Caulking damaging to vehicle finish?

Joined
Mar 2, 2004
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Location
Kentucky
Had an incident today with a tube of caulk, story goes like this:

Wanted to seal some screw holes in my house vinyl siding after removing some old coax cable that was attached to it.

I had a pneumatic caulk gun in the garage, dragged it out in front of the garage to pop the tube of caulk in. It has a valve to regulate pressure, I wasn't 100% sure if it was open or closed, so I tapped the trigger just for a split second so I could judge whether I needed to go down or up with pressure. Evidently I needed to go down, because in the span of about a half second, the whole nipple on the caulk tube burst off and it emptied nearly the entire tube over two of my vehicles.

What came out appeared to be ordinary latex caulk because it washed off well with water. I asked the wife to get silicone caulk since I was using it outdoors, but she must have bought the wrong stuff, and thank heavens for that. If it had been 100% silicone caulk, I'd probably be looking at an insurance claim, but glad I don't have to find out.

Should I do anything post-cleanup, and anyone know if caulking has any adverse effects on vehicle paint? If nothing else, anyone have a similar bonehead story that might make me feel better? :LOL:

Edit: I just looked at the product and it's described as "siliconized acrylic caulk," whatever that means.
 
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As long as you washed it off really well before it dried I'd be surprised if it did any damage. At least it wasn't construction adhesive.
 
It wouldn't hurt to apply some cleaner wax to the area. when you smell the caulk, if it has a vinegar small that is a curing agent that is acidic.

Washing should have gotten all of it off but it may have stripped the wax in that location as well.
 
It wouldn't hurt to apply some cleaner wax to the area. when you smell the caulk, if it has a vinegar small that is a curing agent that is acidic.

Washing should have gotten all of it off but it may have stripped the wax in that location as well.
I agree, and maybe just wipe the small area down with a clay bar after washing the car, before touching it up with the cleaner wax.
 
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