# Lets Settle This Right Now



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

This may have been asked before, but there are many new members that could have some new input. What have you found to be the best way to cap off a partially used tube of caulk? 









 







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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

cabinetman said:


> This may have been asked before, but there are many new members that could have some new input. What have you found to be the best way to cap off a partially used tube of caulk?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Assuming you are talking about latex caulk, I take the tube out of the gun and put the end in a glass of water. It will last as long as the tube would have on the store shelf unopened. If it sets for a couple of months or more what is in the end of the tube will get overthinned and should be disposed of but the rest of the tube will be fine.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

A very good question.

I am not sure there is a single answer. My success has been dependent on the type of caulk.

I normally use a nail, likely a common method.

In many cases the tip would solidify and the nail sometimes would be able to pull out the solid tip. Other cases the nail came out but the caulk would not flow.

I have been able to re-use the latex styles of caulk easily. The nail has been good enough to close off the air.

I did purchase a replaceable cap, but have not needed to use this yet.

I think even the cap would not prevent the non-latex caulks from going off in the tube between uses.


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## Rlbtn4171 (Feb 11, 2011)

http://littleredcap.com/
Best thing I have found. I gotine at Woodcraft. I am a contractor and this product has helped saves my tubes of caulk


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

Tape :smile:


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## Alchymist (Jan 2, 2011)

Big wire nut. :thumbsup:


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

I am in the nail group.

George


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## d_slat (Apr 10, 2012)

Alchymist said:


> Big wire nut. :thumbsup:


^^what he said.^^


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## SebringDon (Jan 2, 2013)

My wife solved this one for me when she was caulking before painting. Saran Wrap and a bit of tape keeps the air away.


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## fboyles (Nov 7, 2012)

I bought a bunch of these when Harbor Freight had them on sale. They really seal well. 

http://www.caulksaver.com/


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

fboyles said:


> I bought a bunch of these when Harbor Freight had them on sale. They really seal well.
> 
> http://www.caulksaver.com/



Do you clean these, or just toss them? :blink:


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## fboyles (Nov 7, 2012)

I've only used them on caulk and they peels right off. I suppose it you were trying to seal liquid nail you might want to use one of the other methods. But again I haven't tried.


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## bradnailer (Nov 11, 2008)

fboyles said:


> I bought a bunch of these when Harbor Freight had them on sale. They really seal well.
> 
> http://www.caulksaver.com/


That's what I use. Before got those, I would stick a long nail in the end then put a ball of plumbers putty around it. That worked well.


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

I use the nail method as well... use the biggest nail that fits in the opening that I cut, and then glob out some caulk BEFORE I stick the nail in. After the nail is inserted, then use the remaining caulk that I "globbed" out to seal around the nail.


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

I use a nail and wrap with duct tape.


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## mobilepaul (Nov 8, 2012)

I just grab a piece of painter's tape or, if I have it handy, duct tape and squeeze it flat around the tube tip. If you do it right away, so that the caulk doesn't oxidize much, it keeps a pretty good while, for me.


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## commodore (Jan 14, 2013)

Are those Orange things threaded or barbed?


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## Thalweg (Mar 7, 2008)

I've been using big blue wire nuts for years. This month's Handyman magazine suggests plumbers putty. I might try that.


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## jstange2 (Dec 5, 2010)

I let about a half inch squeeze out. If I reuse it within 2-3 months, the plug usually comes right out. Nothing left in the tip to ruin my caulk joints. If it dried too far in, I cut a new tube.


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## akko (Jan 14, 2013)

wire pigtail cap seen it use with some of the trades


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## Al Launier (Jan 21, 2013)

Appropriately sized wire nut does it for me. :thumbsup:


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## bradnailer (Nov 11, 2008)

Thalweg said:


> I've been using big blue wire nuts for years. This month's Handyman magazine suggests plumbers putty. I might try that.


The plumbers putty works well for me. 

The plastic inserts are threaded.


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## STAR (Jan 1, 2008)

Rlbtn4171 said:


> http://littleredcap.com/
> Best thing I have found. I gotine at Woodcraft. I am a contractor and this product has helped saves my tubes of caulk


 
I have used the yellow threaded screw in plugs but they did not quite do it for me.

My daughter got me some little red condoms , *see the link*, from Woodcraft. She is in the States regularly as she is a Flight Attendant.

I have shared some with my mate and we are rapped. Not only for cartridges, but for glue, etc. i have used a lot of cartridges over the last few months and will use a lot more with my roofing over the deck build I have just started.

The good thing is these caps are reusable and for the price, about $7 for a pack, great value.

Pete


ps.

I have just look at the link provided by RLBTN and realised that these caps have a lot of other usefull uses that I had not even considered.

I will be putting another canister on my shopping list for Daughter No 2. She wants to be Daughter No 1 but I think I have more favours to call in yet before that happens. lol.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

Have we settled anything yet?

G


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## bradnailer (Nov 11, 2008)

GeorgeC said:


> Have we settled anything yet?
> 
> G


Yep, lots of things work, lots don't.


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## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

A BIG,honkin azz wood screw...........such that,when you jerk it out with a pr of vise-grips,it basically clears a whole new path.

Other than that......it would be the "stick method".Iow's....the spout is now "welded" shut.Take a razor knife and cut the tube below the spout and use a dang "stick" to get the product out.Hey,stupid is,as stupid does?


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## JohnK007 (Nov 14, 2009)

8 penny nail


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Twice a year, I need about a tablespoon of hi-temp silicone to reseal my stove pipes.
The 500g tube goes nose down in a bucket of water. After 2 years, I give up.

Then, I find some really badly chewed-up bug wood. Clean it off and get it sopping wet with soap & water. Then I schmush out most of the old tube of silicone and smear it all over the bug-wood. Press in a layer of rag/cloth at the end. Let that set up and I use it for cool (oh, so terribly organic) rubber stamps of bug tracks.


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## Hollyfeld (Jan 15, 2013)

I've always used a nail. When i get around to wanting to reuse the caulk, i find out it's no good and go buy more.

*shrug


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## Duane Bledsoe (Oct 18, 2012)

I'm a contractor and I've found I can keep caulk for months at a time using an old gutter spike shoved way down in the tip. You have to understand how caulk works. It will dry about 1/4 to 3/8 deep from the surface but below that it will remain soft. So if I have something shoved down into the actual tube where it stays soft then I can pull it out and always get the caulk to come out. Gutter spikes are plenty long enough for this, and work to punch open the new tubes as well (some caulk tube necks are longer than what a 16 penny nail can open).

Sometimes the neck does get hardened so it feels harder to squeeze out. This is due to the only passage left for the caulk being the size of the gutter spike I just removed but I can sometimes use the spike to clear the neck even more. Typically I'm using caulk in places where neatness doesn't count so any residue that's left from it drying that gets into my soft caulk won't matter too much.

This trick works for silicone or rubber based caulks. I don't use the Dap Alex caulks, they peel off way too soon and have to be redone.


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## Glassnwood (Jan 29, 2012)

cabinetman said:


> This may have been asked before, but there are many new members that could have some new input. What have you found to be the best way to cap off a partially used tube of caulk?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I use the broken tool that that was used to adjust the sprinkler heads. It screws in about 5in & pulls the hard stuff out when you just yank hard enough.
loTec but it works.:laughing:


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## FD_Cox (Mar 6, 2012)

blue wire nut


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## _Ogre (Feb 1, 2013)

sheetrock screw. they're always handy in the shop or on a job and if the caulk dries the screw will pull out the plug


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## Woodwart (Dec 11, 2012)

For the number of times I use caulk, I just throw away the half-empty tube and buy a new one next time I need it. If I know I am gong to use it again in a day or so, I use a Marrette.


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## Chris Curl (Jan 1, 2013)

Hollyfeld said:


> I've always used a nail. When i get around to wanting to reuse the caulk, i find out it's no good and go buy more.
> 
> *shrug


i'm in this camp. now i don't even try to save them anymore. if i'm not 100% sure i'm done with it yet, i'll put a bag and a rubber band around the end to help it not dry out too fast, but i only hold on to it until the task is done and then toss it.

when i do need some (almost never), if i had saved the last one i used, i wouldn't be able to find it anyway. and if i am lucky enough to find it, it is unusable, so i just gave up trying to save them.


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## Lilblee (Sep 5, 2013)

I use a long drywall screw, it pulls out the plug most of the time. I had 1 that didn't work that well and that's because I found it in my tool shed and I cannot even remember when I put it there. Sat in there for over 3 years

Sent from my iPhone using Wood Forum


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I've had pretty good luck wrapping the tip with doubled up plastic wrap...like Saran Wrap.
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## MattS (Feb 17, 2010)

A long deck or drywall screw seems to work most times - just yank it out when you need to use the tube again, the dried stuff pops free and you are in business.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

Has anything gotten settled?

G


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

GeorgeC said:


> Has anything gotten settled?
> 
> G


Well George, I don't know. There's been a lot of good suggestions. I'm waiting for someone to drop in and suggest just keeping a finger over the hole.:laughing:

















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## JasonSipe (Sep 24, 2013)

Saran wrap and small rubber band.


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## bzguy (Jul 11, 2011)

Nail or drywall screw longer than the tip.
Wire nuts and saran wrap let the caulk in the tip solidify.


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

What I usually do and it seems to work is either:

1 ~ Make sure that the original cap is clean. Squeeze some extra caulk out, push an 8d nail into the nozzle and then push the cap onto the nozzle making sure that the caulk squeezes out all the way around.

2 ~ Cut a piece of plastic shopping bag about 2" square. Squeeze out a bit of caulk and with the plastic loosely over the nozzle use the original cap.

Both seem to work on tubes that have been just opened and used a bit, then closed up. The third or fourth closure doesn't seem to work as well.


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

My guys use a product that cost $35 a tube. This is some kind of caulking. We go to the trouble of wrapping red stick tape to the end and then stand it on its bottom side. The red stick tape sticks even when wet. We use it more than duct tape now.

Al

Friends don't let friends use stamped metal tools sold at clothing stores.


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