How can you remove silicone from a fiberglass tub?

Answer

Silicon is an excellent product that is not only a good caulking and sealing material, it also makes an excellent adhesive.

Silicone adhesive/caulking is difficult to remove from fiberglass without damaging the fiberglass. It seems to be resistant to most solvents, and anything strong enough to touch the silicone will damage the surface of the fiberglass.

The most effective option is to vigorously rub the silicone near the edges. Get an edge to start peeling up then keep going. Once you get the silicone rubbed off, use a little automotive rubbing compound to get the shine back in the fiberglass.

BELOW IS AN ADDITIONAL ANSWER BY: jman995x

First I'll briefly explain my situation (so you can see if you are currently in a similar bind), and then I'll explain what I did.

I bought one of those shower soap dispensers at Bed, Bath & Beyond. In the installation packet was a tube of Silicone adhesive (in addition to the sticky tape). I installed the unit, but didn't use it very much. I just (gently, and slowly) pried the unit off the fiberglass shower with a flathead screwdriver. Of course, the Silicone was still there (and adhering to the fiberglass quite well, I might add). Since I'm renting, I didn't want to take a chance on screwing up the fiberglass so I did some online searching to find out how to remove the Silicone and found recommendations of everything from rubbing alcohol to heating up the Silicone with a blow drier. I even called Lowe's and Home Depot to ask if there was something they recommended...but neither had a suggestion other than "keep rubbing it with your thumb". They both said that using chemicals such as Acetone, etc. might discolor the fiberglass, so I opted to not do that....(although the thought did cross my mind...glad I called). I knew there had to be a better way (than rubbing little bits off for the better part of an hour, which is what it was looking like). So, I used what I call a "Widget Razor Blade", but what is more commonly referred to (at least when searching Google, etc.), as a "Mini Hand Scraper by Stanley" (Google this phrase and you'll see what I'm talking about). I took one of these with a brand new razor and, holding the blade almost PARALLEL to, (NOT PERPENDICULAR)....but parallel to the surface of the shower, I scraped off about the top 90% of the Silicone (so that I could get to the part actually sticking to the shower surface). I wiped that off the razor's edge and scraped off more. Pretty soon there was only a razor thin (no pun intended) amount of Silicone left adhered to the fiberglass shower. I then got a rag I didn't care about (made sure there weren't any other chemicals on it), and put a little "Goof Off" (www.goof-off.com) on it. (******READ THE LABEL ON THE GOOF OFF BEFORE USING IT. It says that it will work on fiberglass, but (as always) test it in an inconspicuous spot first. Also, make sure you have your vent or fan on while you're doing this, as the smell is quite noticeable and you don't want to be doing this in a closed environment and get lightheaded******). You should be able to get this product at any Lowe's or Home Depot. I rubbed the razor thin strip of Silicone with my index and middle finger (under the rag), applying a moderate amount of pressure. After just a little bit of effort, the Silicone would either disappear (during the rubbing process), or after I rubbed the "Goof Off" on the Silicone, it appeared to dry-out and loosen the Silicone so one more pass with the razor would take it off...in a manner very similar to when I would get a sunburn as a kid and my skin would start to peel off in large, very thin, very transparent sheets. I scraped everything off that I could without scratching the shower, then hit all the spots one more time with the rag and some Goof Off and the shower looks good as new.

Hope this helps.

J.

First answer by Redbeard. Last edit by Jman995x. Contributor trust: 2 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 27 [recommend question].