Can I remove silicone caulking from jeans?

October 31, 2020 6:51 PM

Long story short, I went out of control using silicone caulking this afternoon and got a noticeable amount on a pair of jeans. Can these jeans be saved? How do I remove the caulking?!?

I washed the jeans which... did nothing, it probably wasn't a good choice as the caulking seems to have set!! As per other advice online, the pair of jeans are now sitting in the freezer so I can hopefully pick the caulking off them.

Is there anything else I can do?

posted by VirginiaPlain to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (6 answers total)

Yikes. I have no idea if this will work, but I had to redo the silicone caulk behind my sink last weekend, and the suggestion I found online that helped was using a hair drier on it for about 30 seconds. I used a razor blade and then just rubbed the rest off with my finger. But, of course, that was on porcelain, not denim; but it may be worth trying on one spot.
posted by jonathanhughes at 7:27 PM on October 31, 2020

Depends on how much there is.

If it's a little bit, xylene and toluene will dissolve silicone caulking. Isopropyl alcohol, too, but much much much less well.

Xylene and toluene are available at hardware stores in cans. Localized saturation, let soak, add some more (since the original will evaporate away) and blotting it away with paper towels. Repeat. Wear gloves (nitrile). If the nitrile gloves start "wrinkling," take them off, wash and dry hands, and put on another pair.

These solvents aren't nice, so do it someplace with good airflow/ outside.

I ruined a (really very nice) pair of pants by accidentally painting myself with a roller-on-a-stick with leftover acrylic paint that hadn't dried. A spot? I could get rid of it. The massive and soaked-in splotches all over? Not worth it.
posted by porpoise at 7:34 PM on October 31, 2020

There are specialized silicone caulk remover formulations available at hardware stores -- but nearly all of them are intended for use on solid/impermeable surfaces.

...so you could give them a try, with the proviso that they may utterly fail to remove caulk that's set into fibrous materials like clothing.
posted by aramaic at 7:49 PM on October 31, 2020 [1 favorite]

Fresh silicone smells like acetic acid, which suggests that vinegar would at least inhibit polymerization, but will probably be much less effective after it has taken place. Still, it might help some in combination with other cleaners.
posted by jamjam at 10:19 PM on October 31, 2020

Response by poster: Goo Gone did the trick. I poured liberal amounts of it over the stains and rubbed the silicone away with a microfibre cloth.
posted by VirginiaPlain at 6:26 AM on November 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

I've used Goo Gone to great effect as a clothing stain remover, but you have to use stain spray (any kind will do) to completely cover where you used Goo Gone before washing the garment. Otherwise, the Goo Gone will remove some of the color, almost like a mild bleach.
posted by DrGail at 7:21 AM on November 1, 2020