bring you down to their level and beat you on experience
I wish I had the freezer advice 2 years ago! It's a hateful job getting all the muck off with white spirit (mine were so far gone the sealant had dried) but it does work. I agree that new seals would have made things much easier but I just couldn't afford it - I did all the windows in the caravan bar one. However I would say that if you put them back carefully there is no need to fear doing them again. Mine have been sound since I did them.
Trying to work up the enthusiasm for doing a delammmed floor next. :-)