Caulk-Saving Tip

How to effectively reseal an open tube of caulk

Hello and welcome to Joe Shows How! If you’ve bought a tube of caulk recently, you may have noticed that good-quality caulk is not cheap. You can easily spend $6 to $10, or more, so it’s important to extract every drop of caulk from each tube. However, very seldom do you use up an entire tube of caulk all at once. So, in order to preserve any remaining caulk, you must create an airtight seal on the end of the nozzle. In this week’s video I share a quick tip on how to seal up an open tube of caulk for reuse later.

Start by buying a length of clear vinyl tubing that has an inside diameter of 1/2 inch. (This size tubing is sold as 5/8-inch tubing, which is its outside diameter.)

Cut off a 4- to 6-inch piece of tubing, then use an electric heat gun to partially melt one end of the tubing. Once the end is softened, clamp it into a vise. Wait about a minute before unclamping the vise.

Next, blow into the open end of the tubing to ensure that the heat-sealed crimped end is completely airtight. If there’s even the slightest bit of air leaking out, cut off the crimped end, and repeat the heating and clamping process.

To use the tubing, simply push it onto the end of the caulk tube’s nozzle. Be sure it slides at least 1/2 inch onto the nozzle. Then next time you need to use that caulk, just yank off the tubing and start caulking!

Hope you find this caulk-saver tip useful, and be sure to stay tuned to the end of the video for a Bonus Tip on using a machinist’s vise to clamp wood. Thanks for watching!