In five hours it will be 24 hours since I caulked around the bathtub. I just felt the caulk and it has still hardly dried, in fact is still gooey and sticky to the touch. I used GE Silicone II Bath and Kitchen (100% silicone) caulk. Seems to me it should have at least skinned over good by now. Instructions on the tube says it caulk should normally cure in 24 hours, but I don't see that happening. Temperature in bathroom has been about 65 degrees or maybe down to 60 overnight since applying the caulk. Humidity has been normal, not excessive one way or the other. Any suggestions what's going on or how I might speed up the drying/curing somehow?

Silicone should "skin" over within an hour. If it hasn't, it won't. I just had the same thing happen with the same GE Silicone II Bath and Kitchen Silicone about a week ago. They must have made a bad batch. I had to scrape it off and use a different brand. Scrape off as much as you can then use Denatured Alcohol to completely remove the leftover residue. Or you can leave it there for a few more days to see if it cures (but it will be harder to remove at that point). I didn't have the luxury.

I do have the "luxury" of doing letting the caulk sit there a few more days to see if it ever cures, but should I even bother? Is it possible I simply have to wait longer, or is something definitely wrong with the #$%* caulk? Scraping the goo out and then trying to clean up the sticky mess to re-do the job with another brand at this point is the last thing I want to have to do. Any more comments/suggestions?

I'm telling you it was a bad batch from GE. Right now you can remove it easily. If you wait, and it doesn't cure, you will have a very hard time removing it COMPLETELY. Denatured Alcohol will remove the residue like water does for Acrylic/Latex caulks.

The caulk that didn't harden for me was clear, is yours? From Home Depot? I still have the tube in my truck (to return it eventually) and the caulk on the tip is still soft and sticky (after 10 days). Usually it's hard by the next day.



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I would remove it now and re-do it. Who knows what other problems you may have in the future if it ever dries.

I had the same problem with color. Tube said white but it was clear. Same product. Perhaps they are making this stuff other than USA?

Jerco, thanks for your reply. I called GE Consumer hotline, they said that is a bad batch (like you said.) They said they sent out recall info to retailers already and it shouldn't have been on the shelf (yesterday I bought it).

So, off I go now to get a gallon of denatured alcohol and a new different brand of caulk. Fun stuff!

Call them back and have them send you a coupon for some free product.

Hey you never know... I have done this at times with BK and KFC and they sent coupons for free meals...

yea maybe you can get another bad tube!

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why would GE send coupons for free food?

Why would Burger King and KFC give you free food in exchange for a bad tube of Silicone RTV?

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I took the bad batch tube of caulk back to the retail outlet from where I purchased it. I explained it to the manager who said they never got a recall notice for the stuff (yet apparently), but he went ahead and exchanged it for another tube, same stuff but different batch. I called GE and asked if this different batch number had a recall, they said no. I squirted out a test bead and checked it 30 minutes later; it was tack-free like it said it would be, no problem with this batch. I re-did the caulk job around the tub with the good batch tube, after spending two hours sort of scooping out the sticky old goo out of the crack and then swabbing it clean with alcohol. GE said they would send me $90 to compensate for the trouble/expense. Apparently there are other "bad batches" out there, as Jerco said his bad tube was clear caulk (and mine was white).
Moral of story: Test bead this product first, before using on the job.



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I beleive it's used in the secret sauce.