How to Keep an Open Sealant / Adhesive Cartridge for Further Use

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For maximising the shelf life of open cartridges, we have these tips:
1. Keep it in a cooler place. You can even keep it in the fridge to maximise open shelf life.
2. Use the attached nozzle cap (if available) to cap the nozzle after use. If the product doesn’t have a cap, you can wrap the nozzle tip with tape.
3. Do not remove the nozzle after use!
4. Every 2 weeks, remove the nozzle and replace with a new nozzle. Pump out sealant into the new nozzle. Repeat every 2 weeks.
The rationale for step 4 is that the sealant cures from the nozzle top to the bottom. As long as only the sealant within the nozzle is curing, you can still replace the nozzle and replace it with fresh material. Once the sealant cures all the way into the cartridge, you will not be able to use anymore.
For a fuller explanation, refer to this diagram below:
  1. Before opening, the material is in the cartridge
  2. Once opened, fresh material enters the nozzle as you apply the sealant
  3. If kept in storage, the material at the tip of the nozzle started to cure from its contact with air (this happens even with a nozzle cap). In the diagram above, the time of 1 week is hypothetical and for illustration only.
  4. As the product is kept in storage, it continues curing downwards into the nozzle. At this point (above), you can no longer use the cartridge with the attached nozzle as it has too much cured material. However, you can still use the contents of the cartridge if you replace a new nozzle.
  5. a. If the nozzle is not replaced, the sealant will continue curing downwards into the cartridge body itself. At this point in time, you can no longer use the cartridge. However, if you had replaced the nozzle as in 5.b., the cycle can now start again.

Do note that even with such means of extending the life of an open cartridge, it may still suffer degradation in quality, and after time may even cure from the bottom up from the plunger. It cannot be used to extend the shelf life of the product.

How to convert a sausage sealant gun to work on cartridges

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Our sausage sealant guns can be converted to be used on hard cartridge sealants, without using tools. It’s a very simple process.

Every gun comes with a blue plunger piece that is the size of the barrel, so as to push the sealant in a soft aluminium foil sausage out. Behind the blue plastic plunger, there’s also a smaller metal plunger that fits into a hard plastic cartridge. Converting the gun is simply removing the blue plastic plunger.

  1. Unscrew and remove the barrel from the grip and trigger

2. Unscrew the nut holding the blue plastic piece from the rod. This can usually be done without any tools by twisting the plastic piece itself.

3. Adjust the nut on the back, to make the metal plunger go farther up the rod.

4. Reattach the first nut to secure the metal plunger in position.

5. Reattach the barrel. Now you can slide a cartridge into the barrel itself, and the metal plunger will be able to push the sealant out from your cartridge.

Here’s a short video to demonstrate:

To re-convert the gun back for usage on aluminium foil is similarly simple, just reverse the process.

silicone sealant in hdb

Homeowner’s Guide to Silicones and other Sealants

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Homeowner’s Guide to Silicones and other Sealants

Silicone Sealant in Bathroom

In our experience both as homeowners and as sealant manufacturers, we have found that many people know very little about sealants and silicones. We wrote this guide to help homeowners to be more informed on silicones and sealants, and to help them make better choices. This is a good thing for us, because we find that homeowners are willing to spend a little more on better-quality products that last longer (like our products). Contractors, on the other hand, want to save on costs. If homeowners are ill-informed, contractors will use any sealant they like (usually the cheapest). Having informed homeowners help the industry move to a higher overall quality.

In this guide, we’ll go through the economics, the basics, and some technical details.

  1. Renovations, sealants, and our suggestions
  2. Contractors and their choice of sealants
  3. Why you should insist on a good sealant
  4. Sealant basics
  5. Silicon or Sealant?
  6. Types of sealants
  7. Silicone Sealants
  8. How To Choose Anti-Fungal Silicone Sealants for your Bathroom and Kitchen
  9. Acrylic Sealants
  10. Hybrid Polymer sealants
  11. Sealant applications
  12. Conclusion

Read more

KKH Window Newspaper

Newspaper used in Window-Wall Joints

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Recently, there’s been talk going around of newspaper found in a HDB wall, calling it “half cement half newspaper”.

Screenshot of the video (Screengrab: Facebook/ Singapore Uncensored)

Since then, HDB has come forward to clarify that the use of newspaper was by a renovation contractor hired by the flat owner in 1999. The balcony was completed in 1984.

We’re not surprised, because we’re in the window industry. Stuffing newspaper into window frame joints is fairly common practice back in the day. You know where else you can find newspaper stuffed into a window joint?

KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

We visited the hospital for personal reasons in 2014, and found this window at the ward.

It’s the same thing. Newspaper stuffed into a window joint, and then a layer of acrylic sealant over the newspaper. Read more

How Long Can Sealants Last

How long can sealants last?

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This is a question we face quite often – how long do sealants last? Short answer – from a few years to decades – it all depends on the conditions it’s used in.

We do not have any specific data on lifespan since that is dependent on so many factors. Simply put – sealants can last a good number of years – even up to 50 to 100 years, but the amount of weathering and exposure will affect the lifespan. Constant movement or mechanical abrasion are also factors which will decrease lifespan. Read more

Fix All Turbo Demo Break

Fix All Turbo – Stronger than wood

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It has happened.

For years, we’ve been doing demonstrations of Fix All Turbo by using two pieces of wood. It’s simple – apply Fix All Turbo to a piece of wood, stick another piece of wood so it bonds together, press tight, and start the timer. You might have seen it in the official Turbo video here:

The end result looks like this.

Fix All Turbo Demo Break

20 minutes later, challenge anyone and everyone to break the pieces apart. There are plenty of places to grip, and enough space for two people to try to pull the pieces apart with all their strength. Just 20 minutes of bond time – and our Turbo adhesive bonds so strongly that so far, nobody has been able to pull it apart.

And then it changed. A new challenger was able to break it. Read more